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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.Eph 2:9 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, September 22, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Resurrection Bible Verse:Matthew 28:1-10 (ESV) "Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” " Message:
The “other Mary,” here and at the crucifixion, could be one of several people. The majority of scholars believe that she was the mother of the apostle James (“the Lesser”), son of Alphaeus. There are differences in details among the gospels due, no doubt, to the extreme emotional state of the witnesses. They had just undergone the sight of their beloved Lord, to whom they had dedicated their lives, hideously crucified. It is hard to imagine how one might react, to find him standing alive in the darkness of early morning. Matthew says they departed the tomb with “fear and great joy,” a bit of an understatement.
Angel outside tomb of Jesus
The angel did not speak on his own accord, but rather brought them a message directly from God the Father. In both Hebrew and Greek, the root meaning of angel is “messenger”, and generally that is what we see angels doing in the Bible: delivering messages. But notice, the message has three instructions, which to this day represent three basic duties of Christian faith. These women, the first people to know the resurrected Christ, could be considered the first “Christians”!
The angel told them, first, to believe. Reading over any of the gospels, one can see a story of belief: the apostles and other followers of Christ certainly believed in him and trusted what he said. But somehow, they could never quite get their minds wrapped around the reality that he would be executed and then rise up from the dead, no matter how many times he told them. While the women were at the tomb, Peter and the other apostles were hiding in fear and confusion.
Secondly, the angel tells them to share what they have seen and what they have been told. His directions to “go quickly and tell” bring to mind the Great Commission, given to us by Christ, to share our knowledge with the world. (Matthew 28:16-20)
Third, Jesus himself meets them and tells them to rejoice. (This is translated “Greetings” in most Bibles, but I am at a loss to explain why, because what he says (“chairete”) means, literally, “Rejoice”. See for yourself.) And how could they not? Their beloved teacher, whom they credited to be the Son of God, was arisen from the dead. He was not only alive, but by the miracle of resurrection had demonstrated his divinity beyond question.
And so we should also remember, we have met the resurrected Christ. Finding Christ is the greatest thing that could happen to anyone. We put ourselves in their place, suddenly realizing that we can personally know the Son of God, who arose from death. And even better, who will love us beyond imagination and save us from death, for eternity. So — don’t forget to be happy about it. Rejoice!
Meditation : Prayer : Heavenly Father, there are people praying with me, right now, whom I will never meet. I don’t know their names, or what country they live in, or what they may look like, but I will know their souls, for we are brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray that we might be united in the Holy Spirit, and that I will know and feel the kinship and love, in my spirit, of those who share these prayers with me.......Amen |
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