Why I Believe

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

Today's Passage: John chapters 20 & 21
Memory Verse(s): John 20:18

The things people will believe are mind- boggling to me.  There are thousands of websites  dedicated to all sorts of weird things like aliens and ghosts in need of closure.  Over the last ten years alone, more people have taken interest in alien abductions, psychics, and houses with ghosts than ever before.  But the moment you mention Jesus, you're looked at as the one with mental issues.

And yet, no-one person on the face of the earth -- or in heaven, for that matter-- else ever claimed to die for the sin and salvation of the entire world.  And something else sticks out to me about this Jesus.  Why would a man Who died for the whole world only appear to a select few?  In this day and age, anyone claiming to have any kind of power would want to broadcast it as quickly and widely as possible.

Furthermore, if the fact that Jesus' body was never found doesn't help the argument much, something interesting happened to His disciples after He went back to Heaven.  All of a sudden, people who were once meek, scared and unsure of themselves became bold enough to stand before kings and priests alike.  What was it about Jesus that made them change?  The difference was the Holy Spirit.  Jesus breathed Him upon them, and they were never the same again.

 Now here's the best part of why I believe that Jesus did rise from the dead.  He didn't just disappear for three days, twiddling His fingers.  He went to hell and took the power of death away from the enemy of our souls.  That's why His disciples went willingly to their deaths, declaring the whole time that Jesus was the Christ.  And that's why we, His brethren, can stand in the face of adversity and not blink.  We carry this same treasure in our earthen vessels-- the power to heal, love, serve, give, and change the world.  And we will do so until He comes again.  Now that's something worth believing in.

Prayer: Father, we live in a world where the enemy's influence makes it so difficult for people to believe in what Your Son did.  But You still send us out to give them this good news-- the news of how much You love us all.  Fill us with Your Spirit, and make us bold enough to declare it no matter where we are... And who doesn't receive Your Precious gift.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.