There are many different church supplies that pastors, choir members, and church directors need to use in order to make their church into a comfortable and attractive center of worship. There are a variety of altar supplies that ought to be used to beautify and sanctify the center of worship within the church. In order to assist everyone in attendance to better understand the sermon and benefit from it, churches need to have religious supplies like Bible and hymnals available too. Obtaining quality supplies, including How to Minister books, is now easier than ever for today’s church organizers thanks to the Internet and the many vendors that offer church related items.

The altar is an extremely holy spiritual location in the church and as such deserves to be adorned with the very finest altar supplies. Each and every singer in the choir will need their own Christian clothing besides the priest vestments that are used when teaching and reading to the congregation. The Internet has now made it simpler than in the past to shop for religious garb and items for use at the altar; it is just a matter of searching for the right sizes and styles to fit the church’s needs.

The goal of all preachers is to help their congregations more clearly comprehend the teachings of Jesus as expressed through the pages of the Bible. In an attempt to do so, lots of pastors and deacons are using Christian music CD’s which can be entertaining for younger people and adults as well. For more adept readers of the Bible, church supplies including Bibles and Bible study aids are essential to helping interested people understand the scriptures. How to Minister books are extremely helpful for caring ministers who wish to truly reach their audience each Sunday.

Keep in mind that it is smart to check into the store’s return and refund policies before finalizing an order for supplies for your church. Also, keep in mind that the full cost of your order may increase significantly if you have to pay extra shipping and handling fees for oversized or heavy packages.

It is easy to get How to Minster books, altar supplies, priestly vestments, and other religious supplies and items that your church needs online. With the highest quality church supplies, you can ensure that many people will want to visit the services and benefit from what they hear.

Would you like to know more details about Christian products? then click on religious supplies and Christian clothing.

Religious supplies, such as Church supplies, altar supplies, and personal Bible study items, are very important to Christians who want to honor their faith. Certain items crafted to fit the holy spiritual nature of a church service are needed to give the proper respect to religious gatherings, which includes using the right items. Their use helps each individual in attendance for the congregation’s service to recognize the holy nature of the event. But it may not always be easy for the organizers of a church to get the specific items they want or need to decorate and prepare the church for certain events. And many Christians who would like to find Bibles, religious books, and religious music live far from large cities where such items are readily available. What are a few of these key items and how can you get them regardless of where you are living?

Ministers and church groups understand the importance of having quality church supplies and altar supplies. How to Minister books are available for preachers who wish to improve their sermons, candles and incense items are important for use on the altar, and priest vestments for the pastor and other members of the church are needed. Such items grant dignity and respect to the church building itself as well as the Word of God that is preached there on a weekly basis.

Apart from attending regular church services, many devout Christians take personal Bible study seriously. They may own a few different versions of the Bible, including study Bibles that are specifically designed to make analyzing God’s Word easier for Christians. To improve the quality of their reading and understanding, many people use leather Bible covers, bookmarks, and devotionals. Such items are often kept at the local church where study groups may get together each week to discuss scripture.

Religiously interested people also tend to be interested in Christian music CD’s, Christian fiction novels, and other types of entertainment that keep to a Christian theme. The church’s library could also benefit from getting some of these items as long as they are approved by the organizers and pastors. Finding great entertainment that is prepared with Christians in mind can be very refreshing.

Church supplies, including How to Minister books, altar supplies, and more items are available online. You can obtain Bibles and religious supplies to keep at home too from the same retailers.

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Great credit is given to Sylvia Q. Henderson for her participation for the subject verification.

Biblical scholars call this topic “canonicity” or the determination of which books are part of the “canon” of Scripture. The canon is the collection of books recognized as Holy Scripture. The actual word comes from the term for “measuring rod.” The canon are the books that are to serve as the “measuring rod” for God’s people.

By the time Jesus Christ walked the earth, the 39 books of the Old Testament were widely recognized as Jewish Scripture. Jesus Himself talked about Scripture and the Jewish historian Josephus (who lived approximately the same time as Jesus) mentioned the 39 books as authoritative Jewish Scripture. An official council in Jamnia in the year 90 A.D. also confirmed the same 39 books we know today as the Old Testament were Scripture.

Interestingly, the Old Testament books of that day were often presented on scrolls. The Torah or the first five books of the Bible might be on a single scroll, but sometimes other writings were on individual scrolls, such as the scroll of Isaiah. When books were first printed, the Jewish arrangement of the Old Testament put the Torah first, then the prophets. It was Martin Luther who arranged the books of the Old Testament in to the order Christians have today.

New Testament writings consist of 27 books written in a relatively short span of time, approximately 40 or 50 to 90 AD. Early church fathers had certain standards for inclusion of books as Scripture. First of all, the book had to be written by an apostle or be written by someone close to an apostle. Apostle, in this case, was defined as a man who had seen the resurrected Jesus and was known to be specially taught by Him. This criteria was similar for the Old Testament, which required books to be authored by people who were known to be prophets, kings, scribes, or other authorities.

Furthermore, New Testament writings had to be authentic, prophetic, and authoritative. It also had to be accepted by the believers and used by them. This may sound vague, but it happened that when Matthew wrote his account of the life of Jesus the text was quickly recognized as being authored by Matthew (one of the 12 apostles) and was accepted by believers who incorporated its authoritative teachings into their services. The same holds with John, Peter, and Paul. Although no one knows for sure who wrote the book of Hebrews, it was widely accepted by the early church and was incorporated into canon. Luke and Acts were written by a man who was not an apostle—Luke was an early convert to Christianity and a physician by trade. However, he was closely associated with the apostle Paul and many others in the early church and his accounts gained the status of Scripture as well.

The early church essentially “knew” what books were in the Bible, but the canon was officially adopted in the Council of Athenasius (in the year 367 AD) and the Council of Carthage (397 AD).

Sometimes scholars speculate that there were books that were specifically booted out of canon. There were later writings (such as the Gospel of St. Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene) that circulated in the Middle East. However, these books were never included in canon for a variety of reasons. In some cases, they were written late in history, some even after the councils that defined and closed the official canon. Second, some were clearly false; the Gospel of Mary Magdalene is generally recognized to have been written in the second or third century, far too late for the actual Mary Magdalene to have been the author. There was actually a wave of religious-style writing in the second to fourth centuries, including all manner of accounts about the life of Jesus. Many of these contradict the canon. So it cannot be assumed that because a book claimed to be written by Mary Magdalene or any apostle that it was so … much less that it had authority.

The Old Testament concludes with the book of Malachi and there occurred after that 400 years before the New Testament writings began. In that Interestamental period a variety of religious books were authored known as the Apocrypha. Although they were Jewish writings, the Jews never recognized them as having the same standard as the 39 books of the Old Testament. Protestants do not consider them part of Scripture, either. In 1546, the Catholic Church officially recognized them as part of Scripture and they form what is known as the Apocrypha.

Thus, the Bible was not established organically, although subsequent councils verified the standing of the official canon. Christians today consider the canon closed, that is, no new books will be added or deleted from the Bible. The Bible used by Protestants today is very similar to the Scriptures that would have been used by the early church fathers in the year 200 or 300 AD.

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You are able to get connected to and meet a good number of interesting people online, and the world wide web is full of plenty of useful information. If you are a Christian, though, sometimes it can be challenging to find Christian-oriented sites, and a lot of the content around can be offensive to Christians. Are you enthusiastic about Christian websites? Is meeting other Christians on the internet something you want? When your kids are browsing the web, are you wanting them to go to Christian websites? This article is one thing you ought to certainly read if it is the case.

Christian material can be located on a number of websites out there. As an example, so that you can commence your day with a message from the Bible, you can find websites which will generate daily Bible verses and send them right to your e-mail every day. Also, you will find internet sites where you’ll be able to meet other Christians so you can have support from other like-minded folks. You may also uncover wonderful new Christian artists, Christian books, and also Christian films on many sites. In regards to the content that you can find on the internet, the sky is the limit.

You’ll be able to start obtaining Christian sites in many different ways. The best spot to start is a internet search engine. Visiting a search engine like Google and simply typing in “Christian websites” or even “Christian webpages” will provide you with a list of many sites that you ought to be familiar with. Some of these may even be directories which will list other internet sites. You ought to really just start browsing around and seeing what you can locate.

Yet another way to find great Christian content is to make use of social media websites like Twitter and Facebook. There are a lot of Christian groups on these websites, and if you join these groups, you will meet other Christians. Meeting other Christians on social media sites is a good approach to finding excellent content on the internet since they will more than likely post links on their Facebook or Twitter pages that will lead you to other Christian sites.

The best thing that you could really do is browse around. Another excellent idea is to go to video sites, like YouTube, and find Christian videos. Links to other advantageous and useful Christian internet sites will probably be supplied on the videos. Another excellent spot to look could be your church’s internet site. Frequently, you can discover wonderful links to other Christian pages by simply going to the internet site of your church.

For the Christian community, the web could be a good way to learn, educate ourselves, and connect with other Christians because there is a lot of information and facts out there. Spending a bit of time browsing around is really all you need to do.

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The Bible has the power to change a life. Unfortunately, you cannot just rub the Bible on your head and expect that your life will be changed by mere physical contact with a Bible. Bible study involves actual study, which means reading, looking things up, and thinking through concepts.

Biblical illiteracy is very high not just in our society, but even in churches that reportedly believe in the Bible. For that reason, people who want to study the Bible need to be very careful that they do not take a course in which “the blind are leading the blind” (a Biblical expression, by the way). Some churches allow people with scant knowledge of Scripture to teach the Bible, if any teaching is done at all.

So how can the Bible change your life? The Bible says that it has the power to change the way we think and the way we think determines not only the course of our life but what happens to us along the way. For example, a person who values her integrity above her pocketbook is going to lead a very different life (and have different experiences) than a person who values money over honesty. The Bible teaches that forgiveness and the ability to forgive those who have wronged us can be life-changing. A person who forgives other people leads a very different life than the one who harbors grudges and nurses bitterness.

This may sound like a bunch of platitudes, but Bible study can be tremendously engaging. The Bible discusses issues such as rape, murder, incest, cruelty, war, crime, and punishment. It talks about a man who was wrongly imprisoned (Joseph), a teenage girl kidnapped into sexual slavery (Esther), and a man who was beheaded for criticizing a king (John the Baptist). The Bible does not present idyllic scenes and feel-good messages. It can be gritty, just like life. But at times it can be uplifting.

The best methods for Bible study are not to grab a Bible and attempt to read it cover to cover. The Bible is rich, complex, and dense. It requires some knowledge of the history and culture of the period. A great way to study the Bible is to embark on a Bible study of some sort, whether offered through a church or organization or even online. Books on Scripture should really be books on the Bible (and not a bunch of personal opinions of the author). Expository Bible study books are those that take a section or book of the Bible and analyze it line by line. Such line by line Bible studies offer the best insights into Bible teachings.

To learn more about Bible studies and Bible teachings, please click to AWretchLike.me. A daily email devotional is available free along with other Bible study resources, including line-by-line studies.

Nearly a year ago my wife and I decided it was time to downsize. Like many empty nesters our home needs had changed considerably since our sons had moved out on their own. Consequently, we abandoned the bill laden world of homeownership for something simpler and less burdensome. We opted for apartment living.

Almost every day since moving in a gentleman sat outside our front door in a wheelchair. He was a grumpy sort who frequently smoked cigars and chewed tobacco and for whatever reason had claimed a spot near the entrance to our home. One day, not long after moving in, he knocked loudly on our door and complained that I was parking in his parking place. So as not to cause a scene I accommodated him and moved my car wondering why that particular parking spot was so important to a man without a car.

His grumpiness, cigar smoke, and gross ritual of spitting tobacco in a tin can soon resulted in a changed direction as I opted for the back entrance to avoid the unpleasant encounter. Still, his cigar smoke found its way into our apartment as a continual reminder that he was still there.

Soon after my decision to avoid him I began to suffer from a guilty conscience. I knew in my heart of hearts that I should not allow his offensive behavior and habits to keep me from being in a position of ministering to him. Behind all that gruffness was probably a man who could benefit from some words of encouragement.

In the days that followed I made it a point to try to speak to him. At first he would ignore or barely acknowledge my attempts at conversation. My wife also joined in the mission and offered him things she had baked which he also rejected. Gradually he began to thaw and his demeanor toward us changed, the conversations grew longer, and he even got to the point where he greeted us cheerfully.

Eventually I learned his story of how he had suffered a stroke seven years ago confining him to the wheelchair. I also learned that he was my age, loved the Lord, and that his grumpiness was the result of severe pain and emotional stress from his disability. The better I got to know him the less bothersome were the cigars and chewing. I realized that they were the few pleasures still available to him.

Not long ago he disappeared from his familiar spot. His sister shared that his condition had deteriorated and that he was in intensive care at the hospital. A few days later he died.

In today’s focus scripture we read, “let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” The context has to do with following the Lords commands to live righteously and to love others sacrificially as Christ loved us. Oftentimes we save the sacrificial part of our love for those closest to us while ignoring the needs of others.

Sacrificial love does not always involve great sacrifice of finances or personal resources. Sometimes sacrificial love is a simple offering of kindness from a cheerful heart. The sacrifice comes when we refuse to allow anything to keep us from demonstrating love to the unlovable. Sacrificial love gets past offensive or unpleasant behavior, habits, and conditions and gets to the needs of the individual.

If you don’t love that unlovable person who will? If you don’t show them the love of Christ who will? That person that you are rejecting or avoiding may have been targeted by God for ministry. Don’t make the mistake of failing to carry out your mission.

Listen to that inner voice of the Holy Spirit in such matters. In verses 19 and 20 of 1 John we read, “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.” If you truly belong to Christ there will be times when the Holy Spirit checks your behavior and reminds you of your responsibility. The day I determined to take the back entrance instead of the front I knew that I was avoiding God’s assignment for me.

Is there an assignment from God that you are missing? Isn’t it time that you show some sacrificial love by putting your own feelings and biases aside so that you can be obedient to the voice of the Spirit?

“Those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him.” More than anything else in my life the one thing that I have wanted for as long as I can remember is to live for Jesus. That said, I have failed miserably. I have never lived up to that expectation.

I can’t even begin to imagine how many times I have recommitted my life to Christ or asked for forgiveness of my sins. As a child I would lay upon my bed unable to sleep because I was worried that my life wasn’t right before God. Somebody told me way back then that “the age of accountability” was 11 and by my 10^th birthday I was so overcome with worry that there were nights when I could not sleep at all. I recall thinking that I only had one year to get my life right. Then when I reached the age of 11 I failed my Lutheran catechism class and the only one in my group to do so. My pastor tried to console me by telling me that “you can’t grade faith.” But I was still left with that familiar feeling that I had failed God.

These feelings of falling short of the mark have followed me all the days of my life. I remember tearful confessions through high school and my Navy years. Such feelings of spiritual inadequacy continued into my professional radio career eventually leading me to conclude that God wanted me in the ministry. So I studied theology, became a Southern Baptist pastor, and served churches for about 15 years. The result was even more feelings of not measuring up.

I saw a movie recently about the life of Martin Luther and I was fascinated by his spiritual pilgrimage. He described one period of his life as one of spiritual despair in which he devoted himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, and frequent confession. But all of these spiritual exercises failed to satisfy his desire for pleasing God. In Luther’s years of spiritual struggling I could see myself and readily identified with his constant striving yet, no matter how hard he tried, continually failing to live up to God’s expectations.

Even when I awoke this morning my spiritual shortcomings were on my mind. And then I read the focus scripture, “those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him.” In reality the bar is set higher than any of us will ever be able to reach. Denying self and living for Jesus is beyond our mortal capability. Although a worthy goal no matter how hard we try we will always need God’s grace.

When Jesus announced to Peter that he was about to deny him Peter said, “no way.” He was willing to fight to the death for his Lord. But we all know what happened. Peter did exactly what Jesus said he would do and then wept bitterly. Later, while walking with the risen Lord, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Peter responded, “You know that I love you.” Indeed Jesus did know that Peter loved Him. Regardless of the depth of our love for the Lord there will be times when we fall short of the mark.

In those moments when I am confronted with my spiritual inadequacies I have learned that His grace is sufficient for all my needs. He died for my failings and there is no limit to the number of times He will grant forgiveness for my sins.

I’ll never be as good as I want to be for Him and neither will you. But when we are going through those feelings of spiritual inadequacy we should accept His forgiveness, forgive ourselves, and move on.

What are your fondest Easter memories? The first Easter that I can remember was when I was five years old. My Uncle Buddy had joined the Marine Corps shortly before Christmas and didn’t return home from basic training until near Easter. Consequently, my mother decided to leave up the Christmas tree so we could have a combination Christmas/Easter celebration. By Easter that tree looked like Charlie Brown’s needleless Christmas tree.

A year later I had a severe case of the measles at Easter. During that time I was confined to the couch in the living room. On the day before Easter I was greeted by some surprise guests. Mom and dad had purchased two live baby bunnies that were not supposed to be seen until Easter morning. But the bunnies had a different idea and escaped from their box in the kitchen.

I also recall my annual Easter morning basket of colored eggs, marshmallow peeps, and chocolate bunnies which traditionally followed with a big family dinner at my grandmother’s house featuring her homemade coconut Easter Bunny cake. Additionally, my childhood Easter celebration always included going to church. Easter Sunday services were always packed to overflowing with decked out parishioners sporting brightly colored new outfits.

Just like you I have many fond Easter memories and have shared only a few to get you thinking about what you remember most about Easter. However, those things we recall about Easter pale in comparison to what Jesus’ disciples experienced on that first Easter Sunday morning. Can you imagine what it was like when they went to the empty tomb.

There are certain events in your life that are so significant that they remain etched in your memory as if they happened just yesterday. Your wedding day, the birth of your first child, the death of a loved one, the day you graduated from high school, etc. These experiences vividly remain with you in great detail. So it must have been for those disciples who looked into the empty tomb.  

I have often thought about the courageous women who followed close behind Jesus on the road to the cross. How it must have grieved them to see the pain already inflicted upon Him through the cruel beating, flogging, and crown of thorns and then to see the nails driven through His hands and feet and to watch for six horrific hours as Jesus suffered the cruelty of the cross. They witnessed the punishment, the ridicule, and the murder of the One they loved dearly and even after His death they waited for Jesus’ body to be removed from the cross. When His body was carried off for burial they followed to see where He was entombed. They finally left out of obedience for rest on the Sabbath. Even then they planned to return to the grave for the proper preparation of Jesus’ body with spices and perfumes. How that miserable ordeal must have played over and over again in their minds.

When we are shaken by severely traumatic situations the agonizing thoughts remain continually with us. As they awoke on that first Easter Sunday morning they were surely greeted by thoughts of overwhelming grief. In fact, the weight of emotional stress may have been so great that sleep eluded them. They approached the tomb, not in joy, but in great sorrow.

With an unpleasant task before them they returned to the tomb to provide Jesus with a proper burial. Upon arriving they were hit with yet another setback. The tomb was empty. And then:

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24:4-8)

The resurrection of Jesus changed everything for them. Sorrow turned to joy, defeat turned to victory, discouragement turned to hope, and death turned to life. Three simple yet powerful words changed their lives forever. “He has risen.”

My Easter memories have no real value other than just the recall of some happy times of days gone by. Oh, but the Easter memories of those women who faithfully followed Jesus. I’ll take their memories over mine any day.

I can only imagine how things will be in heaven. Maybe someday I’ll be so fortunate as to sit by some of these women as they recall their experience on that first Easter. And if someone should ask me to share my favorite Easter memory I’ll simply say, “My most favorite Easter memory is the same as yours. ‘He has risen!’”

When you go through difficult times your mind is consumed by the ordeal. To provide yourself relief you may at times think back to simpler times when life was less problematic and when your future seemed brighter. You give your mind rest by thinking upon precious memories.

You have probably never heard of John Braselton Fillmore Wright but more than likely you have heard a song that he wrote in 1923 called Precious Memories. It has been recorded by numerous gospel and country music artists including Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Alabama, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Bob Dylan, and Aretha Franklin. (It may be easier to list the artists who have not recorded the song.) Precious Memories was one of many sentimental songs written by Wright who was a farmer by trade.

Wright’s life had been filled with setbacks due to the loss of dear family members and it was through song that he relieved the pain of a broken heart. A year and a half before writing Precious Memories his youngest son died of diphtheria at the age of five. It is no wonder that so many people have identified with the sentiments expressed in the lyrics. Here is the familiar chorus:

Precious memories, how they linger

How they ever flood my soul

In the stillness of the midnight

Precious, sacred scenes unfold.

Today’s focus scripture is written in the context of difficult times and suffering. In the preceding verse we are told, “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb 12:1) Then in verse 3 we read, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Verses 1 and 3 help us to understand the instruction in verse 2:

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

There is certainly nothing wrong with taking your mind to a place and time from the past to relieve the agony of the moment but here the emphasis is on the relief that can be found by focusing on “the joy” that lies ahead. Before you lies something far greater than anything than you have ever experienced. It will be a time of total victory in a place where there will be no more pain or sorrow. Just as Jesus “endured the cross” by looking to “the joy set before him” we gain the courage, boldness, and faith we need for standing in the midst of hardship by following His example. We look to Christ not only as the “author of our faith” but also as the “perfecter of our faith.”

Jesus faced the cross not only by enduring but also by “scorning its shame.” He refused to allow the cross to defeat Him. When we stand up to our hardships in faith and confidence in God we are “scorning” its hold on our lives. We know that we can be hurt but not destroyed. We will reign victorious in Christ.

Just as Jesus looked to the time that he would sit down “at the right hand of the throne of God” we can be emboldened by thinking on that time when we will be with our Lord in His heaven.

The Easter message gives us Precious Memories for the future and relief is found, not from what was, but what is and shall be as we “fix our eyes on Jesus.”

Now, let’s revisit the chorus to Precious Memories but rather than looking back let’s look forward to our blessed hope. Pay particular attention to the precious sacred scenes in your future.

Precious memories, how they linger

How they ever flood my soul

In the stillness of the midnight

Precious, sacred scenes unfold.

It just occurred to me that this is the second time when this song has come to mind as I have considered God’s word. Ironically, as “Precious Memories of the future flood my soul” on this Easter Eve it was on Christmas Eve (see Precious Memories) when I last wrote about this song as the result of my observations on Luke 2:19: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” That message had to do with looking back on what God has done in your life as a believer.

Wherever we see Jesus, in the past, present, or future there will be plentiful Precious Memories for strengthening our faith. When we “fix our eyes on Jesus” there is always hope.

When Jesus made this claim his disciples didn’t grasp the meaning. Such an incredible prophecy of one’s fate was far beyond the realm of human rationale. Sure, Jesus’ ministry had been met with opposition but He had all these extraordinary powers and such amazing knowledge and wisdom. Wherever He went He drew large crowds of people who adored Him. They and His disciples saw Jesus as the blessed hope of Israel, the one who would be their great liberator and king. The future looked so promising. With Jesus as their leader they were headed for a better tomorrow. Then, suddenly, Jesus hit them with words that stopped them in their tracks. “Betrayed…condemned…mocked…flogged…crucified!”

This One who would lead them was now prophesying His impending death. There are few things in life that hit so hard as the news that someone you love dearly is about to die. Possibly they were too consumed by words of Jesus’ death to consider the words that followed. “On the third day he will be raised to life!” Even if they did try to process these words such an event was beyond comprehension. People just don’t die and then come back to life a few days later. They had seen Jesus perform some amazing miracles including raising Lazarus from the dead but this assertion was beyond comprehension.

There is also the possibility that they were only hearing what they wanted to hear, much like we sometimes read scripture. It’s kind of like watching television and tuning out the commercials and flipping through the shows until we settle on something we like. I once worked with a radio station receptionist who read the bible at her desk every day. One day as I was walking by I noticed that she was highlighting scripture but not with a yellow highlight pen. She was using a black marker. It looked like she was marking out parts of scripture that she didn’t like.

We also cannot ignore the fact that the Holy Spirit frequently veiled the meaning of Jesus’ instruction only to give them understanding at a later time. The same thing happens to us. Have you ever read a passage of scripture numerous times and then one day you have a light bulb experience? “So that’s what that means.” It was not until after Jesus’ resurrection that they were able to understand His prophecy. It took a relatable life experience and the illuminating work of the scripture to grasp the meaning of Jesus’ words.

Jesus’ prophecy concerning Himself was that on the other side of suffering everything is going to be OK. There is going to be incredible victory. That terrible ordeal of the cross would not be the end but the beginning of something better. To get to the better future that they had envisioned He must first suffer and then there would be victory, not as they had imagined, but something far better with eternal value. God’s plan is always better than man’s plan.

Jesus’ victory was not just for Him but for all who put their faith in Him for eternal salvation. Whenever we face painful trials we can always be certain that on the other side of suffering there is victory. Jesus conquered death and suffering with His resurrection. All afflictions on this earth for the Christian are temporary and end in eternal victory.

At your disposal is a power that is unfathomable. It is the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. It is mind-blowing supernatural power that exceeds human comprehension. Nothing you face in life is impossible for God. Surely we must be grounded in the reality of human experience and knowledge. But we should never forget that we are not solely limited by that which we can see and understand. There is a power that is in us that supersedes the limitations of the natural world. Now and forever, on the other side of suffering there is hope…because He lives. Suffering and death is not the end. Thanks be to God for His incredible gift.