It was a day for the history books at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Orville and Wilbur Wright had just completed the first manned flight, covering 120 feet at 6.8 mph. Their triumphant accomplishment followed years of diligent work. If you had gone up to the Wright brothers that day and announced to them that in less than 70 years man would set foot on the moon, how would they have responded? I don't know for sure, but I think they might have looked incredulous and said, “Impossible!”
It was one of the first computers, designed for the military and state-of-the-art for its day in 1946. It weighed in at 30 tons and had 18,000 vacuum tubes, and when first turned on, it consumed so much power that it dimmed the lights in Philadelphia where it was located. How would those proud technicians have responded if you told them that in 60 years the average person would be carrying far more powerful computers the size of writing tablets in their briefcases? Again, I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear, “Impossible!”
We can grasp the possibility of things we can conceive or even imagine in our biggest dreams, but how do we gauge the possibility of something beyond our imagination? Today we are technologically savvy, but do we really have any idea what might exist in 10 or 15 years? If someone were to tell us now, what will be then, would we look at them and say, “Impossible”?
Today, as Christians, we face just that kind of situation. It's not about technology, it's about a promise that Jesus made to us before He left. After demonstrating in His ministry the will of Father God by healing all the sick who came to Him, Jesus told us in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do the works that I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
What did Jesus mean? I think He meant exactly what He said. Jesus always made it clear that He never did anything on His own, He always received His power from Father God. I think He was telling us that the same actions were possible for us to do through the power of God's Holy Spirit given to us. Only one thing was required, that we believe the promise. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, “All things are possible for the person who believes.”
This is not the power of positive thinking. It is absolute trust in the living God who is all-powerful and willing to do good for us. As the apostle Paul reminds us, “nothing is impossible with God.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Physical healing at God's hand is controversial in the church. Despite the promise of Jesus, some Christians cannot conceive of God placing so great a gift in our hands. Besides, there are plenty of people who are prayed for who don't get healed, so how do you explain that? I can't provide a specific answer for a particular situation, but I can give a general answer that I think is accurate. We are on a learning curve. We are not learning how to heal because that is what God does. Rather, we are learning how to more deeply trust and believe His promises to us so that we may become conduits of His power to others. As we see God heal more people, our imagination expands and we grasp more of the possibility that formerly seemed impossible.
I invite you to join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. We are discussing God's healing power for today in “No Longer Sick,” the latest in our series on, “The Great Exchange.” We will be having a healing service and are expecting God to do the impossible in our midst.
Are you fascinated by "the living dead?" Currently they are very popular as seen in the success of the "Twilight" book and movie series. Reportedly, fans are attracted by the blend of romance and horror contained in the stories, as well as the idea that someone can keep living forever.
"Good vampires" like Edward Cullen, are a recent addition to a long tradition of folklore about "the living dead." Tales of vampire-like creatures have been around as long as human history. Literal belief in vampires was so strong in medieval Europe that fear amounting to mass hysteria took over the population for a period of time. Corpses were exhumed from their graves and stakes driven through their hearts in an effort to destroy the vampires that people believed existed.
While these creatures live on perpetually, their lifestyle is hardly one that most of us would envy. They must constantly feed their desire for blood in order to continue living, so their relationship with others is that of predator. They're constantly being hunted either by human beings or other creatures, so they are never at rest. They are usually portrayed as wandering, driven, basically unhappy creatures who are doomed to an eternal existence of hunt and be hunted that will never change.
While most people would agree that vampires are mythology and not reality, "the living dead" do actually exist. Outwardly they pass for normal, but inwardly they are driven, restless and often unhappy. Who are they? The Bible describes them accurately in 1st Timothy 5:6, "The person who lives only for themselves and their pleasure is dead even while they live." They seek wealth, power and the ability to do things their own way. But Proverbs 14:21 tells us: "There is a way that seems right to a person, but in the end it leads only to death." Their plans appear to give them what they want, but they end up feeling empty and futile again.
Are their desires wrong? You might be surprised to find out, not really. We were created by God to enjoy abundance and never be in want, to have dominion over everything on the earth and to control dangers and things that could harm us. So these desires are a natural God-given part of us. It is the way we try to fulfill these desires that is the problem.
God designed us to find the fulfillment of all our desires in an ongoing relationship with Him. He originally gave us the choice of partnering with Him or going our own way, and we chose to do it our way. But that choice is a living death because we can never find satisfaction in it. We are physically alive, but not really living.
This Sunday will be Easter, a time when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most important event in Christianity. Do you know why? John 5:24 explains it. "Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death to life’." Eternal life is full, abundant life now, and after our physical death, life continuing forever.
Are you among the living dead? This Easter Jesus Christ is inviting you to find abundant life in Him. Choose to leave the living dead. Choose Christ and start really living!
Come join us this Easter Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM when we will be discussing, "No Longer Dead," another in our series on "The Great Exchange."
