Lots of people ask for proof that God is real and that Jesus is who He says He is. The proof is the resurrection and the empty tomb. After all the resurrection talk started back in the first century, all anyone needed to do was produce the dead body of Jesus, and this whole Christianity business would have been squashed. But no crucified, dead body could ever be found because God had indeed raised Jesus. Life went back into that body. Paul writes:

“…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also…” 2 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NKJ).

In any court case, credible eyewitness testimony is key to solving the case. It can be extremely difficult to get people’s stories it jive. But in the case of the resurrection of Jesus, the testimony of Peter (Cephas), the rest of the apostles (the inner circle of the twelve), over 500 other followers (the brethren), James, and then Paul himself, all corroborated. All these eyewitnesses saw the resurrected Christ.

Jesus is alive, and His life proves the existence and reality of God.

God continues today to breathe life into dead situations. Let Him breathe His life into the deadness you are facing, and then worship Him for being the Life-giver.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

One way to prove that two things are the same is by observing the actions of both. For example, if two cups are filled with a clear substance and one proves to be acid that eats through a piece of wood, pour the substance from the other cup onto the same piece of wood to see if it does the same thing. If the second substance eats through the wood in the same way, it’s safe to assume that the second substance is also acid.

So it is with God and Jesus. One proof that they are the same is that they can do the same things. In Psalm 104, the Psalmist declares that “the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away…You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth.” In other words, God can control water; water obeys Him.

Now let’s test the other cup. Matthew 8:26 says, “But He (Jesus) said to them (the disciples), ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” Not only do we see here that the waters obeyed Jesus’ command, but they acted differently when He was around. In John 6:19, the water holds Him up as He walks on it, and in John chapter 2, it blushes at His word and turns into wine.

Dealing with the elements (like water) is but one example proving that both God the Father and God the Son can perform the same feats. Indeed, They are one in the same. And They have not changed. They continue to walk on the impossible and calm the irrational issues that confront us. Worship God today for being the water-walker and storm-stiller.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

Whenever I think of mercy, I think of two things. On the one hand, the word “mercy” conjures up the picture of a guilty person who has been arrested for a crime he was caught doing red-handed. There’s no way to wiggle out of the truth and he’s standing in front of the judge’s bench about to be sentenced. If the judge looks on this criminal and says, “Not guilty, you’re free to go,” mercy was just granted.

The other picture I see when I think of mercy is that of Jesus Christ on the cross, suffering and dying to satisfy God’s wrath that would otherwise be poured out on me. You see, Jesus took my sin onto Himself and when He was nailed to the cross, so was my sin. Now when God, the righteous Judge, looks at me standing before His bench, He sees that Jesus served my sentence already and says, “Not guilty, you’re free to go.”

Psalm 103:10-14 captures the idea of God’s mercy:

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

 As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.”

Mercy means “not getting what we justly deserve. ”Many of us may not want to admit it, but the truth is we all need God’s mercy. If God dealt with us according to our sins and iniquities, doling out what we justly deserve, we’d all be in a heap of trouble. Thankfully, just like a loving father who pities his children, God pities us, knowing we’re flawed, yet letting our flaws and failures be swallowed up by His great love for us. Our response to so great a love can be nothing less than total devotion, praise, and obedience. Worship God today for being merciful.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

Besides being a classic love story, what we read about Ruth in the Bible is an uplifting reminder that where we were born and the bad things that happen to us in the past are no indicators of what God can do with us in the present and future. Ruth was from a family line considered cursed. (The Moabites were descendents of the incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters, see Genesis 19:36-37.) Then she became a widow at an early age and had no children through which to secure an inheritance. But none of that mattered to God. What mattered to God was her heart, which was sold out to Him. After all was said and done, Ruth caught the attention of the most eligible bachelor in town, he fell in love with her and married her, and she became the great-grandmother of King David, directly in the line, which led to our Savior!

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Stay committed to following God. No matter where you come from or what you’ve been through, a heart sold out to Him is what matters. Don’t worry. Be at peace. Life will work out. Worship God today for having divine foresight that sees past the awful present and is able to carry you into an awesome future.

____________________________

©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)