Weekly Devotional 2-22-21 Are You Afraid of Dying?
This week’s devotional is offered to us by our dear brother Oscar Leske and he began by referring us to 1st Corinthians 15:55 which says “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” He followed up by quoting the following inspiration written by Adrian Rodgers, a faithful servant of the past.
A pastor who lost his wife in death was left to single parent their little girl. She could not fully understand all that had happened. But one day while she was in the car with her father, she saw the shadow of a truck passing by. The setting sun made the shadow huge, much bigger than the truck. The little girl said, “Daddy, look at the big shadow.” He said, “Sweetheart, would you rather be hit by the shadow of the truck or by the truck?” “That’s easy,” she said, “I’d much rather be hit by the shadow.” He said, “That’s right, darling. And it was only the shadow that hit Mama. The truck hit Jesus two thousand years ago at Calvary.” That is why in The Twenty-Third Psalm, David calls it “the valley of the shadow of death.” Jesus has taken the sting out of death and the dread out of the grave! He has become our victor!
Many people fear death—it is a shadow looming over each of us, representing the unknown. Yet Jesus disarmed death and took away its power. The believer in Christ can have this assurance: beyond that shadow is the sunlight of the eternal morning.
Talk with the Lord right now. Tell Him about something you fear. He already knows about it anyway. Picture yourself giving that fear over to Him. Place it in the nail-scarred Hand. (End of quote)
Thinking of this Oscar thought of Romans 6:9-10 which says: “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God” (Romans 6:9-10).
Expounding on this Oscar wrote:
Some Good News from a Graveside; The best news this old world has ever heard came from a graveside just outside Jerusalem: He is risen! On that day, life and death met in a tomb in mortal combat. Life won. Death died. In that tomb, Jesus won the victory over death. There is no more timeless truth than this: Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. That is a truth science cannot explain, history cannot repeat, and time cannot erode. It is the Truth of all truths. It is the Truth that proves Jesus is the Son of God. Romans 1:3-4 declares it to be so: “Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
What is the proof Jesus is God’s Son? Romans says, “Here’s your proof: God raised Him from the dead.”
In closing, Oscar again quoted Adrian Rogers, writing:
Someone has said, “If Jesus Christ is still in that grave, nothing matters. But if He came out of the grave, nothing but that really matters.” Be aware as you go about your day today that in Jesus Christ, you serve not a dead prophet or philosopher—but a risen Lord. Jesus is alive, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Oscar
Blessings
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