HOPE beyond death in Christ

Easter Brings Hope - Easter Devotional

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live."
—John 11:25

Easter is not about brightly colored eggs, wearing pastels, or enjoying a big meal, although it could include these. Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For some, Easter will be a great day, spent surrounded by family and friends. But for others, it will be a sad day, because Easter is a reminder of a loved one who has died and is now desperately missed.

Death seems so cruel, so harsh, and so final. That is what the disciples were feeling when they saw their Lord, whom they had left everything to follow, hanging on the cross. They were devastated. Death had crushed them. But if they would have gone back in their memories, they would have recalled an important event and statement Jesus had made.

They would have remembered Jesus standing at the tomb of his close friend Lazarus. They would have remembered that Jesus did something completely unexpected: He wept (see John 11:35). Jesus wept, because He knew that death was not part of God's original plan. Humanity was not meant to grow old, to suffer with disease, or to die. But because of the sin of Adam and Eve, sin entered the human race, and death followed with it. And death spread to all of us. Jesus wept, because it broke His heart.

But standing there at Lazarus' tomb, Jesus also delivered these hope-filled words: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25). Death is not the end. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves it.

If you have put your faith in Christ, then Easter means that you will live forever in the presence of God. Easter brings hope to the person who has been devastated by death.

Pilgrims

Pilgrims “We are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope.” 1 Chronicles 29:15 NKJV When he was 31, John Bunyan was arrested for preaching the Gospel. Refusing to compromise, he spent 12 years in prison. But these years weren’t wasted. There he wrote several of history’s most important books, including Pilgrim’s Progress. Writing in allegorical terms, Bunyan illustrated the challenges faced by all believers. He described how a young man (“Christian”) journeyed toward his ultimate home in the “Celestial City.” This journey brought him to places with vivid names, such as Vanity Fair, the Slough of Despond, the Hill of Difficulty, Lucre Hill, Doubting Castle, and Mount Caution. Along the way, he was distracted and deceived by people such as Obstinate, Mistrust, Talkative, Envy, and Little-faith. But Christian was encouraged and helped by characters like Evangelist, Faithful, Good Will, Hopeful, Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sincere. The names and characteristics of these people were reminders of Biblical principles that can help us on our journey. Yet Christian struggled, forced to decide between compromise and faithfulness. He continually wondered how to react to people and situations. In the end, he persevered. Pilgrim’s Progress, first published on this day in 1678, has been widely read, and is a source of great encouragement. Next to the Bible, it was the most read book during early American history. Countless thousands have been impacted by Bunyan’s imagery of the struggles faced by Christian and the way to walk in victory. Each of us is reminded that we all are pilgrims on a journey through life. We face real temptations, opposition, and dangers, and we can’t make it on our own. We need the help of other believers. Most of all, we need to depend on God, drawing on His Spirit, standing on His Word. Prayer Father, help me to stay faithful to You on my journey through life. Thank You that You are present with me. Give me discernment and strength. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Biblical meditation

For many years I studied the Bible incorrectly, and it produced death rather ♨than life. Even though I had a knowledge of the Scriptures, I did not personally 🙏experience the life and the realities they revealed. The Bible calls this the ministry of 💥death, rather than the ministry of 💡 righteousness (2 Cor. 3:6–9). Upon coming out of Bible college, I found myself just like the apostle Paul, attacking those who disagreed with my theology.

Once I learned to hear 🍎God’s voice, I let God lead me to the Scriptures, I let God ⛅reveal the Scriptures to my heart, and I experienced what the disciples experienced—my heart burning 🔥within as Jesus opened up Scriptures for me (Luke 24:32). When I read the Bible, I began to expect encounters 💖with the Holy Spirit. It was no no longer a draining chore, but a delightful 🍎adventure! I was becoming like David, who wrote, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation🙏 all the day” (Ps. 119:9 ESV).

Bible verses started leaping off the page, revelation 📌was flashing, and I discovered this could happen every single day, every time I opened the Bible—or any book for that matter. God knows a lot about a lot of topics, and He is able to grant⚠ revelation in every area I read if I approach the book with the proper heart attitude. What an insight!

This book is a practical, interactive, usable guide, designed for the general public, leading them into the process of Biblical meditation. The body of this book contains user friendly, easy devotional 🍓applications of the process of Biblical meditation. Heady research on Greek and Hebrew words for Meditation have been put into the appendix.This book will be your coach, leading you into experiencing daily revelation from Scripture.

The Bible was meant to be 🙏meditated on, and yet most of us have never had any training on exactly 🍭how to do Biblical ♨meditation. Eastern meditation and New Age meditation are inferior counterfeits to revelation-based meditation which is centered in Scriptures.

Let's do what King David did. He said his thoughts were troubling until he came into 🍎the sanctuary of the Lord, then he 💡perceived (Ps. 73:17). Wow! He stepped beyond his own thinking, and came into⛅ God's presence, and then experienced🍎 perception, Holy Spirit 😊revelation.

I didn't approach Scripture with a listening heart for my first decade as a Christian because I didn't believe God was 🙌speaking anymore, so Bible study needed to be all about me and my 📌efforts. Yuck!

Then I discovered that the verse in the King James Bible which says, "Study to show yourself approved..." (2 Tim. 2:15) was more correctly translated in the New King James Version as, "Be diligent🍓 to present yourself approved to God...." This was the only command in the Bible to study and it should have been translated as "diligence," which of course is an attitude🍭 of your heart, not🎯 a function of your brain!

Do you know how much I hate memorizing and living mistranslations of the Greek? A lot! So what is God's better idea? It is to let Him reveal 🌹truth to our 💖hearts as He opens Scriptures to us. The disciples on the Emmaus road said, "Were not our hearts🔥 burning within us as He opened Scriptures to us?" (Lk. 24:32) Got it!

So this is my current approach to Scripture: 🙏Invite God, through His Holy Spirit Who is within me, to 💡reveal insights from Scripture to my heart (Eph. 1:17,18) and ask for revelation🔥 to burn in my heart every time I open the Bible. And I do mean every time. Why not? He is always at my side (Acts 2:25). Why wouldn't I invite Him to be part of the exploratory process?

If I invite the Holy Spirit into the process, it is called "meditation" - a word which shows up about 60 times in the Bible and is translated in various ways. Meditation📌 means I study the Bible in the presence of God, asking for revelation 💡from the Holy Spirit, so that God gets to speak🍎 afresh to my heart every morning as I walk with Him in the cool of the day. Wow! Restoration to the Garden of Eden, to daily walks and talks with the God of the Universe, my Father, who loves to reveal Himself to me.

There will never be another day where you come to the Bible and it will be a dull and dusty book. We guarantee, if you use these simple steps, which involve posturing your 🍑heart properly in the presence of the Lord, you will have verses leaping off the page every time you come to the Bible.

I love this quote from Bill Johnson: "It's hard to have the same fruit as the early church when we value a book they didn't 🍭have above the Holy Spirit they did have." Let's restore the place of honor and respect 🌹that the Holy Spirit 🔥deserves as we come to His Word.

Mark Virkler biblical meditation