If you were sitting in the Frog Pond (a coffee shop, not a marsh) in Owen Sound one recent morning, you might have overheard a heated discussion between Elaine and I. The question from her was something like this: “You talk all the time about the promises of God and how we can claim them for our lives. But how am I supposed to know what promises God has made to me that I can actually claim?”
I woke up the other morning feeling anxious. It seems to hit me in the mornings. I did some exercises I do every day, and that usually knock the anxiety out of me.
But then two far more powerful things happened. I opened my Bible for my regular Scripture reading, and I wound up in Hebrews 10. I got down to verse 23, to this phrase: “For he who promised is faithful.” To say it jumped out at me would be an understatement. It was as if God himself was yelling it in my ear.
Some years it seems like spring will never come.
It’s so bad here there is snow in the forecast, and it’s the first week in May.
Both you and I know there are times when life is just like that. One thing piles on top of another. We pick ourselves up off the mat only to get hit by the next oncoming train. The enemy seems to have more power than God.
Where is the best text to preach about the resurrection? Not where you think it is.
I think the place to start is Revelation chapter 12. There John paints a picture for us of a woman in labour. She is crowned with the sun, moon and stars. The woman represents the covenant line of the Messiah, just like in the dream Joseph had that got him into all that trouble.
She brings forth the child destined to rule the nations with a rod of iron. Genesis 3 and Psalm 2 show this is Jesus.
