The White Stone Zone

13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1 Cor. 15) Paul tells us that our faith is useless without the resurrection. If we stop to think about that in light of the cross where Jesus died for our sins, we would think that this statement almost diminishes the work of the cross. What I failed to realize early in my walk with Christ is the personal significance of the resurrection of Christ. I thought that the resurrection was only to prove that Jesus was different and because his grave was empty, it set Him apart from all other leaders claiming to know the way to God. This is true, but the resurrection has a personal significance to each one of us that I think is often missed because we obsess about and focus on the sin problem...our eyes are on what we do or don't do--not on who we are in Christ. We were born into this world spiritually dead. Adam died spiritu...

1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14) I was watching the play Annie with my daughter Grace Marie. There is a scene where Daddy Warbucks wants to show orphan Annie unconditional love by bringing her to his mansion for Christmas time and give her all the pleasanties of life. Warbuck's assistant asks Annie, "What do you want to do first?" Annie replies, "I think the windows, and then I will mop the floors..." She thought that Warbucks brought her there to work...to be used..." The assistant then told Annie why Daddy Warbucks brought her there...for her company...to share everything he had with her....for those few days it was all hers. Yep, you got it, God spoke...

12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. The Spirit of God is our Counselor and Teacher who is with us always. The Spirit empowers us and equips us to love others, leads us into truth and testifies of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The work of the Spirit that Paul speaks about here is essential to our fellowship with God. We need the Spirit to understand what God has freely given us. In Christ, He has given us His very Self. And in giving of Himself, He has given us all things--freely. In his death, we are given complete forgiveness; in his death he has made us acceptable; in his death we are made righteous with the same righteousness of Christ. In his resurrection, we are made alive to God; in his resurrection, we have a spiritual life that is perfect, holy, and blameless. In his resurrection and ascension, we are joined to Christ inseparately--we have been joined to him......