Hello my precious moms!
We had a wonderful Umbrella Ministries meeting on Saturday. The one thing I loved was hearing Daisy Catching talk about her habit of worship every day. It is healing for her broken heart as it is for mine. If you make a habit of reading the Word, praying and praising you will experience God's supernatural comfort and peace. Check out the amazing worship videos on the right. Singing and worshipping along with them transports me into the throne room of Heaven, lifts my burdens and fills me with incredible joy. You might like to incorporate these into your daily quiet time.
Thank you to all who shared and asked for prayer. I am praying for you and your families daily. You are all on my mind and in my heart. Please email me with any prayer request you have.
I am continuing to pray Ephesians 1:16-21 for you. Last week my attention was on God flooding your heart with understanding in His Word. This week my focus is on verses 19-20 "I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms...."
How amazing is that? The same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead is working in us right now! Oh, may we know and understand this incredible greatness of His power towards us!
Anticipating Resurrection
Remember: You are the focus of God's heart. Every detail of Heaven is for you!
Reading Randy Alcorn's chapters on the Resurrection filled me with anticipation and excitement for all God has planned for us - a new resurrected creation! Not just our bodies but all of His creation, resurrected to newness of life. Not just restored to what it once was but better. "All that was lost at the beginning will be restored at the end. And far more will be added besides." (Heaven page 132)
Chapters 11 - 13 explains why Resurrection is so important and what it really means. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 that our faith is futile without it! Randy Alcorn states, "without Christ's resurrection and what it means - an eternal future for fully restored human beings dwelling on a fully restored Earth - there is no Christianity." (Heaven page 111) Throughout the Bible the Resurrection is depicted as overcoming the Curse - God will restore us and the earth to what He made us to be - but better, glorified, without the possibility of sin.
Chapters 11 - 13 explains why Resurrection is so important and what it really means. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 that our faith is futile without it! Randy Alcorn states, "without Christ's resurrection and what it means - an eternal future for fully restored human beings dwelling on a fully restored Earth - there is no Christianity." (Heaven page 111) Throughout the Bible the Resurrection is depicted as overcoming the Curse - God will restore us and the earth to what He made us to be - but better, glorified, without the possibility of sin.
Our bodies, the ones we have now, the bodies of our children will be raised, transformed into glorious bodies. Psalm 139:14 "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." And Psalm 111:4 says, "He has made His wonderful works to be remembered." Our bodies are precious and wonderful to the Lord and He intends for them to be raised, remembered and glorified for all eternity. Sometimes I love to think about Melissa's body. That may seem weird to some - but she was my little baby, my sweet toddler, my child that I was privileged to see grow and mature into a beautiful young woman. I remember her as a baby, a toddler, a child, an adolescent, a teen, a young woman, I remember her hands, her feet (one with a little bump on the side of her big toe), her shoulders, her nose, her lips, her beautiful face, her gorgeous hair! I could go on and on! Her body was and is precious and wonderful to me and to the Lord! I'm sure most of us were told and given the impression that the body is not important, "That really isn't her anymore - She's in Heaven with Jesus." Not true and true.
So how do you handle the fact that many bodies are destroyed at death or cremated? (Sorry, I hate to talk about this but it is important!) Nothing, absolutely nothing, can destroy or annihilate God's creation. One microscopic cell contains all the DNA of our bodies - God is so amazing, isn't He? It is no problem for God to resurrect a body using one cell! I had heard J. Vernon McGee explain that Cremation started as a rebellious act against the Bible's teaching on the bodily resurrection. That certainly is not the case today, it is now a common practice even amongst Christians. The Lord will gather the ashes blown away by the wind and fashion a beautiful, glorified body that is the same body but better, different but still the same! And so He will do with all of His creation!
The more I read about the far reaching affects of the resurrection I kept thinking about the Ephesians passage that I have been praying for us. The incredible, mighty power of the resurrection is available right now. We don't have to wait until the trumpet blows and the dead in Christ rise to experience newness of life. If resurrection power restores our bodies and restores a new earth and all of creation can't it also restore my life now? We might not have a resurrected body but we can experience the resurrected life; beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Oh, how I know God's resurrection power is transforming my life here on earth. He is taking the ashes of my life and creating something beautiful, the same Janette, but better, different but still the same!!
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to . . . heal the broken hearted, to liberate the captives, free those who are bound; comfort and console all who mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1-3 paraphrased)
Remember: You are the focus of God's heart. Every detail of Heaven is for you!
I love you all.
All for Jesus and His Glory,
Janette Henning
