Verse of the Day 4/23

 

1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  New International Version (NIV)

 

Today's passage is another one that is a good follow up for Easter.  It is a reminder of Jesus conquering death and in doing so giving us a hope and a confidence for today and our future.  Paul knew that we would all face times of trouble and he reminds, encourages and challenges us to "let nothing move you".

 

I'm reminded again of the words of the old hymn, "Praise the Savior Ye Who Know Him" and in relation to today's verse the line "nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in Him."

 

Jesus is the Name that charms us,
He for conflict fits and arms us;
Nothing moves and nothing harms us
While we trust in Him.

Trust in Him, ye saints, forever,
He is faithful, changing never;
Neither force nor guile can sever
Those He loves from Him.

Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
To Thyself, and still believing,
Till the hour of our receiving
Promised joys with Thee.

This standing firm is not done on our own, it is not about being stoic.  It is about trusting, holding on, "cleaving" and looking forward to the day, to "the hour of our receiving".  Jesus overcame, in placing our faith and trust in Him and by His grace we too are and will be overcomers.  Think of that time when sin, guilt and death will be gone by the power of that resurrected life.

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

Follow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

1 Corinthians 15:57-58

The Message (MSG)

^51-57 But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

⁵⁸ With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.