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"The Sting of Sowing" by Lori Miller
1 Corinthians 15:29 Were it otherwise, what would the people accomplish who are immersed on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not actually raised, why are people immersed for them? 30 For that matter, we ourselves — why do we keep facing danger hour by hour? 31 Brothers, by the right to be proud which the Messiah Yeshua our Lord gives me, I solemnly tell you that I die every day. 32 If my fighting with “wild beasts” in Ephesus was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”[1 Corinthians 15:32 Isaiah 22:13, 56:12] 33 Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character.” 34 Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! There are some people who lack knowledge of God — I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have?” 36 Stupid! When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies. 37 Also, what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else; 38 but God gives it the body he intended for it; and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all living matter is the same living matter; on the contrary, there is one kind for human beings, another kind of living matter for animals, another for birds and another for fish. 40 Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else. 41 The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon another, the stars yet another; indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty.
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Winter is reflective of grief and loss, but without warning, the seasons retain their essential rhythm, and winter will be forced to relent. Things will begin to bloom recklessly; the earth will awaken, and life marches forward. In reality, for all its beauty and wonder, spring is also hostile and unpredictable. The mystery of unexpected wibds that blow in unannounced, the ferocious thunderstorm both beautiful and frightening their scope and size-these are the oft-forgotten elements of the great annual miracle that is the arrival of spring.
It has been said that for a tiny planted seed to become what it is created to be, it has to come completely undone. The shell will crack and the insides will explode and everything about that seed changes. To someone who does not understand growth, it looks like complete and utter destruction, but to the Creator God, it is the beginning of a masterpiece.
In the story of spring, in the planting and sowing of seeds, is the truth of the resurrection evidenced in the creation of God. For in death our bodies will be similarly transformed, and it is only in death that we will truly begin to live.-------
Hymn for Today: "The Solid Rock" by Edward Mote
1. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
3. His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
4. When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
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Thought for Today: John 12:24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest.
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Please Pray: For faculty and students as they prepare for Christian ministry in the United Kingdom.
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In the story of spring, in the planting and sowing of seeds, is the truth of the resurrection evidenced in the creation of God. For in death our bodies will be similarly transformed, and it is only in death that we will truly begin to live.-------
Hymn for Today: "The Solid Rock" by Edward Mote
1. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
3. His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
4. When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
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Thought for Today: John 12:24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest.
-------
Please Pray: For faculty and students as they prepare for Christian ministry in the United Kingdom.
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