Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from Wordaction of The Global Church of the Nazarene Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Promise and Provision" by Lori Miller for Wednesday, 15 February 2017 with Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from Wordaction of The Global Church of the Nazarene Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Promise and Provision"  by Lori Miller for Wednesday, 15 February 2017 with Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
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"Promise and Provision" by Lori Miller
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand, 2 and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain. 3 For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 4 and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 5 and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; 6 and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries; 8 and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time. 9 For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God. 10 But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me. 11 Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.
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Grief, like winter, is ushered in unwelcome and uninvited. Thought we cannot die of grief, it certainly feels as if we can. Life as we have known it simply disappears in the blink of an eye, and there are moments when we feel as if the cold and darkness will never end. However, I believe in a God whose Word says, "I am he who sustains you. I have made you and I will carry you" [Isaiah 46:4b].
The promise of a God who will sustain and carry is only matched by the provision of a God who has overcome the world. Wrapped in the treasure of the gospel is the truth of the resurrection and the promise of eternal life for those who trust in Him. The sting of separation endured in the experience of loss is hushed by the inherent power of the gospel to transform lives. There is hope in the face of death because, as the resurrection of our Lord ensures, the darkness always surrenders to light, and there is no night that doesn't end. The edges of grief are transformed by an all-sufficient God-smoothed, rounded, and beautifully purposed for a season to come.
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Hymn for Today: "He Leadeth Me" by Joseph H. Gilmore
1. He leadeth me: O blessed thought! 
O words with heavenly comfort fraught! 
Whate'er I do, where'er I be, 
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. 
Refrain: 
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, 
by his own hand he leadeth me; 
his faithful follower I would be, 
for by his hand he leadeth me. 
2. Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, 
sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, 
by waters still, o'er troubled sea, 
still 'tis his hand that leadeth me. 
Refrain: 
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, 
by his own hand he leadeth me; 
his faithful follower I would be, 
for by his hand he leadeth me. 
3. Lord, I would place my hand in thine, 
nor ever murmur nor repine; 
content, whatever lot I see, 
since 'tis my God that leadeth me. 
Refrain: 
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, 
by his own hand he leadeth me; 
his faithful follower I would be, 
for by his hand he leadeth me. 
4. And when my task on earth is done, 
when by thy grace the victory's won, 
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee, 
since God through Jordan leadeth me. 
Refrain: 
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, 
by his own hand he leadeth me; 
his faithful follower I would be, 
for by his hand he leadeth me. 
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Thought for Today: Psalm 119:76 Let your grace comfort me,
in keeping with your promise to your servant.
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Please Pray: That many people in the United Kingdom will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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