Brothers and Sisters....Listen!

I Cor. 15:58,
   
   Therefore, my brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Aways give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. For  your labor is not in vain.
   


     This particular scripture follows Paul's discourse just before this on the resurrected body and what it shall be.  Curious.....The entirety of his discourse to the Corinthians was to dispute the ongoing error on the resurrected Christ and also ours, as Christ's followers. In other words speaking of the future to come?  NO not so.  AS we are par takers of Christ's new creation now in this present time, then we have a work to do to be par takers in the work here and now.  After the resurrected Christ came and showed himself to his followers realize that something momentous just happened not to Christ only, but to all those who would believe.  Redemption of ourselves of course but also of the new Jerusalem and the Earth. (N. T. Wright) Surprised by Hope).  What Paul is trying to convey is life is now worth living, in the here and now. We being the vessels by which God will usher in the so needed changes in this present evil and corrupt world.  We are changed so our mission has changed. No longer do we just work for money, safety, our families, and the like.   The great commission stands.  Why?  Because if we held to the former beliefs that all is passing away and heaven awaits us elsewhere, why bother?  With that mindset corruption continues, evil persists, bad people continue to be bad people.  There is no resistance.  I do not mean we should fight, but we should be able to influence what is around us, if in fact Jesus is the first fruits of something entirely different.  Death has been conquered.  If when casting out demons he refuted the Pharisees saying If by the finger of God ( get this..finger is small but greater than us.) he casts them out then the Kingdom of God has come down to Earth.  So then as " Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then we have a witness to uphold in  whatever we do. Since now his kingdom is come to earth and Jesus is alive and well and reigning. Now...
     So when I look around me and and get very dismayed, my nose out of joint because some do not carry their own weight and despise good work ethics, that cause wasted time, money, and labor that ultimately leads to ruin the very company they work for, I have to remember .......What I do will last and transcend to the resurrection and the new. In other words...what I  sow I will reap, Likewise so will they.....and then I rest, compose myself and Let Nothing Move Me!   Peace!
   
   

There is Still; This rising Up" This new creation........

     Even  now in  my 62nd  and a half years, there is this rising up......from within, this new creation that Christ has given me so many years ago now when I was only 25.  This rising, is surely not of me, of my own making.  Can't be. I know myself. What's the saying, " To thine own self be true?" Well then there it is.  Christ in me, That's the difference. And that's what people would argue, "That's just you, you know, your changing.  Evolving......Not so!  Death and decay is the natural order. Look around you.  But, resurrection begins here and now ushering in the new creation in Christ.  The New Testament is  pregnant, full of life for the believer. Otherwise death is not defeated Christ is not raised and like Paul said. " We would be the most miserable of men."  Resurrection then is not then a disembodiment of soul and Spirit heading towards heaven after we die.(1). N. T. Wright) . No it is like Christ's....a new body, glorified, transformed, yet recognizable and not..., able to apparently walk through closed doors, and disappear and so forth.  Pentecost....the giving of the Spirit and the transformation through Baptism of the Holy Spirit, that is the beginning. A process in which a new mind is given over time. Thoughts are transformed, repositioned to think through things from a Godly perspective.  Like minded to Christ. 
     These springs of living water are now part of me. The women at the well asked for water. Jesus told her of you knew who I was, you would ask me for the living water, and then you would thirst no more.   Don't get me wrong we do not walk in twinkle dust. No we persevere, and go forward and look ahead all the while knowing what the grand plan is.  Christ subduing all things to be under his authority, death being the final enemy, vanquished once and for all.  So then this rising up from within  is still there with me, a constant companion (comforter) and reminder what is to come upon the bodily death first and then ........renewal! 
     The corruptible to incorruptible.   




     1. N. T. Wright, "Surprised By Hope, Harper Collins/ Publishers 2008