by John Rallison

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday, the most encouraging holiday of the
year. On Easter, God not only proved his love for us, but his power
to give us what he promises, by raising Jesus from the dead.

Many people think that the Bible is a downer book. Nothing could be
further from the truth. God really wants people to be encouraged.
Jesus says, “I have spoken these things to you that you may have
peace in Me. You have distress in the world; but be encouraged, I
have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, GLT).

We all have needs and God knows that. He knows our needs better
than we do. There are five basic things God wants to give every
person…and Easter is God’s guarantee that he wants to give you
these things and that he can.

God Gives Me Power To Live On

Psalm 138:3 says, “In that day I called you answered me, You
encouraged me with strength in my soul.” (ASV) We all need power,
motivation, inspiration, encouragement. Jesus often went away by
himself to pray. He knew that power to live on comes from having a
‘religion’ but from living in a relationship with God. The Holy
Spirit encourages us and gives us power to live on. (Acts 9:31)

God Gives Me People To Live With

Everybody needs people. One of God’s first observations was that it
is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Scientific research
tells us that relationships are important for our health. People
who have close relationships live longer, feel better and have
lower stress. God knows that you need people. That’s what the
church is all about.

Belonging to a church is an important gift from God to encourage
us. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit
of doing, but let us encourage one another…” (Hebrews 10:25,
NIV)). “But encourage one another daily.” (Hebrews 3:13, NIV)
People to live with are important for our health, growth, and
support in difficult times.

God Gives Me Principles To Live By

We live in a constantly changing world. Expert advice about health
and well-being (and many other areas of life) seems to shift every
year. God offers people stability through the timeless principles
of life he gives them in the bible. “For everything that was
written in the past was written to teach us, so that through
endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have
hope.” (Romans 15:4, NIV)

God Gives Me A Profession To Live Out

Every one of us has unique talents, training and experience. Romans
12:6 says, “We all have different gifts” that we can use. Each of
us has an important role to play in the world. No one is
unimportant. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many
parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it
is with Christ…But in fact God has arranged the parts in the
body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” (1
Corinthians 12:12,18, NIV). There is nowhere you can become more
you than in the church. One of the basic purposes of the church is
to help you discover yourself and use your gifts and talents. God
wants you to be all that you can be.

God Gives Me A Purpose To Live For

You have a purpose. The Bible says that the very hairs on your head
are number. You are not an accident. “…you created my inmost
being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalms 139:13,
NIV) There is a reason for you being here.

God wants you to be encouraged in your life. He wants to give you
power to live on, people to live with, principles to live by,
profession to live out and purpose to live for, but there is one
catch. You must put Jesus in charge of your life. “For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his lief for
me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25, NIV)

When we look examine the Bible and the Christian faith, we all face
a problem that scientists face in experimentation called
‘expectancy.’ We see what we expect to see. The challenge is to
look at the Bible and hear God’s message to you independent of your
preconceived notions about the Christian faith.

We all have a father or a brother or a friend who did something to
us or treated us a certain way. But we oughtn’t turn God away
because he was misrepresented by someone else. God offers you
things you really need and can keep forever in exchange for control
over your life which is, in large part, something we don’t really
have but like to think we have. Turning your life over to Jesus is
the best deal you will ever get.

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John Rallison    St. Stephen's Lutheran Church
2311 East Chapman Avenue  Fullerton, CA  92831
voice (714) 871-1711        fax (714) 871-3132

SSLC Web Site    www.flash.net/~sslc
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