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We have the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” in our bookstore. This book reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects.
You can check it out by clicking on the “Bookstore,” tab at the top of this page. There is a special sale going on right now. A savings of over $6.00 if you order from this site.
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Today’s excerpt is letting us know that God is alive and doing well. It is people who have walked away. God has always been there.
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Chapter 40
God Isn’t Dead. I Just Talked to Him This Morning
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
John 11:25–26
In winter I used to look out the window at our old house and see the tree out front. “That tree looks dead! We need to cut it down!” I’d announce.Charlottealways asked me to leave it.
The freezing rains, all too common inOregon, attacked the tree and made it look even worse. Limbs would break off during the storms, and it had burns from the ice! I couldn’t see how that tree was going to make it.
Of course, every spring, the tree sprang back to life (maybe that’s why it’s called spring!) and it looked like the tree would make it another year. Leaves budded and covered up the wounds. That tree seemed to look at me through my office window and say, “Don’t give up on me! I’ll show you beauty in the summer!”
Spring always brings back the flowers and the trees in their beautiful riot of color. It is my favorite time of the year. Everything is starting over and has a fresh look to it. In a very real sense, it is being born again.
Jesus also did this in the spring when He was crucified, died and rose again. He did this for each of us so we will always have a way to be with Him in heaven. There is only one way to get to heaven—through the Lord Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to have close encounters with His people, and to be crucified on earth so that we may have eternal life. What a sacrifice the Lord made for us. His blood cleansed us and made us as clean and pure as newly bloomed flowers. HHe knows that we will be in His garden some day.
Like that tree in my yard, many of us in this world seem to be dead or dying. We look like we have been attacked by freezing rain. We have wounds of hunger, illness, sin and anxiety.
Do you feel like you’re always walking against the wind, with freezing rain pelting your face? Do you think God has no time for you? Do you wonder if anyone cares? Do you win some battles, but feel like you’re losing the war?
You may feel like a tiny speck of sand on the beach. How can God worry about you when there are billions of people on this earth?
You must have missed the class, “God Is Everywhere 101.” We all need to know that God has something good planned—even though the situation is seemingly disastrous.
Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17–18
He is only a prayer away. We can think of Him as being right next to us at all times, because He is. We can talk to Him right now, and share our burdens with Him. I do this often, and the peace I always feel melts away all that freezing rain and lets me flourish again like that tree in the springtime.
God is not dead. I talk to Him every day. Anyone can. He wants to hear from us and soothe our hurts and fears.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:12–13
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
John 3:3
Further Adventures
Read Matthew16:21through Matthew 28:20 with your family so that everyone hears what Jesus went through for us. This may take several days, but read it slowly and discuss it as you go. This will let your children hear the words and ask questions you can discuss as a family.
Something to Ponder
Isn’t it funny that though we live in the world, we as Christians do not wage war as the world does?