“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” – 2 Corinthians 1:20

All of God’s promises are utterly reliable because they all find their yes in Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment and guarantee of all the good that God has ever promised. Should you ever begin to doubt God’s will, plan, goodness, or ability to keep His promises to you, look to the cross! At the cross God gave His beloved Son, Jesus, to suffer and die in agony so that His every promise could be fulfilled.

The promises of Scripture are rock-solid and completely certain. They may not be fulfilled on your preferred timeline, but every promise of God is Yes in Christ. God is faithful and He keeps His word. The promises of God may not be fulfilled in the way you expected or would prefer, but every promise of God is Yes in Christ. A better yes. A wiser yes than you could ever imagine.

This is why, in good times and bad, every follower of Christ can lift our prayers, praise, and worship to God. Through Christ we can utter our Amen for God’s glory, because every one of God’s promises will prove true in His perfect time and His perfect way.

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” – 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Don’t think you’ll make it through life easier than the Apostle Paul! God will absolutely let you go through things much harder than you’re capable of handling. God will permit you to be tested and burdened beyond your ability so that you despair as Paul despaired. The whole of 2 Corinthians testifies to this reality. Whether you’re serving the Lord diligently or mostly serving yourself, God will let you be pushed so far past your strength, abilities, and endurance that you’ll despair of life itself.

Why would a good God let that happen? So you’ll learn to rely on Him which is infinitely better! So you’ll tap into the unlimited resurrection power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in you if you believe in Jesus. So that through Christ you’ll learn to do vastly more than you could ever possibly accomplish in your own strength. So that through meeting God in the fire you’re able to offer the comfort of God to others going through fiery seasons of life.

Paul was a man of enormous talents, energy, and zeal for God. Yet he had to learn to let go of all that and rely on God’s strength and suffering was his classroom. It was that reliance on God’s strength that made Paul the transformative figure that he is for the world. That same strength is available to every follower of Jesus but we must get over doing it ourselves. We must get past gritting our teeth and grinding it out in our strength. We must cry out and acknowledge our weakness, yielding everything to God. Then we’ll be raised from that point of death to ourselves to a powerful life empowered by God!

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Who are we to argue with Paul? This truly is what’s of first, primary, absolute importance above all else! Christ died for your sins. He died so that your sins could be forgiven, their penalty paid with the innocent blood of the eternal Son of God. He paid your debt and there’s nothing more you could possibly add to what He did.

Christ was buried. Jesus was dead beyond a shadow of a doubt. Beaten, whipped, nailed to a cross, suffocated, and finally stabbed with a spear just to make sure. The eternal Son of God lay in that borrowed cave tomb. Then He got up. Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over all sin and evil and death.

By His sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection, Jesus made the way for everyone who believes in Him to be forgiven and reconciled to God, made new in Christ, and adopted as beloved children of God in Heaven. As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, know that there is nothing more important to you and to everyone you know. There are many good things, but this is of first importance!

“And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” – Mark 8:23-25

This is a funny little miracle story, isn’t it? How often do we see Jesus doing a two-part miracle that only sort of works the first time? Why would He choose to do the miracle this way? The answer is found in the larger context of Mark chapter 8.

This healing story is an acted-out parable describing the growth of the disciples. After spending a great deal of time with Jesus and seeing wonders they could have never imagined, they understood some things about Jesus, but there was so much they still didn’t understand! Their eyes had been opened a little bit but they still didn’t see Jesus clearly.

In verse 21, Jesus asked them “Do you not yet understand?” because clearly they didn’t. However, in verse 29, Peter will at last confess that Jesus is the Christ. Their eyes were opening at last and they would keep opening wider! Like the disciples, every person is naturally born blind to Christ. If we’re fortunate, we come to hear something about Him and our eyes begin to open. We come to believe in Him and our eyes open more.

However, even among Christians, our vision of Jesus can be too small, too limited, too blurry. Thankfully, God will continue to open our eyes to see Jesus more clearly through regular reading of the Bible, regular worship, and consistent prayer. How clearly do you see Jesus? Are you doing what you should be doing to see Him more clearly?

“Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
– Psalm 90:2

It’s definitely a good idea to contemplate eternity from time to time! We’re generally very poor at it. In this day and age, a month feels like a long time. We struggle to make sense of something even as short as a typical human lifespan. God, however, is eternal.

He has always been and He always will be. Before the universe existed, God existed. Before time began, God existed. God created space and time, but He has existed forever and will exist forever. Indeed, God stands astride space and time, ever present and seeing all of time in a way we can’t really imagine.

As we contemplate the most timeless of geological wonders on Earth, we must remember they’re nothing compared to our 3-in-1 God Who has eternally existed in fellowship, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Marvel at, ponder, praise, and worship the God Who has always existed!

Having stretched our minds a bit backward, remember that our future now stretches eternally forward through time. Once born, humans are eternal creatures. The question is where we’ll spend that eternity. Will it be in God’s glorious presence by virtue of His grace given through faith in Jesus Christ or will it be forever separated from God, His person, His presence, and His love?