Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Matthew 21:43.

So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. John 7:16-18.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Proverbs 17:22.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 94: His resurrection predicted. Psalm 30:3: O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit. And, Acts 2:32: This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

There comes a point in our walk with Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, where it is good to stop and savor how far you have come with God’s help, and give Him thanks and praise. He brings everything good! Love, trust, faithfulness, hope, praise, newness of life that is Life with Him. All of that and more is possible as our hearts and minds open and respond to Him and grow! Right after the verse above speaking of the fulfillment in Jesus, I loved this: Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name! And the blessing I wish there were better words for – closeness with God. Nearness as we walk together. He is as close as my own spirit. He helps me see through His eyes of love. To truly love God and one another is to obey Him as He shows us how to love and how to turn away from everything not of His love. The Law God brings is the Law of Love. Love for God and Love for one another. All else is darkness. And living in this fallen, darkened world we cannot begin to understand without His help guiding us to the light that IS His Love. Light vs. Darkness. Love vs. Hate. Obedience vs. Rebellion. Those are truly our choices in this live we are given by our Creator. We live and move and breathe because He created. All of the unloving experiences of our lives lived in this fallen world show us the fruit of darkness. Spirit calls to spirit. Our choice. When the darkness of this world within and without no longer works for you and leaves you empty and bereft and not knowing what to do, when the choices of hate seek to overthrow everything good, turn to Creator God. He is here. He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

I recently read the book Simply Christian, Why Christianity Makes Sense by N. T. Wright. And under the heading Justice Revisited, within Chapter 16, New Creation, Starting Now, he wrote: “God does indeed intend to put the world to rights. There is a cry for justice which wells up from our hearts, not only when we are wronged but when we see others being wronged. It is a response to the longing, and the demand, of the living God that His world should be a place not of moral anarchy, where the bullies always win in the end, but of fair and straight dealings, of honesty, truthfulness, and uprightness. But to get from that longing and demand to anything that approaches God’s intended justice, we must go by a route very different from the one which the world normally expects and even demands. The majority language of the world in this respect is violence. When people with power see things happen of which they disapprove, they drop bombs and send in tanks. When people without power see things happen of which they disapprove, they smash store windows, blow themselves up in crowded places, and fly planes into buildings. The fact that both methods have proved remarkably unsuccessful at changing things doesn’t stop people from going on in the same way. On the cross the living God took the fury and violence of the world onto Himself, suffering massive injustice – the biblical stories are careful to highlight this – and yet refusing to lash out with threats or curses. Part of what Christians have called “atonement theology” is the belief that in some sense or other Jesus exhausted the underlying power of evil when He died under its weight, refusing to pass it on or keep it in circulation. Jesus’s resurrection is the beginning of a world in which a new type of justice is possible.” Can we read that again? Jesus exhausted the underlying power of evil when He died under its weight, refusing to pass it on or keep it in circulation. We can barely comprehend Creator God doing that for us. New creation starting now is nothing less than Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, working with our own spirit and showing us the better way that is with Him as we walk together in newness of Life. With Him is Hope! Hearts are being changed and He is bringing that needed change and it makes all the difference as we continue to live in our fallen world. With His help we can choose love over hate, light over dark, obedience to all that is good over rebellion and destruction and hopelessness. And it begins where it must. Trusting Creator God and following Him. And in choosing Him, we come to know the help He brings and trust Him for everything – our lives with Him now, our death, our resurrection to continued Life with Him for all eternity.

***I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NIV.***