Hi there,
So there is a great passage in the Gospels, where Jesus heals a little girl (Mark 5:41). What is remarkable, is that Jesus doesn't say "no, resurrection is for adults", rather He condescends to her and says to her "Talitha cumi" (that is, "I say to you, arise"). The point is, He does not give her an adult's resurrection. He is not peddling "resurrection", as though one-size fits all. The Lord is saying "I know the resurrection you need, and can give it to you". Too often we get caught up saying "give me this or that version of your power" as if God is some sort of vending machine. The reality is, is that while we need the refreshing of the Holy Spirit, we do not need to think "I will change the resurrection, once I get it (to suit me)". Rather, God says through Jesus, "I can respond to your individual needs, spiritually - I am all powerful" (not powered by all).
This affects everything we do in life. Whether we pray, but do not need to repeat ourselves, or we do a good deed, and we don't need to only ever do that good deed. There is a lot of tradition in the Church, which there is a place for, but not a subsuming place for - we do not proceed to the world and say "here is the resurrection, that saved me - have the same"! Rather we begin to respond to relationship with God in ways that are ever more different - ever more stimulating! The root is the same in principle, but in fact expresses itself very differently - as do the branches. The Devil wants us, to lose interest in our salvation, getting nothing new from it. The more the Devil ignores scripture, the more we need to push him out of our lives, to take possession of what God has given us, to defend and uphold.
Somehow these things have to be in harmony in our lives. We need to be able to relate to Jesus with His Greater Resurrection, as those who have less resurrection than us. Jesus said "the one who is forgiven much, loves much" (gospels, from memory), the same goes for resurrection: the one who is resurrected with less, finds their faith more precious. This is converse, but it is true! The power of this, is that we are able to humble ourselves even having been given the greatest gift we have ever known. We don't necessarily have as much resurrection as Christ, but we are able to praise Him for it and for having condescended to us, who are not on our own worthy of any of it.
I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
So there is a great passage in the Gospels, where Jesus heals a little girl (Mark 5:41). What is remarkable, is that Jesus doesn't say "no, resurrection is for adults", rather He condescends to her and says to her "Talitha cumi" (that is, "I say to you, arise"). The point is, He does not give her an adult's resurrection. He is not peddling "resurrection", as though one-size fits all. The Lord is saying "I know the resurrection you need, and can give it to you". Too often we get caught up saying "give me this or that version of your power" as if God is some sort of vending machine. The reality is, is that while we need the refreshing of the Holy Spirit, we do not need to think "I will change the resurrection, once I get it (to suit me)". Rather, God says through Jesus, "I can respond to your individual needs, spiritually - I am all powerful" (not powered by all).
This affects everything we do in life. Whether we pray, but do not need to repeat ourselves, or we do a good deed, and we don't need to only ever do that good deed. There is a lot of tradition in the Church, which there is a place for, but not a subsuming place for - we do not proceed to the world and say "here is the resurrection, that saved me - have the same"! Rather we begin to respond to relationship with God in ways that are ever more different - ever more stimulating! The root is the same in principle, but in fact expresses itself very differently - as do the branches. The Devil wants us, to lose interest in our salvation, getting nothing new from it. The more the Devil ignores scripture, the more we need to push him out of our lives, to take possession of what God has given us, to defend and uphold.
Somehow these things have to be in harmony in our lives. We need to be able to relate to Jesus with His Greater Resurrection, as those who have less resurrection than us. Jesus said "the one who is forgiven much, loves much" (gospels, from memory), the same goes for resurrection: the one who is resurrected with less, finds their faith more precious. This is converse, but it is true! The power of this, is that we are able to humble ourselves even having been given the greatest gift we have ever known. We don't necessarily have as much resurrection as Christ, but we are able to praise Him for it and for having condescended to us, who are not on our own worthy of any of it.
I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
