"A Soul Assured"

 "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." (John 20:19 KJV)

  "O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Listen closely to my prayer, O LORD; hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I'm in trouble, and you will answer me. No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do! All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name. For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God. Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death." (PSALM 86:5-13 NLT)

 There are several things we need to realize from this, very special moment; the first of which, is the reason that the disciples were hiding out from the Jews. As you should already know, the disciples were blamed for taking the body of Jesus, as the Jews were trying to claim that they had stolen the body of Jesus in order to show that He was telling the truth about rising from the dead after three days. So, they were obviously fearful for their lives, not really knowing what might happen next. 

 And then! With the doors shut tight, and them huddled around the room, there appears Jesus in their midst! He just appears in the room, as if out of the blue! Some people try to imagine that He was raised as a phantom, or a ghost as if He did not have a physical body. Absolutely untrue! The way I see it, (if that matters to anyone,) is that He has been doing this all along, several times, He just vanishes and appears, out of the blue! Just now, He is doing it after being dead! A little more surprising and a little more shocking! 

 I have tried to find a way to explain this, but it really comes down to one basic principle: Jesus has, is, and always will be the Creator of everything! He created it, and He can control it! He walked on the water; He told the water to be still; why wouldn't He be able to control the molecules, which make up for every space, within everything around us? He could and He does! 

 The other elephant in the room, is Peter! If anyone might have a reason to fear, I believe Peter is the one who feared the most. Most everyone else, besides John, had abandoned Jesus; running away when He was arrested, standing far off at the time He was nailed to the cross. But Peter, he had denied Him three times, saying that he did not know the Man! And then, when the rooster crowed, their eyes met! 

 What does Jesus say, first and foremost? "Peace be unto you!" A song just popped into my head, that has the essence of what we see here today: "Way Maker." No matter what we might have done, He is always more than willing to forgive us, because He knew, beforehand, what it is we have done! I know it might seem crazy, but it is true! He knows you better than you know yourself! 

 This is why we can have peace that passes all understanding! This peace is based upon the eternity of our souls, not the temporary things we see and feel all around us! You think you understand all of this, these things you see all around you? No one does, nor do they see the spiritual world all around them. 

 Yesterday I heard something totally ridiculous, but not all that surprising, that many people on the internet believe that the earth is flat, including some Christians! What happened to our planet? Our people getting more and more stupid, as we get closer to the end! 

 I heard Pastor Chuck last night, on my way home from church, he was explaining all of the ways that God created things, so that they could work on their own, such as seeds, which depending upon the seed, can have several different ways to find a way to be planted and grow on their own. I have seen seeds that jump, crazy as it might sound, but it's true! 

 No matter what happens here on this earth, my soul is assured a place in Heaven...

 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance - an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change or decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see." (1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT)