Good Morning.
Our Thought for the Day comes from Matthew 17:1-9.
1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4Peter said to Jesus, "LORD, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." 5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" 6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
A Change had come into the life of the Disciple of Jesus. Things were going to be different from that day forward.
Monday as I was traveling the incredible Columbia Gorge from Portland to Biggs, I was amazed by its beauty and grandeur. Most notable was the changing of the trees from green to the beautiful fall colors which becomes the beauty of the Fall Season.
We all have had change in our lives. We’ve all gotten up that next morning wondering what just happened and what do I do now? Sometimes it was change we wanted and others times it was change we never wished for or wanted. Sometimes we experienced the change as positive and good. Other times the change was painful and a loss of something we valued or wanted. Whether we see it as good or bad, desired or unwanted, change always comes with consequences, challenges, and questions.
The three disciples, Matthew tells us, “fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.” Jesus touches them and says, “Get up.” But it’s more than just “get up.” A more literal translation would be something like “be raised up,” “be aroused from the sleep of death,” or maybe even “be resurrected.” The word Matthew uses here is the same verb he uses when Jesus heals the paralytic, telling him, “Stand up” (Mt. 9:6-7). When Jesus takes the hand of dead daughter of the synagogue leader, “and the girl got up” (Mt. 9:25).
Jesus comes to us in whatever circumstances of change we find ourselves, touches us, and says, “Get up, be raised” It’s the promise that though life has changed, it has not ended. Somehow new life is hidden in the midst of change, even when cannot see it or do not believe it. God uses the changing circumstances of our lives and world to bring us into new life.
So today if change is a part of your life “Stand Up,” Jesus will walk with you through the change.
Our SOAP Scriptures for today are Ezra Chapter 1, Psalms 84-85 and Luke Chapter 7.
May God bless you as you read His Word for you today.
Pastor Richard.
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