The Resurrected King

He is not here; He has Risen ,just as He said!" _Mathew 28:6

Hi friends,

Hope you are doing fine. Just want to share some thoughts that came to mind when I came across this lovely song "Resurrecting" which is filled with hope. It is applicable to all of our lives. In some area or other all of us have dead situations in our life , broken dreams, things we may have wished and wanted but never could attain for ourselves. When speaking about Resurrection, what comes to mind is the story of Lazarus.  How Jesus visited Mary and Martha at Bethany only after two more days in spite of knowing that His loved friend Lazarus was very sick. (John 11:6) I have always wondered why the Lord didn't hurry to Bethany or why He didn't heal him with a word as He had healed so many with a word from the place He was. In fact, He actually delays two more days and Lazarus dies. He then tells His disciples that Lazarus is dead and lets go to him. The disciples must have thought Him crazy. But the Lord knew what He was doing. The heartbroken Martha runs to Jesus and tells Him that if He were there, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus assures her that Lazarus would rise again. Later we read in John 11:33 ,35 that Jesus, moved by Compassion, weeps and groans when He saw Mary and the others weeping. Such a great & loving Lord we have! Then when Jesus tells them to take away the stone from the tomb entrance , we hear how Martha reminds him that it had been four days now and there would be a stench from the decaying body. But Jesus insists and  explains to them that if they believed, they would see the Glory of God. So they obey and watch in amazement as Jesus calls Lazarus to come forth from the grave. Lazarus is raised from the dead. Jesus asks that he be loosed from the grave clothes and be set free. 

The Resurrected King resurrects our situations too. No matter whether we understand why the All powerful Jesus delays in coming to set us free. No matter that we think it is over and the situation is decayed and rotten.... let us remember that just like in Lazarus case, just as Jesus our Lord and Savior rose again on the Third Day, The Resurrected King is resurrecting all the dead and hopeless situations of our life. So we can get expectant and be filled with a fresh hope knowing that if we have surrendered our life to the Lord, no matter what happens in our Life, we are never beyond His reach. He will resurrect us and breathe into us His breath of life!

Enjoy the anointed song "Resurrecting" by Elevation Worship

The head that once was crowned with thorns

Is crowned with glory now

The Savior knelt to wash our feet

Now at His feet we bow

The One who wore our sin and shame

Now robed in majesty

The radiance of perfect love

Now shines for all to see

Your name, Your name

Is victory

All praise, will rise

To Christ, our king

Your name, Your name

Is victory

All praise, will rise

To Christ, our king

The fear that held us now gives way

To Him who is our peace

His final breath upon the cross

Is now alive in me

Your name, Your name

Is victory

All praise, will rise

To Christ, our king

Your name, Your name

Is victory

All praise, will rise

To Christ, our king

By Your spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

In Your name I come alive

To declare Your victory

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By Your spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

In Your name I come alive

To declare Your victory (c'mon!)

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By Your spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

In Your name I come alive

To declare Your victory

The resurrected king, is resurrecting me

He's resurrecting me

Our God is good, oh

The tomb where soldiers watched in vain

Was borrowed for three days

His body there would not remain

Our God has robbed the grave

Our God has robbed the grave (yes He has, yes He has)

Your name, Your name

Is victory

All praise, will rise

To Christ our king

Your name, Your name

Is victory

All praise, will rise

To Christ our king

By Your spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

In Your name I come alive

To declare Your victory

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By Your spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

In Your name I come alive

To declare Your victory

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By Your spirit I will rise

From the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

In Your name I come alive

To declare Your victory

The resurrected king, is resurrecting me

The resurrected king, is resurrecting me, yeah

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Christopher Brown / Mack Brock / Matthews Thabo Ntele / Steven Furtick / Wade Joye

Resurrecting lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Have a blessed week!

Sparky Laurie :)

There is No one Like You Lord!

"No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power."-Jer 10:6

Hi friends,

It’s been a while since I have penned down something. Hope you are all doing fine! Often in our life's journey, we come to the realization that in spite of the many wonderful people in our life; there is  only ONE who really understands us and loves us completely & unconditionally! That person is the Lord Jesus Christ. The One who can do the unthinkable for us. I just came across this Song 'Graves Into Gardens'  by Elevation Worship. This song speaks volumes about our Lord. Sharing it with you hoping and believing that it will bless you!

He is the God turns graves into gardens (2 Kings 13), bones into armies ( Ezekiel 37) seas into highways (Exodus 14) ..He is the One who makes the Impossible Possible. He’s the ONLY one who can do it!

Sharing a similar song in Hindi 'Tumsa Koi Nahin'by Yeshua Ministries which speaks about our God describing why there’s no one like Him!

Hope you were blessed by these anointed songs !

 

Sparky Laurie

 

Father, I thank you!

Dear Friends, 

Hope you are all safe and fine by the Grace of God. Its been a while since I've penned down something. While going through the ups and downs of our life, one thing remains constant and that is the Matchless, Unfailing , All Knowing , All Seeing  Love of Father God. What can we give Him in return for all His Goodness to us? I am reminded of this quote by Meister Eckhart ; "If the only prayer we  ever say in our life is Thankyou, that would suffice." I recently came across this beautiful song of Gratitude by Jeremy & Adrienne Camp which speaks about this experience in all its fullness.  

Hope this song blesses you as much as it blessed me.

FATHER,  I THANK YOU  BY JEREMY & ADRIENNE CAMP

https://youtu.be/nRnKJu2Emmc

Your words engrave the pages of my heart

From Your love, I know I'm never torn apart

You crashed into my darkness and my doubt

I will always have a reason to cry out

Father, I thank You

                                                                     For this glorious rescue

This moment of breakthrough
Father, I thank You 
Father, I thank You
'Cause Your promise remains true
There's nothing You can't do
Father, I thank You
I'm brought into Your family unashamed
I'm safe, forever held by Your embrace
My past is never held over my head
'Cause You see me through the blood that Jesus shed
Father, I thank You
For this glorious rescue
This moment of breakthrough
Father, I thank You
Father, I thank You
'Cause Your promise remains true
There's nothing You can't do
Father, I thank You
Raised from my broken state
Healed to eternal grace
And You call me Yours
You made a way for me
Drowned fear in victory
And You called me Yours
Your love is now my home
Sorrow's been turned to hope
And You called me Yours
Father, I thank You (Father, I thank you)
For this glorious rescue (glorious rescue)
This moment of breakthrough
Father, I thank You (You are my breakthrough)
Father, I thank You
'Cause Your promise remains true (Your promise remains true)
There's nothing You can't do
Father, I thank You
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I thank You

Stay blessed,

 Sparky laurie

The Calm...after the Storm (poem)

Hi friends,
Hope you are doing well. With the corona outbreak and the resulting lock-down, lots of people are suffering at this time in different ways... I dedicate this poem to all who are experiencing a storm in their life.Believe me, there's definitely a Calm... after the Storm. So, let me share this poem that the Lord enabled me to pen for such a time as this...

The Calm after the Storm..

I took a walk in my garden today

And here and there ripe guavas lay

Today is sunny and bright

From afar I see warm bursts of sunlight

Treading slowly I enjoy the breeze

Beautiful colorful flowers smiling back at me

Fresh wafts of air in my nostrils

The glistening grass ; greener than ever

How different from yesterday when all was dark and dreary

Pitter - patter raindrops falling

Come inside mother starts calling

Birds all to their nests

The lightning peals the sky

Tightly I close my eyes

The threatening sound of the rumbling thunder

Children huddled to their chests

Power cuts resulting in darkness

Candles overcoming the blackness

Winds whooshing …banging doors and windows

Waiting for the storm to pass we fall asleep

Waking up to a beautiful morning

The calm…. after the storm has passed

A lesson we can learn from Mother Nature.

So it is with every one of us

No matter how dark or deep or dreary the storm;

Hold on tight…don’t lose hope….

Wait prayerfully for there always is the calm…. after the storm!

-Sparky Laurie 

(22nd April 2020)

What is it you have in your hand?

Hi friends,

Hope you are doing good.  

The text that inspired me to write this post was the narration of the Widow’s mites in Luke 21:1-4. “And Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites (very small monetary unit), which make a farthing (quarter of a penny) And He called unto Him His disciples and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” - Mark 12:41-44.

When we read the Old Testament, we find in the book of Exodus, God calling Moses to be His mouthpiece and to go to Pharaoh to bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses questions the Lord asking Him “why should they hearken to my voice and believe me ?” God simply asks Moses the more important question: “what do you have in your hand?” Moses replies that he has a rod (being a shepherd in the wilderness) and God shows him how to use it. Moses obeys God and throws it on the ground and it becomes a snake, God then asks Moses to put forth his hand and take the snake by the tail and it becomes a rod once again. This miracle would cause others to believe that the Lord God had appeared before Moses.

God could have chosen anything to do the miracle but He chose the Shepherd’s Rod that was already in Moses hand. 

Similarly God has put into each of our hands something; maybe treasure, time, talent and He expects us to put to good use that which He has given us. If we look at others who have more than us, we will feel inferior and will not be able to do that which God has already empowered us to do. On the other hand, looking at people who seem to have lesser than us may make us feel superior to them but this is also not what God wants from us. Any kind of comparison between apples and oranges is not fair because they are two different fruits- their color, fragrance, taste, etc are all different similarly, all of God’s creations are unique and special in their own way.

In the story of the Widow’s Mites God sees how she gives all that she has with a willing heart. She is not holding back anything; even for her existence. It is probably her faith in Jehovah Jireh (Provider) that encourages her to part with her last two coins. It amazes me how the Lord thinks. Anybody would have questioned whether her putting her two coins would make any difference to the money collected that day but this God of ours who is a God who sees our hearts, not only welcomes the widow’s mites but makes a profound statement to the disciples that – “this woman has put in more than any of the other contributors.”

Of course, ours is a God who fed the 5000 with a young lad’s lunch box of five loaves and two fish. Even when His disciples question the Lord in John 6:9 “what are they among so many? The Lord answers to make them sit and He blesses and breaks the food and there was plenty for all.

Many times we question the value of what we have to give to the Lord. But He doesn’t want our ability only our availability. As He is a God who always uses that which He has already placed in our hand. So let us make sure that we never belittle what little we have but that we make full use of that which He has placed into our hands.

Not only does it displease the Lord when we do not make use of our Talents,but it makes Him angry.  As we can see in the Parable of the Talents in Mathew 25:25-30, He calls the third servant a wicked and slothful servant for digging the coin in the ground. Jesus says “For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

 In another place, the Lord Jesus curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit and it withers away. (Mathew 21:19)

In yet another incident, we can see how important it is to be honest with that which is in our hands. In Acts 5:1-11 we see how Ananias and Sapphira lied about the money that they had got after selling a possession. They kept part of it for themselves and lied to the Holy Spirit even when questioned by Peter about the amount. Both of them fell down and died that day. On the one hand, we see a Lord whose heart is touched by the Widows Mites and on the other hand we see how dishonesty angers the Lord.

The best way is to be grateful to the Lord for every little thing He has bestowed on us and surrender it all back to Him to use it for His Glory alone. At the end of it all, Jesus will never ask us what we did with what we didn’t have but surely He will ask us what we did with what we had. Let us make sure that when He does ask us we will be able to say confidently that we have done all we could with all we had been given.

Have a blessed week,

Sparky laurie                                                      

The Goodness of God

Hi friends,
It was been a while since I've shared something. First things first, Wishing you a wonderful 2020!!!
We are indeed so privileged to enter this New Year when many have passed away.Let us step into this new decade and new year with a fresh 20-20 vision that God has for us. No matter the trials that we go through or have gone through, one thing remains forever; and that is His Goodness has and will never fail us. At the beginning of this year, a sister of mine had shared this verse Psalms 23:6 which says "Surely Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life"and yesterday I came across this beautiful song full of gratitude and thanksgiving for His Goodness and faithfulness and am sharing it with you. Let us sing of the Goodness of God no matter where we are for we have lived in the Goodness of God.

Song by Jenn Johnson (Bethel Music)

Have a blessed week,

Sparky Laurie

Wine out of the Vine & Diamonds out of Dust!

Hi friends,
 Today I d like to share some thoughts the Lord gave me as I was going through my Morning Devotional .The Text is John 15 :5 : " I am the Vine and you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in Him bears much fruit.However, apart from Me, you can do nothing.
What the Lord is asking us to do is actually pretty simple, all that He's asking us to do is ABIDE in Him Instead of our struggle with sin,sickness, curses, unholiness,depression,shame,poverty,loneliness or death , we just accept Him as our Lord & Savior and He freely gives us all that is His.

As we take Communion, by partaking of the elements the bread which represents His Body broken for us and the Wine which represents the Holy Blood of Jesus, we are actually exchanging that which we have for that which is His.A Divine Exchange takes place.
1) We are forgiven and made righteous in exchange for our sin.(2 Corin 5:21)
2) We are healed from sickness and disease as He bore our transgressions and iniquities (Isa 53:4)
3) We are delivered from generational curses and are now totally blessed.(Gal 3:13)
4)We are clean because of His spoken Word over us.(John 15:3)
5)We are free from sorrow because His joy now fills our hearts.(John 15:11)
6) He took our broken minds and has given us His mind.(1 Corin 2:16)
7) He took our shame and covered us with His Glory(Hebrews12:2, Psalms 3:3)
8) He took our poverty and gave us His riches. (2 Corin 8:9)
9) He has taken our loneliness and calls us His Friend and promises never to leave us alone.(John 15:15,Joshua 1:5)
10)Instead of death, He gives us eternal life.(John 10:10)

Abiding in Jesus and filling our minds with His Word leads us to right thinking which then leads to right actions and finally right witness.( John 15:26,27) Spiritual talk doesn't always make sense to the unsaved but anybody can understand the fruit of the Spirit kindness, joy, peace and stability through loving actions. We are all a work in Progress and He will finish what He has started.(Philippians 3:10-17)
Let's surrender to our Lord who is the Master Craftsman and will never give up on us.

DIAMONDS OUT OF DUST: By Hawk Nelson   https://youtu.be/Yf1ARbpB0gA

Have a fruitful week!

Sparky laurie