But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.” Luke 20:37-38.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
People see death as very final, as an end, but I see it very differently. It is much more fluid than that. I control the passageways of death, but so do you. Jesus raised people from the dead, even when they had been dead four days and were wrapped in a tomb, like Lazarus. And He told His disciples to do the same.
And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Matthew 10:7.
And in His conversations, you will notice that Jesus talked to dead people and they listened and obeyed. He told Jairus’ daughter, who had died, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” And she did so immediately. Mark 5:41-42. He called to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come forth.” John 11:43 And even though he had been dead four days, he came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:44. And so they did.
There is something strangely wonderful here. In life and death you are Mine.
For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died, and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 14:7-9.
Once the Sadducees, hoping to make resurrection sound ridiculous, for they did not believe in it, went to Jesus with a question that was meant to trap Him in a marriage question mixed with a resurrection question and all tied up with the law. It was the story of seven brothers who all were obligated to marry the same widow to raise children for the deceased’s name who all died with no child and then the woman died. They wanted Jesus to tell them whose wife she would be at the resurrection, for all seven married her. But Jesus had the answer. Marriage between a man and a woman on earth is a physical bond but it is contained in the larger spiritual bond of My covenant with you. You spiritually are married to Me and that covenant remains, but in Heaven the physical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman is no longer necessary for no children are born after the Last Day. Your number is complete for the everlasting. You live like the angels in Heaven, the physical, the temporal, the earthy is gone, and your body is of pure heavenly substance. But He told them something even greater. He essentially them that for Me there is no death in anyone. You are all alive to Me whether on earth, in Heaven, or in hell. Physical death changes the venue in which you are sustained but does not take away the you that you are. And conceived and planned you within Me since the creation of the world but you are not birthed forth until the fullness of your time has come. But once I have woven you in your mother’s womb there is no end to your existence and life. And I can call you back from the passageway of death into the land of the living.
Heaven and earth, the natural and the supernatural, are much more closely associated than most think and act. They will be praying as if their prayers had to go a long distance to reach Me, but if you seek Me with your heart you will find Me right there with you.
As Stephen was being stoned by those opposing My new and living way, He looked and saw Jesus standing at My right hand and he called out and chose to go with Him immediately. My apostle Paul was left for dead by those who once stoned him but he got up and kept serving and worshipping Me. And he talked often with Jesus after Jesus first introduced Himself to Paul. And He appeared to him after He had died, been raised, and returned to Heaven.
And think of the angels who came to let Peter out of jail. And think of the army of angelic host that surrounded and protected Elisha from the Arameans.
Your life on earth as it is now since Adam’s treachery is short but it is VERY important. What you do with this life determines your forever. This is serious. I have planned you all as My special treasures, but it is up to you, as I told the Israelites, whether you will live the amazing plans that outnumber the sand that I have for your forever or you will put a stop to it all here, even to such an extent that it would be better for your forever that you had never been born. My Son said that of Judas Iscariot, whom I tell you went his own way. Not My way, his way. There is a path that looks right to a man but it ends in death. I put before your life and death, blessing and cursing, love and hate, forgiveness and unforgiveness, rejoicing and bitterness, and the choice is up to you. But if you will hear and follow My Word you will have a beautiful life and a beautiful forever.
And now let us look at a conversation that Jesus had with a mother and her dead son on the way to bury him. The son was young and it was not time for him to leave this life, he had left it prematurely, but My Son called him back. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. In Him, you will never taste death. You will merely “sleep” and wake up in His presence on your way home to Me.
This is a miracle of compassion, provision, and carrying you from birth to old age.
“You who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:3-4.
This miracle involves a young man’s premature death, but it also involves a widowed mother that had no other source of support and found herself alone in darkness as she walked along with no hope at the side of her dead son on the way to bury him. But what seemed to be a chance encounter with Jesus, that was in reality planned from eternity, turned her darkness into light and her fear into rejoicing. The Light of the world walked in. I have these wonderful encounters planned and orchestrated for your life, do not miss the time of your visitation.
The widow in Nain is all you know about her. Her life seemed so dark, all looked gone—her husband, her only son. She never thought her life would be so painful, dark, and lost. It seemed too great a cost to continue alone in the dark. What she did not know was that the Light of the world was coming that day to light up her darkness and turn her mourning to joy. When Jesus shows up, salvation has come to your house. Like Zacchaeus.
Never despair. When all looks lost, I open the way out—like the Red Sea parting, like the walls of Jericho falling, like the manna in the desert and water out of the rock. And not just out but in, out of slavery into the Promised Land. My rest.
Jesus had been in Capernaum, and soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. Luke 7:11. Jesus attracted crowds for three reasons. People are hungry for the true revelation of My Word. People are looking for a light in their darkness—for answers and purpose in their lives. People are looking for healing and peace. And in Jesus they found all three in one compassionate, loving man who never rejected anyone who came to Him.
Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. So now there is coming a crowd with Jesus to go in and a crowd with the funeral to go out to bury the young man. And his mother was weeping. And Jesus felt her grief as He did at Lazarus tomb. Death was never My plan, that came with sin and was released through Adam to all men. I call it an enemy and I hate it. 1 Corinthians 15:26 (“The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”) But Jesus went down to the dust of death and tasted death so that you who believe in Him, who are in Him, will never taste death, that is, the death of the damned. Hebrews 2:9. For you I call death “sleep” and you wake in the joy of My presence and the delights at My right hand forever. Psalm 16:10-11.
When the Jesus saw the widow weeping, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” Luke 7:13. I wipe every tear from your eyes. And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:14-15. Heaven had touched the earth. The Kingdom came near and the dead man was raised.
You are all alive to Me and I can move you from time to eternity and from eternity to time. For Me that is easy and this young man had not finished the work I had given him to do, so his life returned to his body. This was not a resurrection to a glorified body; this was merely moving him from the realm of eternity back into time. He was back in the perishable which, once he lived out his full life and was satisfied, his soul and spirit would again leave his earthly body, like a caterpillar sheds its old skin and becomes new creature entirely. One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the body of the caterpillar radically transforms, eventually emerging as a butterfly.
For the widow and her son, suddenly new life came in all the strife and grief and all was made new that day by the One I sent to save you. A divine visitation. Heaven had kissed the earth.
And fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying Me, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” This report concerning Jesus went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district. Luke 7:16-17.
The dark cloud had lifted. How do you get rid of a dark cloud? For many today are in deep darkness and see no way out. The answer is simple, the Light of the world. He brings the light of life. When He shows up, darkness cannot stay. “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12. And how do you follow Him today? “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32.
Let the Light come in, let the Glory win to remove the darkness and sin. Come to Me and see the glory. You are not alone. I am with you. Jesus would tell His disciples, “Do not fear. I AM.” When He comes, you have nothing to fear any longer. I sent Him to save you, not to judge you. With joy you shall draw water at the springs of Salvation (Yeshuah). He is your strength and song and has become your salvation. Ask Him for a drink and He will give you the life giving water of the Holy Spirit and of the Word. I have made Him a light to the nations. In Him, I have rescued you from the realm of darkness and translated you to the Kingdom of My Beloved Son, who is the Light of the world and the lamp that illumines Heaven with glory. And He wants to share His glory with you.
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:22-24.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.” Isaiah 60:1-2.
He is light for the life of men. He is the light of life.
“Then let him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’; let his flesh become fresher than in youth, let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, that he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man. He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it is not proper for me. He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life shall see the light.’ Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.” Job 33:24-30.
And this is what I did for the widow’s son, for the widow, and I do for you. Jesus paid the ransom for all. 1 Timothy 2:6. I have found a ransom.
How will your life upon the earth end? For the believer, the answer is simple, “in a miracle.” It is called resurrection power.
I love you. If you have let yourself sink into a dark period right now, do not despair. Your miracle is on the way. Just let in the Light of the world by letting in the Light of My Word.