November 18
Bible Reading: Acts 26:1-8
Acts 26:8, “Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?”
She was tired, in pain, and dying. She told me so. Her discomfort was plain for me to see. Doctors and nurses were doing their best to help alleviate her pain, but there was nothing to be done about her failing heart. In her 90s, she’d lived a rich, full life, but her journey was nearing the end. It’s a scenario I’ve witnessed countless times. Questions rise to the surface. “Why am I still here?” “Is God mad at me about something?” “What’s going to happen to me?” Situations like that remind us of how precious the gospel message is. That Jesus Christ died for sins and rose from the dead represents a glorious message of hope for all who believe. Death is not the end; a future resurrection awaits. Yet not all share in such hope.
The Apostle Paul was not on trial for any crime he’d committed, but for his belief in Jesus. Certain Jews despised him for his outreach to the Gentiles, and for his message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. According to Paul’s own words, he was “on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers” (Acts 26:6). Foundational to that hope was the resurrection of the Jesus Christ.
Paul spoke to a room full of doubters, religious folks who believed in God, but didn’t accept Paul’s message. Their God was too small. His question to them is a question pertinent to many, for many profess faith in God, but are skeptical regarding such miracles. Why would anyone think it too difficult for God to raise the dead? Why question the ability of the One who created the heavens and the earth and who gives life to all (Isaiah 42:5)? He is the Lord omnipotent whose power knows no limits. Nothing is too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 32:17)!
“The immeasurable greatness of his power,” “according to the working of his great might,” worked to raise Christ “from the dead and seat him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:19-20)! What He did with Christ, He’ll do for those who belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20-21). And that’s good news for the living and the dying!
It is not at all incredible to believe that the God who created all things can raise the dead!
AH, LORD GOD
Ah, Lord God, Thou has made the heavens
And the earth by thy great power
Ah, Lord God, Thou has made the heavens
And the earth by Thine out – stretched arm
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Great and mighty God
Great in counsel and mighty in deed
Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
By Don Moen; Copyright 2002 Integrity Music
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