Grief

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Sometimes the news comes quick. Sometimes the news comes slow. No matter how or when it comes, grief travels in the wake of the news. Grief is heavy, weighty, a burden, especially when it involves someone deeply loved. Grief is not meant to be carried alone. It’s too heavy and may last a while—and that’s ok. That’s what family and friends are for, to share the load. Jesus stood outside the tomb of his friend and wept but He did not weep alone. It was a deep, human moment. “ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted ” (Matt 5:4). If anyone knows how we feel in grief, it’s Him. But His grief did not linger long, as at the mention of his name, Lazarus came forth. We are not meant to dwell in grief, but should leave room enough for it. Let it run its course. Like the song says, “ Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain .” Another song says, “ The storm We will dance as it breaks The storm It will give as it takes And all of our pain is washed away Don't cry or be afraid Some things...

The Meaning of Baptism

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Baptism is like a wedding ring: they both symbolize transactions. A wedding ring symbolizes marriage, just as baptism symbolizes salvation. A ring does not make you married, nor does baptism save you. And is a person doesn’t have a ring, you can almost assume that they are not married. In NT times, if a person was not baptized, you could almost assume that they were not believers. And so baptism is a symbol of salvation and should not be taken for granted.

Ray Stedman tells how a pastor once related t0 him the occasion of preparing to baptize a young girl in a beach-front gathering. He told of how he wanted to make certain she understood what baptism meant. As he questioned and talked, he noticed that his hand cast a shadow on the sand.

He said to the girl, "Do you see the shadow of my hand on the sand? That is not my hand, but the shadow of my hand. The hand is the real thing. When you came to Jesus, when you turned from your sin and believed in Jesus, that was the real baptism. You were joined to Him, and what happened to Him, happened to you. Jesus was alive; then He died, was buried, and then He rose from the dead. And that is what happened to you when you believed in Him.”

He pointed to the shadow on the sand and said, “When you go down in the water and are raised up again, that is a picture of what has already happened.”

The girl immediately caught on and said, “Yes, that is what I want to do because Jesus has come into my life!" So water baptism is a picture, a symbol worked out for us, to teach us what has happened to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus.

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