Guest Blog Post: Gregory Christopher
I am excited to have my dad (Dr. Greg Christopher) be a guest blogger for Bumps Are Okay!
He has been part of ministry in a variety of capacities, even well before I was born. Over the decades, he has worked on church staff, in secondary Christian education, in Bible college and seminary education, and as a church volunteer.
In fact, I grew up hearing memorable lessons and sermons about the following important Easter-related topic.
Here are a few encouraging words from him about “Resurrection Power.”
-By Gregory Christopher:
Sharon and Debbie have regularly challenged us to consider how we should respond to the bumps in life. Indeed, hitting those bumps can be difficult. At the same time, Paul explains in Ephesians that we have the necessary resources through the resurrection of Jesus Christ so that we can walk in a manner that pleases God.
Paul prays that believers might understand what is the greatness of His resurrection power (Ephesians 1:15-23). It is the resurrection power that enables and motivates us so that we might walk consistently with God’s purpose. He refers to that power in his own life (3:1-18). The grace of God and the effectual working of that power enabled Paul to serve as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Consider the bumps in his life, and yet he remained faithful to his mission in life and responded with confidence and joy even while in prison. About midnight, Paul and Silas were singing. Prisoners were listening. The jailer and his household were saved (Acts 16:22-25).
It is the Holy Spirit who works in our hearts. Debbie recently wrote about Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19. As Paul, we should pray that the Holy Spirit should strengthen us in the inner person with the power of the resurrection. It is this power which works in us so that we might glorify God for His plan for us (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Thanks, dad! One last thing…here is a link to Chris Tomlin’s song, Resurrection Power.
When I heard the phrase, ‘the same power that rose Jesus from the grave…’, my whole perspective changed. Imagine that same power at our disposal when we need strength!