#realitysb

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

—James 5:13-18

I appropriately read these verses in James this morning. These words do not guarantee healing under the sovereign hand of God. In His divine wisdom, He has a purpose behind every joyous blessing in life. And He has a beautiful and good purpose behind every ache and sorry.

As Christians we are encouraged to pray in faith, laying our petitions before our great Lord and God.

Let's lift up our prayers for Britt Merrick and his family. Let's pray that Daisy Love is healed 100% from her third round of cancer. Let's pray that God uses this down on the California coastlands for the spiritual healing of many, for all that don't profess faith in Jesus Christ. Let's pray that God is magnified through a little 7-year-old's weakness and that His name is marveled at. Let's pray that God uses these things (even in our own hearts) to increase our satisfaction in Him.

Easter is upon us in just over a week and a half... amazing how quickly the time flies.

I have always loved this video from Reality Santa Barbara. It is well-produced, but more importantly it displays in an artistic and beautiful way the fact that Jesus died our death so that we can enjoy forever His life...

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

—2 Corinthians 5:21

Remember this year as you celebrate our Jesus' resurrection that death was defeated and our ultimate victory secured by Christ's work (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). All that is left is to surrender our lives joyfully to Him.