Life after death.
Resurrection. Revival. The prefix “re” means again. The root of the word revive comes from the Latin word “vivere” which means to live. Live again.
In the winter things appear to be dead. During the cold and bleakness of the winter, we see little life. The flowers have faded. The green grass has been covered by snow. The green leaves have changed colors and fallen from the trees. The trees’ naked branches point to the sky and white snow covers the ground.
But there is beauty and purpose even in the coldness and apparent death of the winter. There is life below the surface, just waiting to come forth in the spring.
There are seasons in our lives as well. Sometimes we are in the winter season when things seem cold, dead and unproductive. Our dreams seem to have died. Our relationships appear to be dead. The love that used to fill our lives has grown cold. The career or ministry that we have dreamed of appears to be an impossible dream. A dream has been shattered or dried up like a raisin in the sun.
But even in the winter, there is life and there is hope for revival. To live again. That hope is in Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life.
Jesus is not a fantasy or a fairy tale. He is the Son of the Living God. He was the first Christmas gift from our Heavenly Father to us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus came to give us life eternally and abundantly. When he walked this earth, he brought the dead back to life. And today he still brings hopeless and dead situations to life. Jesus resurrects dreams.
In this issue of The Well Magazine, those who have experienced death testify of how they have learned to live again. Men and women who have experienced the death of a marriage, a child and a parent write about the painful reality of living with the devastation of death but also of the comfort, healing and power found in their faith. A couple share how they experienced adultery and divorce, but were able to do the difficult work to reconcile and remarry.
You will find practical advice on putting your faith into action, resurrecting your dreams, reviving your marriage and fulfilling your purpose.
We also look at revival in the Church—the body of Christ. What does a true revival look like? Perhaps a revival is already underway spurred by people award-winning journalist John W. Fountain calls Transformers, men and women who are working outside of the institutional church to show the love of Christ and are determined to be the Church instead of just “going to church.”
Life will happen. Death, disease, divorce, disappointment, delay and denial. But whatever you are going through, no matter how great the pain, whatever the struggle, don’t give up on life. There is life in Christ.
Read the Winter Issue of The Well Magazine. Click on the photo
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