What our resurrection bodies might be like

June 3, 2026

Maria 1 Corinthians 15, Imperishable body, Transformation , , , Leave a comment

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15: 51—53 ESV

Everywhere in Italy on this trip, we have walked or driven past crumbled ruins of once vibrant homes nestled among beautiful, well-maintained stucco and tiled residences. When we visited Mike’s maternal grandmother’s birthplace in the village of Fara Filliiorum Petri in Chieti, Abruzzo, we encountered this reality.  The town’s archivist provided us with the address of the house where she was born and grew up.  But it was in ruins. 

When we moved on to a second Airbnb along the Adriatic Sea, we witnessed in greater detail this pattern. The hosts, Laura and Luigi, were just finishing up the reconstruction and restoration of the second in a row of attached houses.  All five structures had belonged to one family, that of Laura’s grandparents. Over recent years, she had bought out her siblings’ shares of the inheritance. 

Yesterday, as we drove away from Vasto, Italy, the first guests were due to arrive and enjoy two months in the finished home. Over the five days, we observed our Italian hosts hustling to finish setting out plants bordering the back patio and to sweep away dust from the newly constructed  outdoor brick fireplace.

As we chatted with Laura and Luigi each day, we learned more about this recent project–how they first had to tear down the ancient structure that multiple generations had lived in. From the cleared rubble, they reclaimed what stones and timber were useful.  They then spent the next six months painstakingly building a new house.

Both of them labored evenings and weekends, polishing stone, shopping for antique furniture, and restoring some of the grandparents’ furniture.  Contracting out a new kitchen, the electrical and other specialized skills, this rebuilt house is now a “new creation.”

Learning about the love and attention to detail they invested to make this future AirBnB a welcoming vacation spot, I thought of the new heavenly bodies we are promised—more than a factory reset to one’s possible prime.

Just as this renovation-restoration project brings with it a high-tech kitchen that Laura’s great grandparents never could have imagined, with running hot and cold water, a fancy washing machine, climate control, and a well-equipped bathroom, so too our new bodies will come with both enhanced spiritual and physical features that will thrill us.

How to offer specific hope to someone today

October 27, 2019

Maria 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 3, Confidence, Encouragement, God's presence, God's Promises, Grace, Hope, Psalm 31, Uncategorized , , , , 1 Comment

Something Caleb Kaltenbach wrote a while back for Christianity Today came up in my prayer feed yesterday morning.  Mike and I use Prayermate to collect and ‘feed’ us prayers each day.  I had cobbled together some of Kaltenbach’s thoughts on the futility and sin of worry and composed them into a prayer for myself.  What caught my attention yesterday morning, praying again through these truths was the possibility of offering REAL hope to someone I might encounter in the next few hours.

Kaltenbach wrote: “What is the hope I can offer a fellow believer?”

He then answered: “God has already created and planned tomorrow…… “

Now that is real hope.  No matter how fraught with problems tomorrow turns out to be, knowing that God has planned every event of the day IS a relief.

But we need more.  The thought of something awful can still be fear-inducing, even if it IS part of God’s plan.

Here is the ‘more’ I must have to let go of fear. Caleb finishes his thought: “…..and He will walk with you into it.”  God promises to be present in the perplexing, the unexpected, the difficult, and yes, the AWFUL.

“Okay, ” you or the  recipient of this encouragement might respond, “Where can I go in God’s Word to SEE that this is so, that God actually teaches both His sovereign control AND His presence?”

I had to know for myself what foundation had already been laid for this claim.  With a few minutes of reflection, this is what came to mind. One of my favorite promises is from Psalm 31:15: My times are in your hands….

You know me well enough by now, if you’ve read this blog, that I love looking up the Hebrew/Greek or Aramaic meaning of our English translations.

From BlueLetterBible.com the English term TIMES is translated from the Hebrew ETH.  However, in Hebrew ETH means so much more:

  • events, ‘nows’, experiences, happy and calamitous seasons

Conclusion?  EVERY occurrence is in God’s hands.  THAT fact is enough for the Psalmist to continue:

Psalm 31:15: My times are in your hands, (so) deliver me from the hands of my enemies and those who persecute me.

I wrote that down and continued looking for more Biblical support.

A few moments later, I ran across 2 Cor 3:5 where Paul writes: My sufficiency is from God. 

Right before that verse Paul pens, “We have confidence through Christ toward God”.

What was the basis of Paul’s confidence? A phrase from his first letter to believers in Corinth points to the reason for Paul’s happy reliance on God: “but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor 15:10)

So, pulling this together for myself and because I want to be ready to offer it as an encouragement to someone else, here is how I am tucking Caleb’s exhortation into my mind for ready access:

Let’s suppose we listen to a co-worker or talk with a friend today and they have a heavy heart. We can listen and then say:

This is what helps me in times of suffering or difficulty:

  1. God has already planned your tomorrow and He will be walking WITH you through it.
  2. He promises that all your times and events are in His hands, not necessarily to prevent a suffering but to rescue and deliver you IN each situation.
  3. You don’t need to look at your insufficiency and feel afraid because, as Paul learned, Christ’s grace toward us IS sufficient for the day.

Sounds VERY good, but does it ‘work’?  Does this offer true encouragement, a life-line when discouragement hits?

I soon found out.  I left this blog post to sit until today, Sunday, when I planned to edit it.

And yesterday afternoon, the disabling spirit of discouragement attacked.  After wallowing a bit, I remembered ‘how to offer some one HOPE’!!!!

It turns out that the first person God planned for me to encourage was me.  I lay in bed talking to myself last night and was able to fall asleep.  Then, this morning, even though I woke up feeling VERY unspiritual, I again talked to myself and turned to the reading for today and prayed:

Holy Spirit, this is Your word. It is alive and full of power.  Feed me. Encourage me.  Let me see marvel-worthy things.

And He did. By grace.

The hope we offer others, I’m seeing, is best tested on ourselves.  I know intellectually that one reason we suffer is to be able to hold out God’s comfort to others, that comfort that we receive from Him.  I tend to be able to see God’s good hand AFTERwards. Hindsight IS valuable if we remember it.