From the Heart by B.Demaere

  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—-the kind he will accept.  When you think of what he has done for you, is that too much to ask?  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a person by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. The Apostle Paul here puts the emphasis on self before speaking about the gifting given to each one to minister. He says, first of all, I plead with you, that means that what he is asking is not supposed to be overlooked.  It's important! It is not obviously the giving of 'living' bodies.  Of course, God wants 'living' bodies and not dead ones.  We know two things from scripture,  1) God is pleased by our faith: "God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith." (Hebrews 11:2)              ...

Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across the entrance.  "Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them.  But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested, "Lord, he has been dead for four days.  The smell will be terrible." Jesus responded, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?" So they rolled the stone aside.  Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, thank you for hearing me.  You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.  Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus come out!" And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth, Jesus told them, "Unwrap and let him go!" Why was Jesus angry?  How could he be angry?  Can it be right to be angry?  Yes, it is called 'righteous' anger, anger that is about what is holy and being viola...