Happy Easter/ Passover/ Resurrection Day , however you prefer to term it, it's Spring , guys , and Jesus is Lord! Hallelujah!
I just wanted to take a few minutes and ask what Easter means to you? What do you think of , when you think about this day? Do you think about everything you have to get done and all the people you have to please or do you really think about Jesus and his death and resurrection?
Admittedly, it's all of that and more for me. The running around is done for now and all that's left is finishing the meal so now is the perfect time to share with you a few things that are on my heart. A great part of this holiday celebrates loss. Yes, I said 'celebrate' and will explain.
I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around loss, but there is a great element of loss associated with this time of year. The snow is gone and the quiet stillness of Winter is over. There's no more time to spend inside because the ground is waking from a long sleep and the yard and gardens now require attention. The results of that time spent in the garden will prove as great gifts , in the forms of vegetables and fruits.
Jesus giving His life so that we may be saved is the greatest gift anyone could give . Yet, I couldn't imagine the sorrow his closest friends felt when he was crucified and died. I have only had a glimpse of the pain his mother must have felt during the whole process , and I must say, I don't want to feel that kind of excruciating pain.
Fortunately God doesn't look at death the same way we do. If He did, Jesus would've rushed to Lazarus and prevented his friend's death by healing him. He did not and he allowed him to die only to raise him from the dead later on. Which proved to everyone in the area , that resurrection , in Christ was very possible. They had proof because they had witnessed with their eyes , the death and resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus too experienced the loss associated with death for it is written ,"Jesus wept". You can find the whole story written in John Chapter 11.
Yet, God calls death precious.
Psa. 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
It too is a gift . Without the death of Jesus , he would not have overcome the grave , and then stand in the presence of God so, therefore it would not be possible for us to overcome death and stand in the presence of God as well.
2Cor. 5:1 ¶ For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
2Cor. 5:2 For most assuredly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven;
2Cor. 5:3 if so be that being clothed we will not be found naked.
2Cor. 5:4 For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened; not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
2Cor. 5:5 Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit.
2Cor. 5:6 ¶ Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;
2Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Cor. 5:8 We are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
Still, the loss of someone is very difficult to bear when someone has gone to be with the Lord and you are left behind.
The Lord knows this loss and has felt it too, but Easter has a happy ending! He who was dead , is now risen from the grave to life everlasting. The coldness of winter is left behind and a new life has begun. The whole world proves with the coming of spring the process of life, then death, then life. For every year you have been alive you have seen this process take place: Summer, Fall , Winter, and Spring. All creation cries out there is a God, we have only to choose whether we will believe it or not.
Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.
I know it is true, that Jesus came ,as an innocent lamb, and was led , willingly , to the slaughter. I know he gave up riches and glory and power to be my kinsman redeemer and rescue us all from death and hell. I know He now sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father and intercedes on my behalf. I know He is coming again for His bride the church. I know I will be ready , will you?
******Thank you Father for the loss of those that have gone on to be with you . We thank you that they are now present with You. Thank you for dying on the cross for our sins . Thank you for taking all the blame and punishment , so we may be with you when we leave this earthly tabernacle. Most of all, thank you for overcoming death and the grave. We celebrate Your Resurrection with joy and praise . Hallelujah ! Glory to the Lamb that was slain! ********
