When Easter Makes Sense

Getting older has an upside. It's called Wisdom! When I was a child and even a young adult, I didn't truly "get" Easter. I knew Jesus died on a cross even though he wasn't guilty of anything, and I knew he rose from the dead on the third day. I believed he did it for us because of his great love, yet the full meaning of what it was really about escaped me.

Now that I'm old and wise (heh heh), I get it. But I didn't acquire this understanding just by celebrating birthdays. It came from reading the Bible. Sounds simple, and yet it wasn't until I was in my thirties that I truly became a student of the Word. Imagine my utter amazement when I discovered that reading the Bible from cover to cover--from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21--makes things soooo much clearer than picking and choosing verses and books to read. The Bible truly is a story, and as a writer of fiction, that really speaks to me. I wouldn't pick up a novel and start reading from the middle or flip to this page or that page. I'd read it from Chapter One, page one, and continue on until I reached the end.

Don't get me wrong. I am NOT saying the Bible is fiction. Far from it! But it IS God's story. A story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And when you read this amazing story, you can't help but see the order--the plan--that was in place from the very first four words:

"In the beginning GOD..." Genesis 1:1

The word for GOD used here is Elohim. It's plural. Why? Because God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all present at the creation. When God made man, he said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." Genesis 1:26

John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men."

When Jesus left heaven to come to earth, he knew it was temporary. He knew he'd only live a mere thirty-three years before he would die a horrific death on a cross, yet he came willingly. He lived in relative obscurity the first thirty years of his life, earning a living with his hands, and obeying the Laws of God. Yet he had a far greater purpose. When John the Baptist saw him, he spoke truth and prophecy about Jesus: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29

Those words came true when Jesus was crucified. He was nailed to the cross at 9:00 AM, the time of the Jewish morning sacrifice. He committed his spirit into the the hands of God the Father at 3:00 PM, the time of the Jewish evening sacrifice. When he spoke, "It is finished," (John 20:30) he became THE sacrificial Lamb for all humanity. He bore all our sins--every single one that I've committed, and that you've committed, and that every person who ever lived committed!--offering us reconciliation with God in a way that had never happened before. And God himself acknowledged this new relationship, this new covenant, by tearing the veil--a huge, thick curtain in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies, the place where he dwelt, from the rest of the temple--making it possible for us to approach him, to know him, as very few had experienced up until this point.

My prayer for you on this Easter Sunday is that you will know the truth of the cross and the empty tomb, and that the truth will set you free! Free from sin, free from shame, free to live with hope and joy, free to forgive and be forgiven, free to give and receive, free to die in the knowledge that Jesus has prepared a new home for you where you will dwell in God's presence for all eternity. 

That, my friend, is Easter. 

May you and yours have a blessed day celebrating all that Jesus is!!

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!

~Michelle

There's Gratitude ... and then there's GRATITUDE!

November is my favorite month of the year! The changing of seasons speaks to my soul. I've truly enjoyed all the colors of autumn in our new home. These pictures were taken just a few days apart. Isn't it amazing that we get to enjoy God's handiwork year after year, season after season? He is quite the artist!

Then there is my birthday, celebrated in the middle of the month. I'm old enough now that birthdays aren't that big of a deal. There are only three people on the planet that are required to remember my special day -- hubby and our two boys -- and honestly, they wouldn't be able to forget it if they tried! Ha! 

But each birthday is also a reminder of how blessed I am that God gave me wonderful Christ-loving parents. Our family was far from perfect, as most families are, but the one constant throughout every day of my life was the unconditional love given me by my Mom and Dad. They're both in heaven now enjoying the blessed presence of our Lord and Savior, joining in that "great cloud of witnesses" the author of Hebrews spoke of in Hebrews 12:1.

Mommy and me 54 years ago

When I make my list of blessings this week, my sweet Mommy and Daddy are right there at the top. 

But as we come into Thanksgiving week, I'm pondering what true gratitude looks like. Although you don't typically think of this biblical story at Thanksgiving time, I believe it gives us a true picture of gratitude. 

In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem when he encounters ten men with leprosy. Lepers, as you probably know, were considered unclean and couldn't live among their loved ones and friends. I'm sure theirs was a life of misery, loneliness, and despair. Without modern medicine, skin conditions didn't just clear up on their own, forcing people to live their entire lives as outcasts. 

When the lepers see Jesus, they call to him: "Master, have mercy on us." Have you ever said those words to the Lord? I have, and thankfully, he did, in the same way he did that long ago day on the road.

"Go," Jesus says. "Show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him -- and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him," Rise and go; your faith has made you well." 

I'm sure the other nine men were thrilled they'd been cleansed. Jesus had basically given them their lives back. But were they grateful? Did they praise God, as the Samaritan did by his act of returning to Jesus, falling at his feet, and thanking him? 

It may sound odd, but this Thanksgiving I want to be like a Samaritan leper. I don't want to take all the many, many blessings God has given me for granted. From the smallest to the largest, I want to thank my Lord, my God with a truly grateful heart. From my family heritage, to my sweet husband of thirty-plus years, to my two beautiful sons, to the wonderful new job and home we are thoroughly enjoying, to the many friends and extended family, to the freedoms we enjoy in this country, to the bounty that will be on our table Thursday afternoon ... thank you, Jesus!! Without you and your sacrifice on the cross, I would have nothing. 

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!!!

~Michelle