Live like He is alive!

Resurrection Morning! We all celebrated that historical fact last week. He is risen! He is risen indeed! We relive that morning in our minds and churches hoping to recreate the joy and hope in our hearts that Mary Magdalene had after she saw Jesus alive. Here we are a week later, what in your life has been different because Jesus is alive? When someone we love dies we feel that incredible ache of separation. “If only we could speak one more time, I wish I could say.... if I could ask one more question.... I would express my love more....” When Jesus died those who loved him grieved; but then He rose from the dead and they talked with Him, they hung on every word He said and they loved Him.

It is a week since we celebrated the resurrection. Have you gotten up early to talk to him one more time and found Him waiting for you? Have you hung on His every word not even hearing the distractions in the background? Have you loved Him with all your heart and mind and every fiber of your being? If not you might be living as if He is dead. You say you have faith, but faith without action is dead. You say you have love but love without evidence is what? Dead.

Our perspective is different than His. Look at the perspective of the Israelites waiting at the bottom of Mt. Sinai for Moses to come back from his face to face meeting with Almighty God. Exodus 32:1-8 In verse 1 the people complain because Moses has been gone 's-o l-o-n-g'. Eight verses later God’s description of the exact same time period is 'how quick’ they are to turn away. Moses is talking with God on a glory covered mountain and they think he has been gone too long so they build a golden calf to worship and call it their god. How long would we want to stay in the tangible presence of God? Obviously God has a whole different perspective on time. Would you describe your time with Him as, 'so long' or 'how quick'?

We celebrated His resurrection, has the impact of that earthshaking, veil ripping, grave opening, soldier slinging, eternity changing moment continued to change your day or was that too long ago to make a difference? Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the LIFE!" John 10:6 The bread of LIFE! The LIVING water! The river of LIFE! What part of your week needs new life? Needs resuscitation? How do we take the dead parts of our day, our life, and breath life into them? How do we get those dead parts to have the life, life abundant and to the full, that He promised us in John 10:10? He gives us a clue, “He who believes in Me,…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John 7:38 Believe in Him and believe Him. When you read His Word listen with your head and your heart. It might be a thought, a little voice in your heart, or the words on the page of the Bible that He uses to speak to you. Listen and believe Him! Then go and do what he tells you. Watch to see the life come back into your relationships, your job, your home, your life!

Resurrection not a surprise

It is a strange phenomenon how expected events surprise us. That as the New Year turns into Easter, Easter turns into summer, on the heels of thanksgiving it is Christmas again, and another birthday has been added to the revolving years of life. No matter how quickly time seems to move there are still 24 hours in a day and 365 days in the year. So why are we surprised by the speed at which life seems to be whirring past us? Why are we surprised by expected events? Death surprises us even when we know it is coming. Somehow we are caught off guard at that final moment even when it has been happening since Adam and Eve. Jesus was 33 when He died and it didn’t surprise Him. We are surprised when the death comes and we’re even more surprised when death is replaced with life! Who would not be surprised to see a dead friend sit up and start talking?

Look inside the tomb with me, talk about surprise! Everyone is running around in surprise. The women ran to the tomb, then ran back to tell the disciples what they saw. John ran to the tomb. Peter ran past him into the tomb and saw that the linen cloth that had covered Jesus head was folded and lying to the side by itself. In all the running around this folded cloth seems like a strange detail to point out. This piece of folded cloth reveals that the resurrection was orderly, not hurried, and not a surprise to Jesus. He was not in a rush when he got up off that slab and walked out of the tomb. If he could handle the false accusations, the sin of the world, death and resurrection without surprise, He can handle anything in your life that you are hiding or dealing with on your own. Give it to Him, He won’t be surprised you’ll probably be surprised by His reaction.