He's Alive!

And then Jesus cried out once more, loudly, and then He breathed His last breath. At that instant, the temple curtain was torn in half, from top to bottom. The earth shook; rocks split in two; tombs burst open, and bodies of many sleeping holy women and men were raised up. After Jesus’ resurrection, they came out of their tombs, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and showed themselves to people. – Matthew 27:50-53 (The Voice)

Think about this for just a moment! If Jesus was just a man and not divinely appointed as the Son of God to come and do what he did then verses 51-53 of Matthew 27 should never have been recorded. Dead people came back to life when Jesus died!  No, we're not talking about a Robert Kirkman comic book or TV Show. These were believers that had died and at the moment of Christ's death they were no longer dead.

So imagine if you will there is a man going through your city talking about repenting of sins, loving God and others, forgiveness, and turning the other cheek to offenses and this same man is sentenced to die because of these teachings. At the moment of this man’s death an earthquake takes place, rock just split apart, and coffins burst up out of the ground and open up and the ones that were inside and dead and now very much alive. Wouldn't you begin to think a little more about that man that was just killed? If we fast forward to the following day we can even take the story one step further.

Your previously dead Grammy comes and knocks on your door and is raving about this man that was way more than just a man. After you come to from passing-out you are in utter shock and disbelief because you where there when Grammy was buried. Now because of what you've seen and experienced you begin asking others about this man and soon discover there is following of people that have experienced countless miraculous things that he had done while he was alive. Your mind begins to shift and you think “maybe he was more than just a man”. Your Grammy now begins frantically repeating, "He's ALIVE, He's ALIVE, He's ALIVE, He's ALIVE!!" she then continues, "Let's go to the grave, Mary just called and said His grave is empty!"

Now I know I've taken some liberties in trying to bring this event to life, but I guarantee to some extent this did happen to a family back in the day when the actual resurrection of Christ took place. So forgive me if don’t take the name of Jesus Christ lightly; He was and is more than just a man. He is my Savior and the Son of God and regardless if you accept or reject that it doesn't change the facts recorded in history. Nor does it change the prophetic facts that are yet to come. There's still time but tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone. Perhaps it's time for you to look into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and maybe, just maybe you'll find exactly what you've been searching for. 

Take Care & God Bless,

-E

Identity Crisis

You should love the Eternal, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”The second great commandment is this: “Love others in the same way you love yourself.” There are no commandments more important than these. Mark 12:30-31 (The Voice)

I spent some time in prayer this morning and did some reading. I came to Mark 12:30-31 and it really hit me hard. This was the response that Jesus gave when the Scribe asked Him what the most important commandment was. I believe that if we really lived this out we would see a shift in our homes, place of business, relationships, basically in every aspect of our lives. This commandment Jesus gave is some times difficult to live out for a few reasons.

First, the enemy knows there is power in this commandment and he will release everything in his arsenal to fight this which includes self-doubt, insecurities, as well as fear. If he can get us to be down and out about ourselves then we don't love ourselves and in turn can't show love to others  because are so inwardly focused on how "bad" or "screwed-up" we are constantly reminded of.

Secondly, this commandment is sometimes hard to live out because at times we suffer from an identity crisis. Either we don't know what the Bible says about who we are in Christ or we do know but for some reason are unable to accept/believe/receive it. Let's face it life can be hard to swallow at times but the circumstances of life are never meant to dictate our identity in Christ. I have found that at times I have had to literally say out loud reminders to combat the lies of the enemy.

For me it's thoughts that tend to creep in and remind me of the old me and things I did in my past to which I say, "I have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16, Phil 2:5) and "I am holy and blameless before Him in love" (Eph 1:4, 1 Peter 1:16). This is just one example I used and believe me there are days I may have to mediate on this 20-30 times throughout the day, but this IS A FIGHT, and you need to make the decision if you are going to fight or just roll over. I know I have to fight because I've seen what my life looks like apart from God; it's cold, lifeless and void of any purpose and I never want to go back to that again.

So whatever you are dealing with today just know you don't have to let it steal your identity in Christ. For it's within this identity that you are able to move forward and be all that God has called you to be. Make the decision today to accept what the Bible says about you in faith. Once you've accepted it and are firm in who you are in Christ you are then able to love others and share the love of God as Christ commanded us to do. 

If you need some help with learning who you are in Christ here is a great resource from Joyce Meyer Ministries that I used more than once. Who I Am in Christ

Take Care & God Bless,

-E