He Is Risen!!!

Blessed is The Lord! Bless His Holy name! Oh, how I love the resurrection season. This is the big deal! This is what it’s all about!

The disciple John wrote in John chapter 3 verse 16 “For God so loved the world He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” Wow!

Not only that, but most importantly, we are cleansed and freed from all our sin and so can now approach and have a relationship with God our Father as He originally intended in the Garden of Eden.

God is pure holiness. That’s why it was impossible for people to have a relationship with God. Humans are sinners. That is unfortunately the condition we find ourselves in. As you know, especially from my last post, I am most certainly not an innocent. Oil and water don’t mix, and neither do holiness and sin. And THANK YOU GOD for Jesus!

Jesus is the only human who was perfect. He actually had no sin. He voluntarily came down and gave His life and blood as payment for our sins. He said Himself in John chapter 10 verse 11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Please understand two really important things. He is called the “lamb of God” in John chapter one verse 29: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This refers to Jesus being the ultimate Passover lamb for our sins. Exodus chapter 12 verse 5, where the original Passover began in Egypt, God told the Israelites through Moses “The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.”

Jesus was WITHOUT SIN and therefore able to qualify as an acceptable sacrifice. Anything else would have been considered an abomination. Since we know Jesus rose from the dead, clearly His sacrifice was accepted. Now because He did this, the Holy Spirit came to earth and enters every person who has declared Jesus as their Lord and Saviour! YAY GOD!!! I love the voice of the Holy Spirit! So gentle and kind, not condemning, leading, guiding, helping. He is the Spirit of God, actually speaking with us and even operating through us for healing and intervening prayer. Glory!

Here’s the other important point. Jesus LOVES LOVES LOVES you! Yes! YOU! YOU! YOU! Many have said that the Jews killed Jesus, or the Romans killed Jesus, or even that we all killed Jesus. We did not kill Jesus!!! Remember what He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He laid it down HIMSELF!!! He did this entirely on His own because he LOVES YOU! Because He wants His relationship with us back again. Ever miss someone you love?

Another verse that proves He gave His life is this: John 18 verses 5 and 6. Jesus was asking the temple guards who came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane who they were looking for… 5“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. Jesus said, “I AM He.” And Judas His betrayer was standing there with them. 6 When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

You see? He was so full of power, the guards couldn’t even stand up to Him. So there was nothing involuntary about this mighty sacrifice. What a saviour. I cannot ever do anything to thank Him for His stupendous act of love.

You know what else? Check out John chapter 15 verses 12 through 14. Jesus said,” 12This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are My friends if you do what I command you.

Get this…His friends…..He is calling you His friend. How amazing.

Would you like to be a friend of Jesus? Don’t waste another minute! Don’t put it off. I believe He is coming very soon. Here is what you do…

So what is the one thing that we do to be righteous before God? Jesus told the people, “Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” in John chapter 6 verse 29. The apostle Paul (once a vehement murderer of Christians) wrote in his letter to the Romans in the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 9, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus also said in the book of Matthew chapter 10 verse 32,”Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.”

Don’t say you’ll never be good enough, Jesus makes you good enough. Now if Jesus forgave the Apostle Paul for murdering Christians, and forgave the Roman soldiers who crucified Him.What makes you so special that you don’t think you’re good enough? Frankly that’s getting on your high horse and saying you know better than God. 🙂 (umm, you don’t) So what are you waiting for? Say this out loud and trust that Jesus will take you right where you are, right now, in ANY condition.

Dear Lord Jesus, I’m asking you into my heart and my life. I know I am a sinner. I ask your forgiveness for every sin I’ve ever committed. I forgive those who sinned against me. I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you stood in my place and took all the punishment that was due to me when you were there. I believe that you rose from the dead and are alive. I thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me of sin with your blood. Thank you for making me right with our heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen and thank You!

Now go and tell others and enjoy your Resurrection Day!

Supernatural Easter!!

One of the things I find so fascinating about Easter is that the supernatural world was tipping over onto its ears before, during , and after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  And to no small degree!

Jesus had very publicly just resurrected his good friend Lazurus from the dead and was heading into Jerusalem for the Passover.  I can just imagine the way people freaked out when a man four days dead walked out of his tomb, still wrapped in his burial shroud.

The details are from the book of John, Chapter 11 33-43

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.³⁵ Jesus wept.³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Geeze, I think I would have passed out!  Well, after this he heads into Jerusalem and is met with adoring crowds throwing down their coats and the branches of palm trees to welcome him to the city (also known as Palm Sunday).

The next supernatural occurrence is also stupendous. He was apparently speaking with some Greek men who had come to see him, and Jesus comes out with a prophetic reply followed by a stupefying event…(John Chapter 12 verses 20-30)

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.

So a large group of people were around Jesus and a for-real, booming voice from the sky, obviously God, comes and gives everyone one of the biggest heads ups of all time!

I’m concentrating on the supernatural here, so I’m going to go past the Last Supper, where he revealed he knew what was going to happen with certain followers, and move forward to his prayers in Gethsemane and his arrest.

As he was praying to God to “let this cup pass” Luke 22 verse 43 says “An angel came and strengthened Him.” And when he was actually identifying himself to the temple guards who came to arrest him, in John 18 verse 6 When he said to them, “I AM,” they went backward and fell to the ground.” This to me means that Jesus certainly had the power to avoid all the torture he was about to endure, but submitted anyway.

Towards the end of the crucifixion, a number of things began to happen. First, the sky went dark: But from noon, for three hours until the death of Jesus, there was darkness (Matthew 27:45).  Important to note is that it wasn’t an eclipse since this happened at the time of Passover, and solar eclipses are impossible because of the full moon, which always happens on Passover. Interesting to note is that there was darkness on the land during the plagues of Egypt and the time just before the Exodus.

***Here’s the really wild one…..the moment he dies in Matthew 27-50-53 ⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Okay, not your ordinary execution by a long shot. Not to mention the angels by the mysteriously opened tomb after three days saying in Mark 16 verse 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.

Jesus then appeared many times to his friends and disciples, and when he finally left the earth is was like this; (Acts 1:6-11)

⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white(angels) stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Many had reported actually seeing Jesus…in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 – 8 the apostle Paul says, ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that He appeared to Cephas,and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. [meaning born again spiritually]

Jesus with us after his resurrection!

I love Easter.  It’s the most important holiday to me.

Not only have I received the most incredible gift that could ever be imagined, the atonement and forgiveness of my sins by the Son of God himself, but to have been restored to all the promised blessings of God, because of Jesus becoming totally victorious over that awful death, by raising up from the dead!

I love how he walked among us for a while in the flesh after his resurrection just to show us that he is indeed alive. He showed up numerous times. Right at the tomb to Mary, one of his followers.  Here’s the scene:

In Mark 16: 14(Jesus has just risen from the dead after 3 days being in the tomb) 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”14Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Wow! Right there! Right at the tomb!  He then told her to go and tell the disciples…who had a pretty hard time with it, even though Jesus had been telling them all along this would happen.

He walked along a road with some disciples in Luke chapter 24 verse 35, and spoke with them, after his resurrection. Here’s what happened:

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He stayed with them for a while, and even started to have supper with them, until he disappeared when he broke the bread.

He also appeared to the disciples, who still struggled with believing the report, even though other followers were reporting back that he was indeed arisen and alive.  This is what happened

John 20: 19-20…¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

There were a couple of other times, but this last one is pretty spectacular and bears mentioning considering how things seem to be heading, possibly quite close to his return!

Acts 1:6-11 ⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

He stayed to make absolutely sure we knew he is indeed alive.  There are still many reports around the world of Jesus appearing.  I have heard of many from people who are miraculously healed, from those who are begging God to believe, and even from people who came close to death or have even returned from death.

I hope this makes the journey of believing a little easier.  Have a wonderful Easter!

 

(Thank you to Bibelgateway.com for all these scriptures!)