Oh Death - MercyMe

You ain't nothin' but a stone, that my Savior rolled away!

Video: Oh Death by MercyMe

Oh death, I will not be afraid

In the end you will lose

I will dance on your grave

With the One who buried you

You ain't nothin' but a stone

That my Savior rolled away

Set you straight and set me free

Oh, death, you arе dead to me

Oh, death, you arе dead to me

Luke 24:5-6 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee,

God's Appointed Times - First Fruits And Festival Of Weeks

The third and fourth annual events on God's calendar.

Leviticus 23:9-10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10 "Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest.

Leviticus 23:15-16 "From the day after the Sabbath-the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering-count off seven full weeks. 16 Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.

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In the previous post, we discussed how God has a calendar, and by examining the events on it, we can learn a lot about Him. God wanted His people to use His calendar to know Him, remember Him, and reflect on all He has done for His chosen people.

We started with the weekly event God gave us, the Sabbath day, the day God stopped creating. Then, we looked at the first two annual events on God's calendar: Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 

All of these events should have helped God's people stay focused on Him, but the Old Testament believers, much like us, quickly lost their focus and did not remember His goodness to them. (Judges 2:10, 8:34, Nehemiah 9:17)

God's Spring Calendar Continues With:

First Fruits - Reishit

(Exodus 23:19)

Deuteronomy 26:8-10 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! 10 And now, O LORD, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.' Then place the produce before the LORD your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him.

Preparations for the First Fruit celebration began on Passover day. The first barley harvest was carefully selected, bundled, and left in the field overnight. The priest meticulously chose the best barley, just as he did with the Passover lamb. 

These barley sheaves would be prepared for the priest to present as the first of the spring harvest. This offering would be waved before God, acknowledging that the land's abundance was a gracious blessing from Him.

Festival of Weeks  – Shavuot

(Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26)

Leviticus 23:15-17 "From the day after the Sabbath-the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering-count off seven full weeks. 16 Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the LORD as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the LORD from the first of your crops.

Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks, is the next significant harvest celebration that occurs at the end of the fall harvest season. The word "Pentecost" is derived from the Greek word for "fifty," as it is celebrated 50 days after the observance of Passover. 

This festival is marked by the offering of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, which are prepared into two loaves of bread and waved before God. Interestingly, the rules for this bread is different than the bread of Passover, they were commanded to use yeast for this bread. Yeast representing sin in a believers life wasn't a concept until Paul wrote about it in his letter to the church at Corinth.

Pentecost was not only an agricultural celebration but also a time to remember the giving of the law and the commitment of God's people to live by His rules. It's important to note that the laws of God were originally intended to be celebrated, before religious leaders started adding more and more man made rules. (Psalm 19:7-14, Philippians 3:8)

The Ultimate First Fruit

1 Corinthians 15:20,23 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

Revelation 1:5 He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.

Since we don't grow our own food, these holidays don't mean much to us, we don't think much about the blessing of having extra food. But as always there is more to this holiday than just food.

Just as Jesus fulfilled Passover and Unleavened Bread, he also fulfills the First Fruit and Pentecost festivals we celebrate. The first fruit was planted in the ground to be raised up on Easter Sunday.

Jesus rose from the grave and stayed remained on the earth for 40 days to give his people plenty of proof that he is the first fruit and to give his people instructions about their next steps.

Pentecost is the birthday of the church

Acts 2:1-4 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

God changed the significance of Pentecost dramatically. The festival would no longer be seen as an agricultural holiday, and the word "Pentecost" would take on a new meaning. Most importantly, God's relationship with his people would never be the same.

The Old Testament prophets had foretold that God would have a new place to live, no longer in physical places and things, but in his people. When the Holy Spirit filled the lives of believers, it was a spectacular event, just as when God had appeared in the burning bush, on Mount Sinai, or in the Tabernacle and Temple.

It's no surprise that people came running to see what was happening as this drama was confusing to most of the people that were there. A week after giving his disciples the task of being the church, Jesus gave them the power they needed to accomplish it by entering his new dwelling places on earth.

This was the promise of the new covenant, where God could now live with his people in a way even better than in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:8-10, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Ephesians 1:13)

God's plan to save us from ourselves is revealed by the events on his calendar:

• Have your sins been forgiven by the ultimate Passover lamb that willingly became the sacrifice for your rebellion?
• Have you begun to walk in obedience to his teaching to begin the process of getting rid of sin in your life as you follow the true bread of life?
• Have you experienced Emmanuel, God with us, personally in your life as you walk with him through his power that dwells within you?

If you can answer yes to these questions then you are ready for the next event on God's calendar. God told us all of this so that his chosen ones would be prepared for the Feast of Trumpets! (Matthew 24:31, Revelation 8:1-11:19)

RELATED ARTICLES

The Spring Feasts & Why They Point to What’s Ahead (icejusa.org)

What Is Pentecost? (bibleproject.com)

God's Covenant Through Moses (desiringgod.org)

I Have Been Rescued!

There is good news for the captive, Good news for the shamed, He's our rescuer!

Video: Rend Collective - Rescuer

He's our rescuer

He's our rescuer

We are free from sin forever more

Oh how sweet the sound

Oh how grace abounds

We will praise the lord, our rescuer

There is good news for the captive

Good news for the shamed

There is good news for the one who walked away

There is good news for the doubter

The one religion failed

For the good lord has come to seek and save

He's our rescuer (hey)

He's our rescuer (hey)

We are free from sin forever more 

Oh how sweet the sound (hey)

Oh how grace abounds (hey)

We will praise the lord, our rescuer

He is beauty for the blind man

Riches for the poor

He is friendship for the one the world ignores

He is pasture for the weary

Rest for those who strive

For the good lord is the way, the truth, the life

Yes, the good lord is the way, the truth and life (hey)

So come and be chainless

Come and be fearless

Come to the foot of Calvary

For there is redemption

For every affliction

Here at the foot of Calvary

Rescued From Darkness

Colossians 1:11-14 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Risen Without A Doubt

The unexpected happened and there is plenty of evidence to prove it.

John 20:1-9 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put Him!"

3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn't go in.

6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.

8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed-- 9 for until then they still hadn't understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

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Most authors end a biography pretty soon after the death of the person that is being written about. There usually isn't much to say about a person after they are dead, they quit doing things and saying things for anybody to write about, but that is not so with Jesus.

Jesus story starts to get really interesting after his death. The favorite part of the Bible for a lot of people is probably the New Testament from Acts through Revelation. The story of Jesus is really exciting as you about the amazing changes that happened in our relationship with God as a result of the fact that Jesus came out of the tomb.

None of the stuff that Jesus told us about heaven matters if he didn't rise from the dead, we would be foolish to put all of our hope in a dead man, if he didn't leave his grave then we have no hope of leaving ours. Thankfully the evidence that Jesus did rise from his grave is huge and it gives us plenty of reason to expect that we will experience his resurrection power in our lives as well. (John 6:37-40, 1 Corinthians 15:14-19)

Consider the evidence:

• The open tomb

A sealed tomb with Roman soldiers that "slept" through the noise of the large boulder being moved and now it is wide open for us to see that it is empty. Jesus proved when he came into a room without opening a door that the stone was moved for our benefit, it wasn't moved to let him out, it was moved to let us in. (John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:15, 31)

• The scared disciples

These guys were too afraid to make a plan to pretend that the resurrection had happened. They didn't even comprehend that Jesus was coming back in three days. Why would they go through so much work and expense to give Jesus a proper burial if they believed that he was coming back so soon?

• The religious leaders

If these guys had any information about the location of Jesus body they would certainly have been quick to let everybody know, they would have done whatever they could to stop the resurrection stories. Their story about the guards at the tomb taking a nap and missing the thief is rather lame.

• The empty grave clothes

What grave robber would leave behind the clothing that was on Jesus and carry his bloody body away to a new location. His body was a mess that nobody would have wanted to see or touch.

• The crowd of witnesses

Post-resurrection appearances of Jesus include the first to Mary Magdalene, then to the disciples on several occasions and to a crowd of over 500 people at once. The varied circumstances of the appearances and the different people that were involved help to validate the truth.

• The disciples preaching

The powerful preaching of the disciples would have been easy to stop if somebody came forward with a dead Jesus. The disciples accused the Jews of crucifying the Son of God, wouldn't they stop at nothing to find Jesus body in order to stop such serious allegations?

• The unexpected happened

It is amazing that nobody expected Jesus to be back in their midst after three days. God's word and the prophets had said that it would happen, just days before he was crucified Jesus said he would be crucified but he would be right back, yet nobody expected it would happen. (Luke 24:25-26)

From tears to joy, from fear to courage and from doubt to belief, they were all convinced. Even the Apostle Paul went from being a zealot to protect the traditions of Judaism to embracing the life and teaching of Jesus. 

The Apostle Paul saw Jesus and was convinced:

Romans 1:4 and He was shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 4:24-25 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in Him, the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 5:11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 6:10 When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. Romans 8:34 Who then will condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.

Everyone that experienced the risen Savior was never the same and that is still true today. My relationship with Jesus is so awesome because it is the reason that I can have a peaceful, loving and friendly relationship with God while I am here on earth and there is no fear of meeting him when this life is over.

Thank you God that you revealed your plan to raise your Son Jesus from the dead and then you followed through and kept your promise.

How Great Thou Art

Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee, How great thou art!

Video: Home Free - How Great Thou Art

O Lord, my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul,my savior God, to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art

When through the woods, and forest glades i wander,

And hear birds sing sweetly in the trees

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze

Then sings my soul,my savior God, to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art

It is well

It is well

With my soul

With my soul

It is well

It is well

With my soul

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart

Then I shall bow with humble adoration,

And then proclaim, My God, how great thou art!

Psalm 145:1-7  I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.

I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;

I will proclaim your greatness. Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

The Final Days of Jesus: Sunday

He is risen!

Video: The Final Days of Jesus: Sunday

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I Am The Resurrection

Jesus predicted the events surrounding his death to make it obvious that he is the promised Messiah.

 

John 11:25  Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying.

Luke 18:31-33  Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, "Listen, we're going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.  32  He will be handed over to the Romans, and He will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.  33  They will flog Him with a whip and kill Him, but on the third day He will rise again."

Luke 22:37  "For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: ‘He was counted among the rebels.’ Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true.”

John 13:19  "I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I AM the Messiah."

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If you met a very nice person today that predicted that they would be sentenced to the death penalty and all of their friends would desert them and then he would come back from the dead three days later you would think that they were insane. But that's exactly what Jesus did, he told us what would happen.

Jesus claimed to be the resurrection just a few days before Passion week, he told Martha that she will see her brother when he is resurrected, she knew that was true but what she didn't know is that Jesus was going to display his resurrection power right away. She wasn't going to have to wait very long to see her brother Lazarus alive again.

Jesus prophesied that he would be resurrected, he made a lot of detailed prophecies about his last days on earth and his return in three days. How could any ordinary man make such bold claims and then make it happen?

Jesus Predicted:

✔  The disciples would find an unridden colt when they entered town to prepare for Passover (Luke 19:30)
✔  When the disciples entered Jerusalem he predicted they would meet a man with a water pitcher who would have a room for them to meet in (Luke 22:10)
✔  His Words Would Be Everlasting (Matthew 24:35)
✔  The Story Of Mary Of Bethany would be well known (Matthew 26:11-13)
✔  His Own Betrayal By One Of His Disciples (Matthew 26:21-22)
✔  All Of His Disciples Would Leave Him (Matthew 26:31,32)
✔  Peter Would Deny Him Three Times (Matthew 26:33-34)
✔  He Would Suffer Because Of The Religious Rulers (Matthew 16:21)
✔  He Would Die By Crucifixion During The Passover (Matthew 26:2)
✔  His Resurrection From The Dead On The Third Day (Matthew 16:21)
✔  The Coming Of The Holy Spirit (John 14:26)
✔  The Destruction Of The City Of Jerusalem Within One Generation (Luke 19:43-44, 21:20)
✔  The Temple In Jerusalem Would Be Destroyed (Matthew 24:1-2)
✔  The People Would Be Scattered And The Holy Land Would Be Ruled By Gentiles (Luke 21:24)
✔  The Jewish People Would Be Persecuted (Luke 23:28-30)

None of it made sense from the human perspective but it was all a part of God's plan to save the world. Jesus made the connection to the Old Testament prophets, he said that the predictions of the Messiah and his sufferings would be fulfilled in himself. He told us that it was going to happen and then it did! What a way to prove your authenticity as the Messiah!

"If a man can predict his own death and resurrection, and pull it off, I just go with whatever that man says"

-Andy Stanley

If you are struggling to believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah, that he is the one who was in the beginning with God and was God, that he is the divine Son of God, who can forgive all your sins and give you eternal life then take a look at the predictions that Jesus made in his last days and consider the odds of somebody making all this stuff come true.

Jesus truly is the resurrection! He brought other people back from death, he came back after his own death and we have every reason to believe that he will resurrect us after we die if we have his life in us.

Thank you Lord for what was accomplished through your brutal death and victorious resurrection! You have made it easy to have faith in you!

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Who Is Jesus? Here Is Some Proof. (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

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Find Peace With God (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Jesus Power Of Resurrection

The empty tomb is the greatest proof of who Jesus is.

John 2:18-22  But the Jewish leaders demanded, "What are You doing? If God gave You authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it."

19  "All right," Jesus replied. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

20  "What!" they exclaimed. "It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and You can rebuild it in three days?"  21  But when Jesus said "this temple," He meant His own body.

22  After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered He had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said. 23  Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in Him.

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In the previous verses we saw that Jesus cleaned out his Father's house, well, he said that the temple was his Father's house but the religious leaders are not so sure. In today's verses they ask Jesus why he thinks that he has the right to undermine their authority.

Have you ever noticed who was always looking for a sign from Jesus? (Matthew 12:38-40) It wasn't the demons that Jesus interacted with and it wasn't the Gentiles either. It was the Jews that always needed a sign but for the most part it was the religious leaders that were looking for validation of Jesus true identity. The people that should have known were the most clueless.

The fact that this one man was able to drive thousands of people out of the temple without being stopped by the temple guard or by a few strong men shows that Jesus had power and authority that was more than human. This is just one more sign that the prophets of the Old Testament gave that the Jews missed.

Three things that show us that Jesus is God:

✔  Jesus passion for reverence, John 2:13-17
✔  Jesus power of resurrection, John 2:18-22
✔  Jesus perception of reality, John 2:23-25

-John MacArthur "Jesus Displays His Deity"

Jesus ministry is just getting started and they have already missed so many signs. The predictions surrounding Jesus birth were all missed, the prophecies concerning John the Baptist and now the prophecies about Jesus passion for his Father's house are all being ignored.

They kept searching for answers to their questions but they could not decide for themselves who Jesus is. In response to their question Jesus told them about the most powerful proof that they will ever get. (John 8:24-25, 8:52-53, Luke 22:67-70)

They will have to wait three years for it to happen but they will get the best evidence ever to prove that Jesus is the Son of God. Of course they didn't understand what he was saying, they couldn't know that they were going to hate Jesus so much that they would have him crucified.

Matthew 27:40 "Look at You now!" they yelled at Him. "You said You were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if You are the Son of God, save Yourself and come down from the cross!"

They couldn't let go of these words, they brought them up at Jesus trial and again at the cross, three years later they are still burning in their ears yet they still don't understand. Jesus predicted many times that they would kill him (John 8:27-28), he knew that they would reject his claims to be the Son of God and they would not believe as a result of his miracles. (Matthew 16:1-4, John 2:23) They wanted a sign in the heavens but wasn't there one of them already? (Matthew 2:1-10, 12:24)

Some People Will Never Believe
Luke 16:29-31 "But Abraham said, 'Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.' 30 "The rich man replied, 'No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.' 31 "But Abraham said, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead.'"

Jesus' parable about Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) ends with the rich man begging for somebody to go to his brothers and warn them about their eternal destiny. Abraham tells the rich man an important truth, one that we will see played out in real life, someone will rise from the dead and yet millions of people will not believe.

The resurrection is a well documented fact, the Romans made sure that he was dead before he was placed in the tomb, the spear in his side and the fact that they did not break his legs says that he was a dead man.

Why would Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury a man that is not dead? Given the fact that women were not credible witnesses in court then if the disciples were making up a story about the resurrection why would their witnesses for the empty tomb be women? Why would the disciples leave the safety of their locked room and risk preaching boldly in the streets?

The sign that they asked for came and most of them still didn't believe. The resurrection changed everything for the disciples and later for many thousands of new believers but to the religious leaders that were demanding more proof it changed nothing.

He's Alive! Now I'm Alive!

God's mercy brought new life that will last for eternity.

Citizens - Made Alive

I once was dead in sin

Alone and hopeless.

A child of wrath I walked

Condemned in darkness.

But Your mercy brought new life

And in Your love and kindness,

Raised me up with Christ

And made me righteous.

You have bought me back

With the riches of,

Your amazing grace

And relentless love.

I'm made alive forever,

With You, life forever

By Your grace I'm saved

(By Your grace I'm saved)

Lord, You are the light,

That broke the darkness.

You satisfy my soul,

When I am heartless. My true identity,

Show me who I am,

And help me to believe.

You have bought me back

With the riches of,

Your amazing grace

And relentless love.

I'm made alive forever,

With You, life forever

By Your grace I'm saved

(By Your grace I'm saved)

My sin has been erased,

I'll never be the same.

My sin has been erased,

I'll never be the same.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Jesus Changed My Destiny

I was on the road to ruin until Jesus paved the way to a new life.

1 Peter 2:22-25  He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.  23  He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24  He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.

25  Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

Philippians 3:19-20  They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.  20  But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.

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The common ground that all of mankind has is the headache of sin, all around the world we are all looking for a way to handle the effects of sin, we are all missing the world as it was before the fall. Man has devised a lot of ways to try and put a bandage on the wounds but none of them change the end result of my sin.

There is only one way to deal with sin successfully, a ransom has to be paid to cancel our debt but who could possibly have enough assets to liquidate so that you could pay it? Fortunately I have someone that loves me that has the resources to pay my debt. 

The heartache and misery of my sin was placed on Jesus, something that he had never felt before, he was the perfect sacrifice because he did not sin, he did not tell a lie or get revenge or fight back, he trusted God when somebody treated him wrong.

I couldn't change my destiny

Psalms 49:6-9  They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches.  7  Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God.  8  Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough  9  to live forever and never see the grave.

The punishment that I was headed for has been avoided, Jesus put a u-turn sign up, the road to the grave and judgement doesn't have to be my destination. The gods that the world has created cannot change my destiny and so the world wonders around like lost sheep looking to satisfy their appetite for the temporary as they head to destruction.

John 3:16  "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Thanks to Jesus payment for my sin I am a citizen of heaven and I am on the narrow road that leads me home. I have been redeemed, cleansed and given a new life and now I am under the loving care of the good Shepherd.

Thank you Lord for changing my destiny!

Easter Is Done, Now What?

How should you respond to the agony that Jesus went through?

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.

He died for everyone so that we have all died to our old life.  Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

1 Peter 4:1-5 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.

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As a Christian, I have received the greatest gift of all, it came with a very hefty price tag, Jesus gave it all in order to purchase this gift. I have received the gift of eternal life in the presence of God and all of the riches that heaven has to offer. We don't like to think of the unpleasant events that led to Jesus sacrifice but we need to let it sink into our minds and let it have an affect on our lives.

As a result of his sacrifice I have the opportunity to have a relationship with God. Everybody knows that if a relationship is going to be successful then you have to do things certain things for them to work. A relationship needs to be cultivated, you have to give it some TLC in order to get good results, my relationship with God is no different.

Jesus has done so much for me, it is a lopsided relationship, how could I ever do enough to balance out what he has done for me? I can't do anything that will even out the score, I can never give back as much as he has given but I can do something to show my love and gratitude which will help keep our relationship from being so lopsided.

Jesus said that if we loved him then we would do what he commands, in the letter that Peter wrote he says that we will "be anxious to do the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). That sounds a lot different from the lives of many people that are in the church. We are anxious people, we worry about so many things, but are we anxious for the right things? Are we anxious to live to please our Lord?

Christ died for me so that I can live for him.

Romans 6:4-8 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was.  6  We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.  7  For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.  8  And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. 

It is a process that doesn't happen overnight (2 Corinthians 3:18). Christ followers should have started dying to our old life and the power of sin should be lessening as we begin to live for Christ. We shouldn't look like the rest of the world, our Facebook page should look different, our internet history should look different, the words that we use and the words that we hear in music, television and movies should be different as well.

I need to respond to the awesome show of love that was displayed on the cross. In light of the crucifixion, it would be a crime  to go on living without any effect on my life. I need to give up everything for Christ, I need to be anxious to do God's will and to do his work, it is easy to get mixed up and start chasing your own desires.

Help me Lord to show you as much love and appreciation as possible for the amazing things that you have done for me.

Resurrection Sunday

If Jesus rose from the dead, then I will too.

Luke 24:1-12 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. 11 But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. 12 However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.

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Oops! The plan failed. The plan that the religious leaders cooked up to get rid of Jesus, they figured that Jesus is just a man and if you kill him then he can't make any more problems for you, that would work for any other man but not Jesus.

There is an empty to to be dealt with, everyone knew it was empty, you couldn't contain news like that.

The guards knew it, the ones that were charged with sealing and protecting the tomb, the religious leaders asked for their presence to guarantee that the tomb wouldn't be emptied by the disciples.

The women that arrived at the tomb that morning knew it, the disciples knew it and they also knew that they were not responsible for taking the body, they were too busy hiding in deep depression.

The religious leaders knew it was empty, even though they took precautions against thieves, so instead of finally admitting the truth they made a deal with the guards to make up an explanation of what happened.

There is overwhelming historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. A group or 500 hundred saw him at one time, Cleopas and another disciple walked with him on the road to Emmaus, all eleven of the disciples saw him, some touched him and some even ate a meal with him.

The fact that he did rise energized the eleven disciples that were depressed and despondent and all eleven died as martyrs . The apostle Paul told the church in Corinth that they could go interview the list of witnesses for themselves. (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

1 Corinthians 15:51-55 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The promise that we can believe is that because Jesus rose from the dead we will also rise from the dead.

Before the resurrection life was hopeless, the disciples and the women that were a part of Jesus ministry feel like the door has been slammed shut on everything that they were involved with for the last three years of their lives.

Because of Easter, I know that:

✔  I am accepted by God
✔  Jesus is in heaven interceding for me
✔  I have all the power to live the Christian life
✔  I will live forever in heaven
✔  I will receive a new body
✔  I will have resurrected relationships with my loved ones that have gone before me.

Thank you Lord for your provision for me, your love is truly amazing!

Hallelujah, He Is Risen!

Someday everybody will know its true.

Matthew 28:6  He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.

Revelation 1:7  Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!

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Today somebody may argue with you that Jesus didn't die and return to life, but the day is coming when everybody will be convinced, that's everybody.

Imagine how some of the various groups that came into contact with Jesus while he was here will feel. What about the people that Jesus healed, or all of those nasty Pharisees, Pilate and all of the men that inflicted punishment on Jesus body.

The ladies that visited the tomb were convinced, the room full of disciples were all convinced and eventually Thomas was convinced. In fact Jesus was seen by thousands before he left.

Need more proof?

Click here for an intellectual approach to the evidence.

Will you be convinced now or will you wait until the day that it is too late?

Paul Tells Us About Our Hope

scripture

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1 Corinthians 15:3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

observation

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There were hundreds of prophecies fulfilled by Jesus but maybe the most important one is the fact that he was raised from the dead. Paul admits to us in this chapter that if it were not true then all of the trouble and hardships that he was going through were a complete waste of time and he would be insane for enduring it all.

1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.

But Christ resurrection was proven by thousands that saw him after he was raised from the grave, even five hundred at one sighting, he even ate food so that they would know that it wasn’t a vision or a ghost that they were seeing.

Our resurrection is guaranteed by Jesus and since he was raised from the dead we can be sure that we will have our own resurrection and we will have a new life

1 Corinthians 15:22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.

Not only will we be raised to live forever but we get to live forever in a brand new body, thank the Lord that we don't have to spend eternity in these old bodies.

My wife will be able to run and dance and not have anymore of the pain that runs through her body that never gives her any relief, she will finally learn how it feels to not hurt again, she is longing for that day to come. There is a lot of pain and suffering that will end forever someday for those of us that are with God for eternity. For people that can get no relief from their doctors, their hope of the future with the Lord is more real to them than to those of us that are healthy.

1 Corinthians 15:42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

It could happen any time now so get ready people you dont have a minute to spare.

1 Corinthians 15:52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

application

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We need to tell others of the wonderful hope that we have, a hope that we are sure of be cause Jesus came to show us that he is alive again.

prayer

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1 Corinthians 15:57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We do thank you Lord that the trouble that we experience down here will some day end and we will experience victory over sin and death, give relief to my wife as she struggles to get through each day.

Related articles

• The Triumphant Entry Changes Everything (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

It's Only Logical

Scripture

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Acts 5:38-39  “So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”

Observation

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The new church was growing rapidly, each time that Peter preached there were thousands more joining. The success of Peter and the rest of the apostles was really grateing on the High Priest and the Sadducees (verse 17, 24) they had started something that they did not know how to finish. They thought that it was all over when they sealed the tomb, and why not, He wasn't the first prophet that the church leaders had put to death.

With Jesus death something was different though, this time death had no lasting effect on this prophet, all the other prophets died and that was the end of it, but this time he was only gone for three days and then he came back for forty days and proved that he was not a ghost but that He had returned just as He said He would.

Peter and the apostles gave their testimony and God's plan to forgive us of our sins. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, he is our risen Savior to all who believe.

Are you in need of more proof? Listen to the logic of the Pharisee named Gamaliel, he said that if all this stuff about Jesus rising from the dead were a man made fairy tale then it would not last for very long. Do you think that everyone of the apostles would be willing to die for a fairy tale? Do you think that they would endure the beatings for a man made story that was a cover-up because they had to get Jesus out of the tomb in three days?

What are you willing to take a beating for, how many beating would you endure? What are you willing to die for? Probably not for a lie, probably not to falsely attempt to authenticate Jesus story. It is only logical to conclude that Jesus proved every one of His predictions, that He proved Himself and all His teaching through His death and resurrection. How else could they find joy in their suffering (verse 41)?

As the apostle Paul states in Romans 8 "what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later", the apostles had real hope despite all the suffering that they endured and we can have that same hope that "nothing shall seperate us from the love of God"

Application

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I will help others to come to the same conclusion about who Jesus is.

Prayer

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Lord I pray that the strongholds of Satan will be broken down in my workplace. I pray that I can show You to my coworkers and that their opinion of religion will not stand in their way.

Where Is Jesus

Scripture

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Luke 24:9-12  But very early on Sunday morning they took the ointments to the tomb-- 2 and found that the huge stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. 3 So they went in--but the Lord Jesus' body was gone. 4 They stood there puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Luke 24:1-4 (Living)

9 and they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell his eleven disciples--and everyone else--what had happened. 10 (The women who went to the tomb were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James, and several others.) 11 But the story sounded like a fairy tale to the men--they didn't believe it. 12 However, Peter ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; and then he went back home again, wondering what had happened.

Luke 24:13-27  That same day, Sunday, two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles out of Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking of Jesus' death, 15 when suddenly Jesus himself came along and joined them and began walking beside them. 16 But they didn't recognize him, for God kept them from it.

17 "You seem to be in a deep discussion about something," he said. "What are you so concerned about?" They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. 18 And one of them, Cleopas, replied, "You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about the terrible things that happened there last week." 19 "What things?" Jesus asked.

"The things that happened to Jesus, the Man from Nazareth," they said. "He was a Prophet who did incredible miracles and was a mighty Teacher, highly regarded by both God and man.20 But the chief priests and our religious leaders arrested him and handed him over to the Roman government to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had thought he was the glorious Messiah and that he had come to rescue Israel.

"And now, besides all this--which happened three days ago--22,23 some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning and came back with an amazing report that his body was missing, and that they had seen some angels there who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, Jesus' body was gone, just as the women had said."

25 Then Jesus said to them, "You are such foolish, foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures! 26 Wasn't it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?"

27 Then Jesus quoted them passage after passage from the writings of the prophets, beginning with the book of Genesis and going right on through the Scriptures, explaining what the passages meant and what they said about him.

Observation

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Where is Jesus? The tomb is empty so the next question has to be where is He? The women at the tomb asked that question. The eleven remaining disciples asked and I say that we must also ask that same question. Where is Jesus?

Jesus encountered two disciples on the road and they were asking the question. They were having a crisis of belief, they knew the law, and the prophets and the Psalms and what they all said about Jesus. They should have known what was going to happen next. God was telling his people for thousands of years what he was up to. But since they missed it Jesus started explaining the scriptures to them he actually proved that the law the prophets and the Psalms were correct so they would know that he had risen just as they had been told.

For forty days Jesus proved his resurrection (Acts 1:1-3) and we must examine these proofs and answer the question for ourselves. If he didn’t rise from that tomb then we have no hope for eternity and all the church stuff we do is completely meaningless. But thank God that he did rise and that he now sits at the right hand of God. (Acts 3:12-15)

Application

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I will praise God daily for His plan! That Jesus would die on the cross for our sins and then rise from the tomb to give me the hope that “I know all will be well with me in death, You will give me back my life and give me wonderful joy in your presence.”

Prayer

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Thank you Lord that you loved me so much that you would suffer and die a cruel death to pay for my sins and allow me access to you.