Monday, April 1, 2013

Christ is Risen! Now Live Like you Believe It!


Luke 24:1-12

HE IS RISEN!........... HE IS RISEN!............ HE IS RISEN!  Did you yell back He is risen indeed?  Oh what joy there is in Easter.  It’s my favorite holiday for a lot of reasons.  I love the timing of Easter in early spring with new life springing up all over the place and the obvious analogy to Christ’s resurrection and our new life in Him.  I love that we have been hosting Easter in our home for many years now.  We always do our best to invite lots of family and friends.  Our guest list often ends up being in the twenties.  This day is always full of lots of laughs and lots of food; two of my favorite things.

In Luke’s resurrection account such a celebration isn’t quite so immediate.  At first they don’t believe it, and even after Peter runs to the tomb he comes away perplexed.  Christ’s resurrection was taking a little while to sink in.  But the good news is it did sink in; for all of His disciples.  For Peter, later in John 21 we get this beautiful post resurrection account of Jesus asking three different times if Peter loves Him.  Of course Jesus knows Peter loves Him but it’s like He’s giving him the chance to profess his love 3 times to help make up for his 3 earlier denials.  And Peter sort of gets frustrated with Jesus and says “you know that I love you Lord.” And then Jesus says “then feed my sheep.”  Peter as we know was a disciple of Jesus, but in this call to feed His sheep Peter takes his discipleship to a whole new level.  Peter is a changed man because of the resurrection.  The Holy Spirit comes and anoints Peter’s ministry as he tells anyone and everyone about his risen Lord and Savior.  On the day of Pentecost he preaches and 3000 people become Disciples of Christ.  He heals lame beggars and he boldly calls out the Sanhedrin.  He’s on fire for the Lord and he’s hotter than Florida Gulf Coast University.  Like Peter, Christ’s resurrection changes us forever as well.  He is risen!  Now go live your life like you believe it.  Happy Easter!

Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus I thank you for this day.  Not just because spring is in the air, and not just because I will enjoy time with family and friends, but because I have the privilege of loving and serving you, my risen Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Personal Note
Well this has been quite a fun and time consuming exercise.  I’m so thankful I did it.  It’s my hope and prayer that God has spoken to you through His Word and through my response to it in this blog.  Needless to say, going forward I won’t be writing an entry most every day.  That was just an exercise for Lent.  I think once a week sounds about right.  Thanks for reading though.  I’ve never thought of myself as a very proficient or eloquent writer, but I know what goes in this blog comes from the heart of a man who loves God and loves others, and I hope that will shine through should you continue to read it.

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