O Gracious God!  This day signifies more to us than any other day.  While we celebrate the resurrection every day, this Easter Sunday we recognize that this is what paved the way for all things.  On Friday, the price was paid for our sins. Your precious Son shed His blood so that we might be redeemed. On Friday, the goodness of the Son of God was seen in that He breathed His last, so that we might be saved.  As they laid Him in that tomb, the price was paid, our sins forgiven. Cleansing had come and this cleansing was once and for all. No more sacrifices, Jesus was THE sacrifice. The Spotless Lamb of God, took the sins of the world on Him.

Yet, that sacrifice on Friday had a tandem partner.  The two go hand in hand. Side by Side. The resurrection on Sunday brought eternity to the sacrifice on Friday.  When Jesus walked out of that tomb it signified so much more. His resurrection conquered death, hell and the grave. His resurrection, turned our death into life. Because He lives, we now have so much more in this life and the one yet to come.  Because of Jesus' resurrection, we can have life. Life abundant. Eternal Life. Life forevermore.  The Cross on Friday gave us access to You, Our Heavenly Father, and the resurrection on Sunday, gave us that access for all eternity.

O God! May this resurrection day be a day where we embrace that Eternal Life. Let this day be an awakening for all of us that because You have paid the price for us, we will introduce others to this great gift.  On this resurrection Sunday, may we be filled with that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and let that Spirit empower us to bring others to You.

Thank you for the Friday and the Sunday.  Thank you that Friday was Good and Sunday makes sure that goodness lives forever!

​In Jesus Name. AMEN!

2,000 years ago was a day that lives in history books as the most brutal, torturous, and unjust day for an innocent man, who was killed for the claims He made.  Only 33 years old, this man died a brutal death for claiming to be the Son of God. 

He had raised the dead, made the lame to walk, caused the blind to see, and fed 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple fish.  He arrived in Israel in a way that was uncharacteristic.  He was born of a virgin who had been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.  His express purpose for such an incredible birth was that He would live a sinless life and take our sins on Him.

He was indeed the Son of God, but by claiming that title, He was arrested and tortured. His back was laid open by the Roman Flagrum. He was mocked and beaten beyond recognition. He was spit upon and His beard was ripped from His face.  He was stripped naked and nailed to a cruel cross. That cross was hoisted in the air and there He hung for all the world to see.

From that cross, He looked over His mockers and haters and prayed, "Father, Forgive Them For They Know Not What They Do!" He was offering forgiveness to the those who did not deserve it and it was the blood He shed that would be offered to cover their sins.  

Possibly my favorite prophecy concerning the Messiah is found in Isaiah 53:12.

"I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels"

Friends, He bore our sins and interceded for us in our rebellion. He did that for you and me.  To quote the old hymn, "Oh, What A Savior!"  2,000 years ago it would not have been called a Good Friday. But in 2019, it is a Good Friday because that fateful day secures salvation for all mankind.

There is a pain that is difficult to bear,
Some have said that I shouldn’t even care.

Let it go, forget about the wrong that was done, 
But I remember it happened to me, more than just once.

It is ever on my mind and the wound breaks my heart,
It drove a wedge between us, it drove us far apart.

With the offender, I was counted as a friend,
How could they hurt me, over and over again?

Will the pain ever cease?
Will this hurt ever decrease?

If time really heals all wounds,
Then, why does this hurt seem so new?

 But then I see a glimmer of hope, from one so pure,
With nails in his hands and feet, I think I see a cure.

He paid the price for my healing and for my hurt,
It is only His blood, through His suffering, that this will work.
​
So, I release my pain to the One who died for me
So that from this aching wound, I might finally be free.
-Danny Cheney-

The ideal life is in our blood and never will be still. Sad will be the day for any of us, when we become contented with the thoughts we are thinking and the deeds we are doing - where there is not forever waiting at the doors of our soul some great desire to do something larger, which we know that we were meant and made to do. -Elbert Hubbard-

The reason many people today are not satisfied or they are left feeling empty is because of the longing of the soul. Within us is the desire for more. Within in us is a craving to be something or to acheive something.

Yet, so many people feel it is the success of the world or what the world tells us success is that is important. We want to achieve, but that longing within us is the desire to be useful. I believe the longing within is not only to be important but to feel important. This means we want our work to count.

We want to live a life that does something significant and something that has an impact on the world around us. This is the reason so many become disenfranchised with life. We gain all that we set out to do but found it is not enough. This is the importance of doing something worthwhile for the soul.

We seek so hard to achieve in this world that we tend to neglect the soul's work or the Lord's work. The only thing that will last is serving the Lord and serving others. If you are to find fulfillment in life, it will only come by doing something without you at the center. When Christ is the center of all we do, life has more meaning.