Happy Easter!

Below are links to three Easter posts I wrote last year:

Day One: Crucify Him!

Day Two: Is Jesus Really Gone?

Day Three: Jesus Has Risen!

Happy Easter, friends!

Crucify Him!

I close my eyes and I can see the trail left in the dirt.

I can hear the shuffling of His feet.

The sun beating down, the crowd unrelenting.

"Crucify Him!"....(click here to read the rest of this post)

Jesus Has Risen!!

(Part 3 of 3 - Click to read Part 1 - Crucify Him and Part 2 - Is Jesus Really Gone?)

With not much sleep the night before, one by one they awaken and remember. 

They remember that Jesus has died... and the memories of the harshness of His death come flooding back. 


Deep breath.


It's difficult to wake up and grasp what has happened.  Two days ago proved to be the most tragic and hardest day ever imagined.


Yesterday offered no relief.


But somehow this morning is different.  It feels different.


It's the third day.


Suddenly the ground begins to shake!  Another earthquake?!


Quick....get everyone together!  Where are Mary and Mary Magdalene?


A peek inside the scriptures shows us an accurate account of the rest of the story as found in Matthew 28....


1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.


2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.


5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”


8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”


The Guards’ Report


11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.


The Great Commission


16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(from biblegateway)

Jesus has risen! 

He is alive and our sins have been forgiven!

And this is why we celebrate.

Not the Easter bunny.....but the Resurrected Christ!

Happy Easter, my friends!

Is Jesus Really Gone?

(part 2 of 3......find part 1 here)

I can imagine the morning after Jesus was crucified.

His mother, eyes and face swollen from tears emptied from the depths of her heart...her body void of strength...

His family, His friends....His disciples...

All who followed and believed...

The air is heavy and it's hard to breathe.  Even the birds find it difficult to sing.

Is Jesus really gone?

The image of His agony, His bloody body, the things He endured....How...did...this...happen...

The nightmare is real and there is no escaping the grim reality of His cruel death and all that was witnessed just yesterday.

As Jesus' family, friends, disciples, followers, and even those who crucified Him existed in this day - this day after He died and this day before the third day that He spoke of - aside from the gut-wrenching grief I can imagine another war was raging. 

To believe or not believe?

It seemed so impossible.  But again, it was Jesus!  The Son of God!  ....Or....was He?...

As I try to step inside the minds of those who loved Him most, on this day when all seemed lost, my own thoughts and doubts intersect and look strangely similar.

On my darkest day when I feel separated from my Savior, when my own choices and selfishness have removed me from His presence...doubt skillfully weaves its way into my weakest moment, questioning and confusing...opening a door I was not meant to walk through.

Is it real?  Is HE real?  Can He...Will He?

What would tomorrow hold?  Difficult to comprehend and mind-boggling to think about.  But something happened!!  Those hours of darkness over the land and the earthquake and the veil!!  The earth quaked!! The veil of the temple was ripped from top to bottom!  Something happened yesterday.....and still something was happening....you could feel it...uneasiness and anticipation swept over the city and throughout the countryside.

Even the Pharisees remembered that Jesus had said after three days He would rise.  So they sealed the stone to the entrance where Jesus had been taken....to make sure the disciples could not steal the body and then claim that He had risen from the dead.

What would tomorrow bring?

How could anyone sleep tonight?

The third day was soon approaching....

(To be continued....Click here for Part 3 - Jesus Has Risen!)

Compelled into His Presence

This weekend as we celebrated Easter, we were surrounded by lots of family. We are truly blessed. And yesterday, as we sat down in the restaurant for lunch, Logan (my five year old) grabbed our hands and announced that he would be the one to give thanks for our meal. As he prayed, my sister and I sat in awe and with tears in our eyes at the words coming from his mouth. I know He hears God speaking and he understood what that day so long ago was all about....

God ( Gaaaawwwwd - long and drawn out, Texas style)....thank you for the birds. Thank you for the trees. Thank you, God, for my mom and my Aunt Vicki. (long pause and thinking.......) Jesus, you died for us! (in a loud 5 yr old voice) You died on the cross for our sins! And today you are alive! Thank you, Jesus, for what you did for us! We celebrate You today! Thank You Jesus for dying on the cross! And God (Gaaawwwwd), thank you for our food. In Jesus' name I pray....Amen.

A powerful prayer full of emotion from my five year old. Thank You, God, for my children who love you.

For the last couple of days, I've heard the word compel. I know what this word means, and how to use it in a sentence, don't worry (smile) but, being the word nerd that I am, I looked it up for it's exact dictionary meaning. (And yes, I am still a member of the dictionary.com word of the day club.) There were several definitions but here are the ones I particularly liked:

compel - to have a powerful and irresistible effect, influence, etc

compelling - requiring acute admiration, attention, or respect

I feel like God speaks to me sometimes through words, or a single word. I can hear a word over and over in my spirit, and then it seems that everywhere I look or everything I read the word is there..... and I know that He is trying to tell me something. It is exciting to search for the meaning like a hidden treasure and then feel the confirmation in my spirit when His message is opened up and revealed to me. He is so good and He loves to speak to His children.

So with this word, I feel like God is saying that He requires acute (extremely great or serious; sensitive even to slight details or impressions) admiration (the act of looking on or contemplating with pleasure), attention (observant care and consideration) and respect (the condition of being esteemed or honored) from me. And He wants to have a powerful and irresistible effect and influence over my life, every moment of every day. But I must answer when He calls (no matter what I'm doing at the moment). The Father is jealous of my time and desires my exclusive, fixed, undivided attention.

One moment with Him is unlike anything on this earth. I truly am complete when I am in His presence.

Is He compelling you today? Won't you answer Your Father and allow Him to speak to you this moment? He has secrets to tell and treasure to give.............

Father....I surrender my time to You. Order my day and fill it with Your presence. Let me be sensitive to Your voice above everything. In the midst of my busyness, let me hear Your call and answer without hesitation.........Your love overwhelms me......Thank you for desiring my attention, thank you that You still speak to Your children..........

Happy Easter!

"And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door..........He is not here; for He is risen, as He said......" Matthew 28:2,6

JESUS LIVES!! He is the reason we celebrate!

HAPPY EASTER!!