Tag: resurrection

Posted in Faith

Acquittal

Posted on by gracielynn

Years ago, after leaving my ex-husband and learning how to navigate my new life, I spiraled deeply into wickedness. I had no self-esteem, no motivation, no purpose, no direction, just emptiness. What came naturally to me, at the time, was doing what pleased me without care for anyone else. It was a dark, lonely, self-serving place.

I don’t like to revisit that time in my life, but to understand what I’m about to share, it’s relevant.

Many of my nights were filled with drunkenness, debauchery, lies, emptiness, and blackouts. I could easily blame my ex-husband. I left him for valid reasons and wanted to start over. “He made me this way”, I wanted to believe. “Had he loved me better, or paid attention to me, I wouldn’t have to do what I’m doing.”

But that’s not the truth.

My actions fall on me. I chose sin. I chose darkness. I believed the lies that I meant something to some people. None of it was true. I rejected everything I knew and chose the enemy. Sin feels good. But it’s costly.

I got caught.

In 2007, after a full day of day-drinking and continuing into the early morning hours, I was pulled over, leaving a bar in a nearby city. My BAC was almost 3x the legal limit.

I was arrested. Handcuffs on my wrists, rights read, and escorted to the backseat of a police cruiser. I was so out of it, I don’t think I even realized what was happening.

Hours passed. I woke up in a cell. A thought hit me: I was going to have a record. I was a criminal. I had broken the law.

The next few days were a blur – sharing my news with my parents, stopping to get items from my car as it was impounded, acquiring a lawyer, determining how to pay for court costs, and dates that I would have to be out of work, trying not to lose my job, and the hangover wearing off.

Reality was setting in.

My freedom was gone.

I had to deal with the consequences of breaking the law.

Standing in a courtroom with a lawyer was nerve-wracking, but it provided some comfort.

He told me to plead “Not Guilty.”

In my mind, I thought, ‘Why would I? I clearly did what they are accusing me of.’ But that’s not how our justice system works. If you can prove that you MAY NOT HAVE DONE what they said, you could be found not guilty.

I pleaded not guilty, at his insistence. I waited the anxiety-inducing weeks and then had to go in front of the judge.

Friends, I was declared GUILTY of driving under the influence and endangering other drivers. And rightfully so.

With that came a sentence of a significant amount of money owed to the court and my lawyer, the inability to drive my car, a requirement to attend a ‘dry weekend’ at a hotel for education purposes, and loss of my license for a year. I complied with all that was necessary over the course of six months.

The lesson was not lost on me. I had a real problem that needed to be addressed.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had to stand in front of a judge before. I honestly pray you don’t, this side of Heaven.

But I can assure you that there will be a time when we will all stand before the only Judge that matters – God, our Heavenly Father and Creator.

If we had to stand before God today, would we be found GUILTY or NOT GUILTY? What are the charges, you ask?

God has a standard of perfection. The Law was given to Moses and passed down to all generations. In the Ten Commandments, the Lord shows us what He requires, and none of us can meet it.

Genesis 3 provides the account of how humanity fell in the Garden of Eden. Eve was tempted by the serpent and because of the allure to “be like God, knowing good and evil”, she bit into the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and lost the intimacy she and Adam shared with God.

In that moment, a curse was placed on ALL of us.

In a way, we’ve had handcuffs on ever since. We are bound to our sin. We, too, want to be “little gods”, acting in our own power, without repercussions or consequences, but we cannot be like the one true God. We aren’t meant to be.

We can wrestle with sin, reject it, or give in to it. But we can’t escape it. We live out and act out of our fleshly desires instead of what is righteous and truly good DAILY.

We even make excuses, “Everyone else is doing it. How is it hurting you? Who are you to judge me? You’ve never walked in my shoes.”

But it warrants punishment.

Because we all have a sin nature, we cannot overcome the curse on our own.

And because it has taken up residence in us, and we choose sin over the Lord, we have consequences that warrant judgment.

The Word of God gives us many clues about which outcome we may face:

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:10

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm 96:11-13

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

Romans 2:1-3

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Romans 14:10

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:14

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:10

When we pass from this life to the next, or when the Lord returns and this world is ending, we will all stand before the Throne of God.

For some, it will be the most horrifying day, because their fate will have been determined by an unwillingness to repent and acknowledge how they have chosen sin, and because of that, they will incur the wrath of God and the punishment for sins, which is death.

For the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.

Acts 17:31

Why am I writing about Judgement Day on Resurrection Sunday?

Because the outcome we all deserve has been given an aside. There is an opportunity to stand before the Judge and NOT RECEIVE what one is due.

Today, many Christians around the globe celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Though the world has tried to deny the Resurrection of the person of Jesus Christ, there is physical evidence of His bodily resurrection, and eyewitnesses who saw Him for a period of forty days after. And not only is the physical evidence significant.

The implication of His resurrection is that the curse that has been on humanity since the beginning of our creation has been lifted! Scripture tells us that Jesus WAS the spotless lamb that bled and died to signify atonement for sin.

For centuries, annually, the faithful would go to the Temple in Jerusalem and have a lamb marked for death because of their sin. God had laid out perfectly a routine for the Israelite nation, a shadow of things to come in Christ. A priest would transfer their sin to a lamb, which had to be killed to spill blood and then justify the people SINLESS before their Holy God. This was known as the Day of Atonement.

NOW, in Christ, we have the perfect, sinless Son of God, declared dead after being crucified on a cross by Roman soldiers…declared GUILTY for crimes HE never committed. God chose to make and accept the death of His own Son, the requirement to buy back / redeem us, so we could be declared righteous and have a relationship with God the Father.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'”

Galatians 3:13

And when Jesus’ body was raised from the dead on the third day, He declared sin a curse no more. Death no longer holds those of us who have faith in Jesus.

That knowledge changed everything for me.

Dear ones, I don’t know what it’s like to stand in front of a judge and be declared NOT GUILTY.

I was found GUILTY for what I had done, and served my punishment. I also DESERVED my punishment.

This resurrection of Jesus means that by placing faith in Him, declaring Him my Lord, and following Him, I can be found NOT GUILTY for ALL sins I’ve committed; past, present, and future! When I stand before Him at the end of my earthly life, He will KNOW me and declare me RIGHTEOUS.

Jesus took it ALL! The wrath of God was poured out on Him for our iniquities, and with Jesus’ last breath, SIN AND ETERNAL DEATH died with Him!

Now, that last sentence is only possible if you truly believe that Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah that was promised to the Israel nation and was given for all men. EVEN GENTILES!

He is the Son of God, the perfect God-man who redeemed us. If you place your faith in Christ, the work of Jesus on the cross is imputed to you. God declares all of our righteous acts as a “polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6), like filthy rags. There is no amount of human works possible to make us righteous. Salvation is by faith alone, through Christ alone.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Ephesians 2:1-9

…None of us can boast. We can’t earn it, speak it into existence, or do anything to take it…it’s a gift that is freely given by God.

He knew we didn’t ask for the curse, and also provided the solution, which requires a choice.

Have you given yourself to desires that aren’t healthy, leave you feeling empty, and make you feel like you have to prove yourself? Life is not meant to be a tedious venture, but it is a time period the Lord has allowed us to live, and He desires for us to come to Him, repent of our sin, and be made new, be made ALIVE.

We will all die once, a physical death. But if you reject Jesus and the free gift of salvation, you will die a second death.

 “[A]s for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8

The gift that Jesus’ resurrection offers is eternal life: BE BORN AGAIN spiritually and DIE ONCE! Your last breath here will be your first in Heaven with Christ. And you will witness your own acquittal, friend, because Jesus took your sin so you could be declared righteous.

His act of LOVE was to prevent you from choosing death. Please don’t let that be your destiny. You still have a choice.

Let TODAY be the day of salvation! Let the day of the Resurrection be a new day for you! And if you choose Christ, I’d love to hear about it!! See the link on my website “CHAT ABOUT JESUS” for more information, or reach out to me personally.

I’d love to spend the rest of my eternity WITH YOU!!!

Posted in Faith

Promise Fulfilled

Posted on by gracielynn

In the beginning, GOD created the Heavens and the Earth (Genesis 1). He wasn’t alone in the process. He was beside Jesus Christ (as John 1 affirms) and the Holy Spirit who was hovering, ready to breathe LIFE into the creation. This proves the Trinity was present, yet One (Psalm 104:30, Job 33:4, Colossians 1:16).

As God spoke, things BECAME. Things came into being that had not previously existed. And as He said them, they were.

And after God created light, atmosphere, land and vegetation, He went on to fill the sky, waters and land. And finally, in the midst of the Garden of Eden, which had a river that divided and became the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates rivers, He created man.

This man was created with a formed body, mind, heart, soul, and spirit. His form wasn’t alive until the Lord God breathed into Adam’s nostrils to give him life (Genesis 2:7). And he was not a robot. He wasn’t designed to take and follow orders. Adam would make choices throughout his earthly life to either deviate from instruction, or obey out of love. This is, in fact, an act of love from our Creator. Knowing some will reject and deny Him, He still created and sustains their lives today.

God formed man from dust, and placed him in the Garden of Eden to share the responsibility of maintaining His space. The garden was protected and secure. It had vegetation and trees bearing fruit that would sustain the man and animals. God saw that even after allowing Adam to share in the creativity of naming animals, it wasn’t good for him to be alone. One might say, “He wasn’t alone, he had a zoo in the garden with him.” But God meant that there was no one like Adam that would be relatable to him. And the Lord stated to Jesus and the Holy Spirit that it wasn’t good, Adam would need a helper.

Out of man, while he was in a very deep sleep, God created a woman, and not just as a separate being with His words. Woman was formed from the rib of Adam that the Lord took while Adam was asleep. Her body and form was different from Adam and she would complement him in a way he wouldn’t yet understand. She was originally a part of him, and formed from him. When Adam awoke from his sleep, he was overjoyed! After naming animal after animal, he saw that there was a being that was like him!! And he was grateful as his words describe in Genesis 2:23 state.

I’m unsure of the timing between Genesis 2 and 3, but in the Holy Bible, the Fall comes rather quickly. The woman is deceived by a serpent in the Garden. All he asks is, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'” When reading in Scripture the original discussion between God and Adam (the woman wasn’t yet created), God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden (Genesis 2:16), “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you should surely die.”

Whether Adam shared the exact words of God with the woman, and how, we don’t know. But we do know that her response was not what was asked. She stated that they were not to eat of the tree, nor touch it, or they would die. And the serpent was quick to lie, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Doubt.

Immediately, the woman was considering that if she won’t die, what is the harm in knowing good and evil? She looks at the fruit which is pleasing to the eye (isn’t all sin?) and believes for the first time that God might not have been truthful with her. So she eats of the tree. And gives some of the delicious fruit to Adam who doesn’t hesitate or correct, refuse or knock out of her hand.

Immediately and together, they went from complete union with their Creator, to their eyes being opened. We’re unsure where the serpent goes, but they knew they were naked and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.

And God walked through the garden, and as He approached them, they hid. Why would they hide from their Creator? Why would they clothe themselves when previously their forms hadn’t included shame? Because sin had entered the garden. Death was now imminent for them and all of humanity.

In the next few moments, God calls for them, they hide and eventually reveal that they hid because they knew they were afraid. This passage makes sense to us because even as children, when we knew we’d be caught for something and there was no way to cover it up, what is the first thing we do? We hide. As if that solves the problem. But the intricate detail of hiding here and something to note of significance, was that this was something our ancestors would never have done. Until this moment, they had been in perfect fellowship with their Creator. The bond was broken, and God knew it.

He asked questions to invite them to repent, to participate in owning up to what happened, but immediately God is met with blame and accusation by both parties involved. The serpent is never asked what happened. God is fully aware and now, as a result, there must be punishment for what has happened.

This is the first time we see God extend grace instead of complete destruction. And as He offered Adam and the woman (she’s not named Eve until after the curse) time to explain what happened, He showed His patience. He does the same with us. He waits for us. He allows us time. He knows we want to cover up our sin and not address it, but the fact then remains the same now: Sin must be dealt with. And while God would’ve been justified to allow them to have to pay for our own sin, He had another idea.

God begins His response to their disobedience and He starts with the serpent:

“Cursed are you, above all livestock and all wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. HE WILL CRUSH YOUR HEAD and you will strike his heel.

GENESIS 3:14

Did you see it? The declaration from God above that a plan is already in place?

As God delivers the punishment to the serpent, He states that Death is coming for the serpent who brought sin into the world by tempting the disobedience of God’s created humans. God will send a Deliverer and though the serpent would strike repeatedly to try to defeat this person, the Deliverer will deliver the FINAL BLOW. He would not just wound the serpent but He would CRUSH HIS HEAD.

Throughout Scripture, we learn so much: about our history, about those who went before us; we see their sins laid bare in the text. We aren’t looking at humans who did better than us, we see humans who made choices: either to serve God and follow Him in relationship, or reject being His creation and therefore create their own lives with consequence. This has not changed in over 6000 years. It is true of all of us today.

Where humanity is given a choice to be lorded over with love, or have self-rule, because of sin, humans choose power for themselves. And there is a consequence. Scripture explains that the place or state of Hell was created for the devil and his angels. The devil has followers who believe his lies, and desire power for themselves. They have access to humans today to influence, breathe lies and tempt. And humans EVERY SINGLE DAY still have the choice to allow the temptation to become sin, or override it with righteousness and say no. But apart from God, we will stand in our sin and be sent to Hell.

Don’t believe me? Think everyone is good until proven guilty? We are not good people who become bad. We are bad people who only have hope for goodness through God. Scripture states we are conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5). Through the bloodline of our parents, sin is passed down. So there’s no hope to be sinless at birth. We already are infected without cure.

Scripture tells us that only God knows the hearts of humans (1 Samuel 16:7) and we are more sin sick than we realize.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

JEREMIAH 17:9

So what was God’s plan in the Garden? Temptation presents two options EVERY time – obey it, or reject it. Sin is the act of agreeing with the temptation and not slaying it. And sin is rebellion against God.

We see in Genesis 6 that God was grieved after sin took over. Multiple marriages took place, women were treated as lesser (part of the curse for the woman for her part in the eating of the fruit – Genesis 3:16b), unrestrained anger caused murder, shame and lying. It grew and grew, and God sent the flood. He allowed eight people to begin again (Noah and his family). Again this is another act of grace on the part of God – He could’ve wiped out humanity wholly, but His plan was already in motion.

God’s words through human authors throughout Scripture give us the lineage of humanity, lists of genealogies for the purpose of explaining the line for the Messiah, the Promised Deliverer. Eve’s sons were not the Deliverer as much as she had hoped, but through one woman, He would come. And throughout the Old Testament, we see types of Christ, moments where the Promise is not forgotten and clues to who He will be. Hope is passed down from generation to generation – praying for deliverance from sin.

And finally, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we see God send an angel to a young virgin named Mary. The angel explains God has chosen her and promises her that she would be the mother of the Messiah. She accepts the role, and even in the face of disgrace at not being married, carries the child to term and gives birth to Jesus. Joseph, Jesus’ human father, stays with her and protects her and Jesus (among other children) at the Lord’s leading.

At the age of 30 years old, Jesus begins a public ministry: teaching counter-cultural truths regarding who the Father is and who HE is. He ruffles the feathers of the religious, stirs the hearts of the ungodly, and teaches the masses who earnestly seek Hope and Restoration. He begins to open eyes of the blind, heals the sick, brings to life those who have passed on, all at their appointed times. And as He preaches Hope, the religious and political leaders see power slowly slipping away. They cannot have upheaval and unrest. Something must be done.

A plot to kill Jesus forms, and secret meetings take place among religious leaders and political leaders. They cannot allow this man to create hope and cause a rising up against Rome! Judas, known as the Betrayer, never decided in his heart that Jesus was the Messiah. He walked with Jesus as one of His disciples, heard him, was certainly intrigued by him, but never declared Him to be who He truly was. And when the opportunity presented itself to make money by turning over the one most feared, he agreed to the sin in his heart.

Crucifixion was a nasty way to die. As Jesus was finally arrested and found guilty by the crowd screaming, “Crucify Him!”, God’s plan was still set in motion. Remember, Jesus is part of the Trinity of God. He was fully God at the time of Creation, and yet fully man when He was born of the virgin Mary. His part in fulfilling the Promise of Redemption for humanity would take Jesus agreeing to it and going through with it.

Consider Jesus as Paul writes to the Phillipians:

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

PHILIPPIANS 2:6-8

Jesus endured the cross, because God had chosen THIS to be the plan to redeem humanity. Were there other ways this could be accomplished? Certainly! But we are not God. He designed the only way for complete redemption and punishment of sin to be the dying of SELF in the form of Jesus. And Jesus out of love for God and for us, went through with it.

Jesus died a human death by way of Roman crucifixion and was laid in a tomb offered by Joseph of Arimathea. Soldiers had pierced His side, and in another way of fulfilling prophetic Scripture, did not break His legs before retrieving His body from the cross. He breathed His last, an earthquake shook the ground, dead people came out of their graves, the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom, and Jesus died.

If this was truly the Messiah, where is the crushing of the head that was promised? Where is fulfillment of Scripture and redemption for those bound by sins’ chains?

In Matthew 27:62, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate, afraid that Jesus would do something out of the ordinary. They reminded Pilate that Jesus said He would rise again after three days, so they had been given permission to secure the tomb, in fear that it might happen. And even amidst their attempts to keep Jesus dead, the unthinkable happened.

The crescendo of our Lord’s perfect plan begins at dawn of the first day of the week.

As Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (followers of Jesus) went to look at the tomb, they arrive to find it open and an angel sitting there! The angel reassures them not to be afraid and states, “He is not here; HE has risen, just as He said!” The women rush off to share this news! He is ALIVE!! He died, but He’s been given breath again! And because He lives, He promises those who believe in Him the same eternal life.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

JOHN 11:25-26

So much of Scripture builds toward this moment.

As the Lord begins His story to us in the Holy Bible and the Torah, by teaching us of our origin and our swift decline into death through sin, He presents an opportunity for us to be restored. He promises a Messiah, a King who will defeat the sin that holds us here on Earth, and promises an end to all decay and death.

At Christmastime, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, because we know God kept His promise to send a Messiah, but friends, don’t miss the significance of Easter!

Without the resurrection, where is our Hope?

Jesus was promised since the beginning of Creation, to be the One who will one day destroy all sin and death. He was promised to CRUSH THE HEAD of the serpent, who will no longer have control over us, will no longer be able to tempt us with thoughts, images or ideas, will no longer be able to lead us down the path to eternal death in Hell. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, He defeated the serpent and crushed its head!!

Though Jesus remained on the Earth after His resurrection, Paul records the following:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  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. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8

Before the beginning of the literal church, Jesus commissioned His disciples and was taken to Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God.

Revelation 1 is the beginning of a prophetic work from John while exiled on Patmos. An angel shows John a vision of a “son of Man” who is clothed in a robe, with a golden sash around his waist, his hair white as snow, his eyes like blazing fire, his feet bronze like a furnace, his voice like rushing waters.

Our Savior, will return to Earth again, and when He does, it will not be like the first time. The next time He comes, will be for judgement of sin on the Earth and its inhabitants, which means you, me and every human being ever created.

Without the shed blood of Jesus covering us, we will be exposed before God with all of our sin and we will have to give an account of every rebellious thought and action. I tremble just thinking of what I deserve. The Day of the Lord is real, and imminent.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

MATTHEW 25:31-46

We will all be judged and it really will boil down to whether we heard the Gospel and believed, or rejected Jesus and want to stand in our accolades. The Scripture above shows the depth Jesus went to save and reverse the curse of sin. All we have to do is believe that God sent the Promise and believe that Jesus is our sacrificial lamb, the One who stood in our place. Because He lives, we have the same gift from God offered to us.

God, Our Creator and Heavenly Father, made a way to live eternally with Him.

Will you choose Him? We all have been given a CHOICE.

Posted in Faith

HE IS RISEN!! ALLELUIA!

Posted on by gracielynn

I woke up this morning and the tears just fell…I know it’s Easter morning and my spirit is rejoicing today because I know I’m free!! One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Matthew 28: 1-10,

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.  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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 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.”  So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Jesus did just as He said He would. And in Luke’s account, He states how two of the disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus and were actually discussing with Jesus (though they didn’t know it at the time it was Him) and their understanding of His death. They were questioning where His body was and Jesus rebuked them saying they were foolish.  Didn’t they know that Christ had to suffer those things to bring His Father glory? My Quest Study Bible says in the sidebar that the reason Jesus called them foolish was because they were so caught up in their dreams of the Messiah establishing an earthly, political government that they missed His true intent: to rule the world through Spiritual power.

Continuing on in the story, Jesus then went to their house with them and after breaking bread with them, revealed to them who He was. God opened their eyes and they knew He was among them! (Luke 24:13-35)

My heart has been singing for the last hour because I know I’m free. The Bible also states that each believer should, “…Set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

I know the reason for the hope that I have. I was lost and am now found. I was blind, but now I see. Those words from the hymn “Amazing Grace” resonate within me so deeply because I know who I could’ve become if I’d stayed who I was, but now my life has meaning to it. I have a purpose and God has a plan for me. He disciplines those He loves, and I welcome those healthy boundaries so I can be under His protection. I delight in Him and am honored to be His child. Jesus rose from the dead to provide a way for me to go to the Father. Before I would’ve been TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE in my rags of sin and cloths of shame. But He dressed me in Himself and presented me to God to say, “She is mine.”

Good Friday was good because Jesus became human and died a human death to conquer death. He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and rose three days later to prove that He was (is) who He said He was. Nothing else is required by Him or us. The door is open to God and we can go to Him directly. We are free indeed! My chains are gone, I’ve been set free!

May you go forward and live as people of light. We are no longer restricted by the darkness, but are free in Christ!! That is certainly cause for celebration! If you were walking in darkness (1 John 1:6), I pray for you today, that you may walk in the light and be transformed! YOU ARE NOW ACCEPTABLE TO CHRIST!!

May He dwell in you richly! I love you.
God be with you and may He bless you!