Hi how are you all today? I am well and had a great Easter. From the Good Friday service to Sunday morning of experiencing the Easter story to the regional church service last night. My heart again stopped and pondered what Jesus did for me. I am so grateful for His sacrifice and great love for me.
This week I want to break down the Easter story from Thursday to Sunday and see how it applies to our everyday situations. My goal is for all of us to understand the way God works in our life and this is a good story to reflect upon.
Let’s begin with Thursday and the story of the Last Supper. I love the word last because it means a first is on its way. This last supper was the traditional Passover meal. Jesus and the disciples would have eaten this meal together before. But this time it was different. Jesus made it personal and He gave them a new, which was a new commandment. Love God and love others.
Jesus does this with us. He turns a situation we have been living with or a habit in our lives and starts to deal with us regarding the new. Maybe it is an anger issue but God is teaching us tolerance.
Then comes Friday. We remember it as Good Friday – the day Jesus was beaten, bruised, tortured, humiliated and then nailed to a cross. This was all to be a sacrifice for me as my sin was keeping me out of fellowship with God. The chasm between us was too deep and too wide for me to cross without the cross of Jesus. It was the day Jesus said it is finished and died. The curse of sin was broken.
This can be a day in our lives when God is dealing with something in our lives. He has told us the new way but we keep falling into the same traps. Despair and grief are threatening to overtake us and turn us back to the old. Hope seems lost.
Saturday was the day that was silent. What was happening? Jesus was in hell. What was He doing down there? Psalm 22 states that He was praising His Father. In the midst of silence and despair Jesus was praising. Paul and Silas did the same on a dark night in the bowels of a prison.
For us, this can be when we are struggling. God seems distant and far away. Hope seems to have faded and the new is only a distant dream. Our hearts cry out – God where are you? This is not the time to give up but to praise.
Early Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb and found it empty. The angels told them that He wasn’t there- He was risen. This is the new beginning Jesus promised. No more separation from God and no more animal sacrifices but a new way of living. This happened suddenly and in the timing preset by God.
Breakthrough happens this way for us. Sometimes it can feel suddenly or sometimes it is a gradual knowing that something is different. But God always answers us in His perfect timing.
The Easter story applies to our lives daily. No matter what day you find yourself in, remember if you just stick with God, He has a perfect plan.
He loves us dearly and is desiring an intimacy with us we can only imagine. This week reflect on the Easter story and your circumstance. There is an action for each day.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
Living the life God intended 