April 21, 2014
“From then on Jesus began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem, and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead.” Matthew 16:21 (NLT)
Just as He Said…
Glorious Day….
“Then the angel spoke to the woman, ‘Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying. And now, go quickly and t ell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Remember what I have told you.’” Matthew 28:5-7 (NLT)
Oh, glorious day…There is nothing more beautiful as the promise of the spring that welcomes new life, new hope…The dormancy of nature is awakened…the dormancy of the human heart is awakened; And new life permeates creation…New Life permeates the human heart… Oh glorious day, eternity is changed forever…this moment is forever changed because it is…
Just as He Said…
Last week, I stopped by a garden center to purchase a hanging basket for a friend for Easter. I stood in a lengthy check-out line, but could overhear the young cashier as he spoke to his customers and wished each of them a beautiful day. He seemed so sincere and friendly as he fulfilled his responsibilities. When he began to ring up my purchases, we talked briefly about his day. As I was leaving, he wished me a beautiful day and I responded, “Thank you and you have a beautiful Easter!”
He smiled and looked directly at me and said, “Ma’am, thank you, but I have no idea what this Easter thing is all about.” I stood almost frozen for a moment…shocked that someone in the American culture could speak these words…I falsely assumed that most people, even if they did not believe the historicity of the Easter events, would at least have some idea of the nature of the celebration…and if the spiritual significance was not embraced, the cultural and secular events were usually understood and acknowledged…but this young man had a completely unexpected response…He had no idea, “What this Easter thing was about…”
I wanted to stand there and tell him about the Jesus who we know…the Jesus who loved, and stills loves us enough to allow himself to willingly go to the cruelest torture, execution and death…by one of the cruelest forms of capital punishment ever devised by man. The Jesus who literally took the heap of mankind’s sin, of my sin, upon His body as it was nailed to the cross…One medical examiner, Dr. Frederick Zugibe suggests that the piercing of the median nerve of the hands with a nail causes pain so extreme that even morphine would not diminish the excruciating pain which moves from the arms to the spinal cord…and the nails in the plantar nerve of the foot would produce a similar pain…The Jesus who was innocent of every charge…the Jesus who came to save…not to condemn…the Jesus who came for every person…the Jesus who prayed for every believer…the Jesus…who called us friend…the Jesus who literally stood at the right hand of His Father on behalf of His friend…the Jesus who healed the outcast, who loved the fatherless…the loveless…the lonely…the hopeless…the lost…The Jesus who loved, redeemed, and saved me…The Jesus who knew that young cashier by name…The Jesus who waits for him…who waits for him…who waits.
My heart pounded as I looked back at the long line of waiting customers…and back at the young man. A lengthy conversation was not possible…
I turned to the people in line, who I am sure overheard some of our conversation, and I assured them that I was not going to talk…and I began to dig in my messy purse, whispering a prayer, “Please God, don’t let the item I need to find get lost in the abyss of contents in my purse…”
And I found it…the Easter “invite card” from our church, Lake Hills in Bee Cave…I handed it to him and looked into his eyes…“Young man, please take this card and look at it…Please come to one of these services and I promise you that you will not leave without knowing exactly what this Easter thing is all about. Please come…and see for yourself…”
He smiled, “Yes, Ma’am, we will try to come…”
Just as He Said…
I wish that I could share the rest of this story, but I have no idea what that would be…I do not know if he came to hear the fantastic, life-changing, life-giving news about a love greater than any love he had ever known…Oh to be sure, I looked and watched each service for that young man…I just do not know if he came…
But Jesus knows…He knows…and He waits…
What I do know is that thousands came to hear…All around the world, thousands came to hear about a love, about a hope far greater than anything they could ever expect, anticipate, or imagine…And certainly, there were lives reconnected with the Living God…there were lives introduced to the Living God…There were Easter miracles all around the world; there were Easter miracles at our church; there were Easter miracles in our family…
As I stood upstairs on Sunday morning, watching as people walked up to the lobby of our church, my eyes filled with tears as I watched a grandson, walking and helping his elderly grandmother…slowly up to the doors…I watched as parents carried their precious little ones, dressed in Easter clothes…I watched as healed and mended relationships walked through the doors, with hearts full of joy and thanksgiving; they knew that they were experiencing their own Easter miracle…
Jesus knows…He knows…He waits…
“Then the angel spoke to the woman, ‘Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying. And now, go quickly and t ell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Remember what I have told you.’” Matthew 28:5-7 (NLT)
Oh, glorious day…There is nothing more beautiful as the promise of the spring that welcomes new life, new hope…The dormancy of nature is awakened…the dormancy of the human heart is awakened; And new life permeates creation…New Life permeates the human heart… Oh glorious day, eternity is changed forever…this moment is forever changed because it is…
Just as He Said…
Alleluia, He is the Risen Savior…Just as He Said…And He is faithful to fulfill His promises…to fulfill His Father’s purpose…to do, Just as He Said…
As we celebrate the miracle of Easter, our Lord desperately desires to ignite our hearts in a flame of passion and of conscious life, in Him. Our Lord says, “Oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe…” Luke 24:25
How often I find myself slow of heart to believe all that the Lord desires for me. I become distracted by my daily routine; I become overwhelmed by daily challenges; I become discouraged by circumstances; I become disheartened by apparent outcomes…Just like the disciples as they surmised that they had lost their Lord…
And yet, our Lord is patient and loving; He knows our hearts, yet loves with His absolute, relentless love, His passionate and perfect love. He who overcame the sting of death…to walk on the road to Emmaus with His beloved friends…to reveal the greatest mystery yet again to His frightened disheartened disciples. He once again spent Himself, until their eyes were opened and they recognized their resurrected Savior…their Lord, their Master…their very own Easter miracle! Luke 24:31
Just as He Said…
May we ask ourselves these questions:
Do we let the daily routine and circumstances distort God’s purpose for our lives?
Do we let the “dailies” diminish the flame of passion, love and joy which Jesus promises to each one of us?
Have we become slow of heart, allowing discouragement to render us unable to recognize our Savior on the road of our lives?
Instead, may our hearts burn as the disciples’ hearts burned on the road to Emmaus as He explained His Living Word to them. May we allow our Jesus to open our eyes to His Word…to His Hope…and our hearts to His Love…Expecting with great anticipation the miracle of Abundant Life with our resurrected Savior who told us things that are Just as He Said…
And may we speak with and live with belief and say, “My Lord and my God!”…as we see and recognize our Living Savior. John 20:28
Just as He Said…
“Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. “
Matthew 26:64
Yes, we wait for the return of our King…The Lord of Lords…Our Master…Messiah…and there is no doubt precious friend, that He will come, He will return…
There is no doubt that you are on His heart…There is no doubt that your loved ones are on His heart…There is no doubt that the young cashier with whom I spoke last week, is on His heart…There is no doubt that we all are engraved on His hands…and His feet…and His heart.
There is no doubt that it is written…for, it is always…
Just as He Said…
Yesterday, Today, for Eternity…
Abundant Easter joy,
