Thinking About Easter

 This year Easter, better known as Resurrection Day, happens to fall on the same day as my Spiritual birthday or “Rebirthday.” This made me caused me to think about some of the difficult seasons I have walked through and overcome by God’s grace.

With all that happened just before the crucifixion of Jesus and afterwards, the disciples and other followers experienced a wide range of emotions. As we look at these feelings, they had let’s see how we can apply some principles to our life today. Our main text is Luke 24:1-4 but we’ll be looking throughout the whole chapter. It reads, “1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 "He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee...” 

 

Confusion: Luke 24:1-4  

     In the original Greek language, the word “perplexed” means “to be left wanting, to be embarrassed, to be in doubt, not to know which way to turn.” Imagine the thoughts they must have had swarming around in their minds. Could this really be?  What if it isn’t, where is his body? Thankfully, Jesus isn’t bothered by our questions. He doesn’t condemn us for having questions. He would rather us ask the questions than ignore him.  

 

Fear / Sadness: Luke 24:17 & Luke 24:5 –  

     What were they afraid of? I think they wondered if they had been duped by Jesus. Was He really who He said he was? Did He fool us? They fear for their lives wondering if they would be arrested, even killed also because of their association with Jesus. Think about it, Peter denied Jesus  You might say, “Well I would never deny the Lord. But have you ever had an opportunity to speak up for him and didn’t because you were afraid of being embarrassed?

 

JOY: Luke 24:30-32  

     Think about this – right in the middle of their sadness Jesus was right there and they didn’t even know it… until He opened their eyes. Once we recognize that Jesus is revealing Himself to us and we acknowledge Him, great joy comes into our lives. I don’t know about you, but before Jesus was in my life I had no joy, no hope... just negative thoughts and feeling down all the time. As believers joy should be a mark of our lives. That’s not to say we never have tough times but that we don’t have to allow the tough times to steal our peace and joy. 

 

Doubt: Luke 24:9-11 & 35-38 

     Ever have someone tell you something and you’re like “yeah right…” And then later you found it to be so? I can only imagine the doubts that must have flooded their minds when things happened as they did. After hearing testimonies, they wondered; “Is it true that He’s risen?” Just like us, they didn’t remember the promises He had given. How many times do we go through a trial, and we forget about earlier trials that God brought us through? Doubt… we all experience it at times.   

 

Adoration: ⁴⁷"and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸"And you are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." ⁵⁰And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.⁵¹Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.⁵²And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy^{, 5} and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.” Luke 24:47,48 51-53 (Emphasis added) 

 

This is the heart of the Easter Story – WORSHIP – We’re to worship Jesus as King of Kings & Lord of Lords…. He is risen indeed! According to verses 47 & 48, once we have received Jesus into our lives it gives a sense of mission. We’re now to be his witnesses telling other of the hope found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And in our mission, we’re to preach verse 47 – “repentance and remission of sins.”  You see my friend; one cannot experience the joy and worship of the Lord until they first have repented of their sin and surrendered their life to Jesus Christ. Does that mean life is problem free after salvation? Not at all! But we now have the Lord to walk with us through those difficult times. 

 

I would like to close with a quote from a pastor (Tom Lovorn) that was used in a recent sermon I read. “With hope, you can claim the Holy Spirit's guidance and power. And, with a mission, you will have a reason for being where you are. You'll be purpose-driven to win your world for Jesus. Your whole image - the way you dress, talk, and walk; your attitude and outlook; your reaction to people and things – everything about you will be different. When people ask you, "What happened to you?" You can answer, "Easter happened, that's what!" 

 

Until next time, let’s rejoice that we have a risen Savior! Happy Resurrection Day!

 

 

      

 

 

 

Real Obedience

Have you ever found yourself in one of those seasons when you’ve got situations going on that you just cannot figure out why God is allowing it? You find yourself saying things like: “I'm doing all the right things. I'm reading my Bible, praying, attending church, have even fasted a time or two. Why does there seem to be so much spiritual warfare in my life? Why is my prayer not being answered?” Ah, the million-dollar question. I’ve encountered this conversation with several people in the past month.

You might say, “I even repented of sin.” Hmmm… that leads to other questions. Put your steel-toe shoes on… “What is the open door to the battle?”

There are two categories of sin mentioned in the bible. Sins of commission and omission.

Commission - the willful act of doing something that violates God’s commands in Scripture, i.e., stealing, anger, fornication.

Omission - involves not doing what is right or failing to do as instructed.

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:17 NLT)

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT)

Also, check out the Parable of the Two Sons in Matthew 21:28-31

Let's focus on that second word Omission. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us if there is something that He has instructed us to do or not do that we have yet to comply with. This is often a big open door to spiritual warfare in our lives. It might be something like - stop listening to secular music, or quit smoking, or end a particular relationship, or stop reading horoscopes. It's not always about stopping something either. Sometimes there are things God instructs us to begin to do. For example – forgive that person, start attending a Bible study, witness to that person at work, take that college class. That's just a few possibilities.

When we say that God has spoken to us to do something, then attempt to sound spiritual when share that with others, but then don't do it we set ourselves up to be a target for the enemy. Especially in the mind. The thought battle can become very intense. When we willfully do or don't do something as instructed by God that is an indicator that it is an idol in our life.

Remember the definition of the word idol – A common definition is anything/anyone that we didn't more important than God. bible teacher John Piper describes it as “anything that we come to rely on for some blessing, or help, or guidance in the place of a wholehearted reliance on the true and living God.”

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14 NKJV)

“Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” (I John 5:21 NLT)

Sadly, I have seen John Piper's definition lived out in people's lives when I see them trying to get things “fixed” in their life by relying on external things instead of the Word of God and the power Holy Spirit by God's grace. Grace is not the freedom to sin (do what we want) it is what empowers us to not sin.

Closing, let's try to roll this into one simple statement. Being disobedient or having sin in our life is not always about what we call the “big sins” like murder, adultery, stealing, etc. Sometimes it all boils down to simply doing or not doing what Jesus has required of us. Is it always easy? No. But will it be worthwhile overall? Absolutely!

If this is where you're struggling, walking out a personal command of the Lord, talk to a trusted strong believer about it. Ask them to pray with you, then step out and do it. Remember one of my favorite quotes – “Obedience doesn't require understanding.”

“Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV)

 Until next time… Keep growing in grace!