Happy Easter weekend friends.
I love Easter weekend. I so very much appreciate the significance of this exclusive time of year.
The smell of renewal and revival is in the air. Everything around us is blooming and all that was once dead has come to life!
Out of my kitchen window, I watch the idle progression of barron trees bloom bitty green buds that turn into lush green leaves. My rose bushes, once dry and brittle, become dewey soft petals full of vibrant color.
Spring is an amazing creative organic process.
Which brings me back to why I cherish Easter!
Easter emulates all that Spring formally represents. A rebirth if you will!
As a christian, I celebrate the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter is representative specifically of His death and resurrection.
Yesterday I went on a little blind biblical Easter Egg Hunt. I opened my Bible to read God’s word and it just so happened to open to the book of Mark. My eyes landed on the crucifixion.
Jesus was physically nailed to a cross. Let that sink in!
The Bible tells us that before He was placed on the cross, that His (innocent) human body was tortured. He was brutally beaten and died the most horrific death known to all of man kind.
Once His spirit was fully committed into the hands of God, Jesus’ bloody bruised and swollen dead body was wrapped and laid in an empty tomb. A gigantic stone was rolled over the opening. It was finished. Only it wasn’t!
Behold, three days later Jesus was alive. He rose! HE ROSE! HE WON! The only human to defeat death!
Jesus appeared to many of his disciples and others before ascending into heaven.
It’s a true story!
This is not some over produced celestial phony B. S.
This is THE STORY!
This is the quintessential Easter basket.
The exercise of the weekend is to fill your brain basket. Read it first hand, pick up your Bible and read these three versions of the EASTER STORY!
Matthew 27: 11-66 & 28:1-20
Mark 15 & 16
Luke 23:33-56 & 24:1-53
What’s in my Easter basket?
LOVE
The greatest commandment is to love thy Lord God with all they heart, mind and soul. And to also Love thy neighbor as thy self.
This is not our nature. It’s so easy to love those who love us back but that’s not what God is asking of us. Love your enemies, love those who persucute you! Who knew LOVE was so hard.
FORGIVENESS
Dangling from the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive the men and people who mocked him and who hurt them. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”
Yall, don’t miss this part! People do awful things and say terrible things. People make mistakes and cause hurt and pain. But even still we are called and commanded to FORGIVE! Forgive just as Jesus forgave. There is a master plan and if you’re holding anger or bitterness or unforgivness toward someone your heart is in defiance. You’re unbalanced in the basket. You will miss the blessings that God has purposed for you.
GRACE
By loving and forgiving you are in essence extending GRACE! Grace… Give grace to someone and watch their shoulders relax. Watch them exhale and breath in a sigh of relief. Grace was extended to thief on the cross. Because he believed that Jesus was the true Messiah, God granted him grace. It was love and forgiveness in perfect union and action.
TRUST
Trusting and believing that God is who he says He is! The creator, the maker, the king of Kings, the Messiah, the chosen ONE, the ONE who is and IS TO COME! Trust it! Trust is about relligion or religious values…it’s about FAITH!
FAITH
Jesus’s triumphant story is a total buy in! The true meaning of EASTER is to actually put all of your eggs in ONE basket! Jesus’ EASTER BASKET! It’s complete FAITH and trust.
The world screams the opposite. The world values the desire and need for more eggs and more baskets per person. But FAITH in JESUS is the exact opposite. The world says to keep anger buried in your heart, to be smug, to shun or shame. The world is guilt, same and greed…buy insurance, diversify and plan and protect the nest egg.
When the truth is JESUS is the prize EGG!
Today be filled with HOPE! Fill your basket full of it because the story isn’t over! He’s coming back! The Bible tells us that Jesus is alive and active. He has gone to prepare a place for us. In the mean time He left the Holy Spirit as our guide/counselor!
Let’s all find a way to live in HIS plan!
May this Easter be a renewal and rebirth for you. Try filling your heart and mind with love, forgivness, grace, trust and faith.
May you work to infuse Jesus in every area of your life. All of your eggs in HIS basket!
relational, business, heart, mind, financial, marital….whatever your doing or going through put it all in to the EASTER basket. Let’ God carry you to new places.
You just might sour like an eagle on Easter Sunday.
Love, pray, slay
Angi
