Sunday, March 31, 2013

The Tomb is Empty! Grave Clothes Left Behind!


Today we celebrate Easter. We observe the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We’ll have the usual Easter meal, dying Easter eggs, songs for the occasion and more.  When I was young, we always got Good Friday off as well. Christian holidays were honored and revered back then.  To celebrate something means to honor (as a holiday) especially by solemn ceremonies or by refraining from ordinary commerce. There are few if any businesses that close on this day anymore. Yet Easter remains, in the hearts of believers, the most important celebration in our faith.

Maybe you can’t see Easter in your situation. Perhaps a relationship has died, gone unforgiven, kept behind the stone in the tomb of life. Maybe someone decided you weren’t worth it, you had no value, and you were as good as dead. Maybe your prayers seem unanswered. You’ve sought God, you’ve visited His Word, you’ve looked into the tomb, but you still see death. You want to feel better, see things better and be better. But you look and see, no matter what you do, the grave clothes seem to drag behind you and trip you up. You see death everywhere, you don’t see a way to have anything alive again, not even your own life.

There is hope for the hopeless and help for the helpless. When Jesus died on the cross that was not the end! It was only the beginning! He rose again! Not only did He come out of the tomb, He left His grave clothes behind. He walked out completely triumphant, completely alive, completely victorious.

Oh beloved, rejoice! It’s Resurrection Day! It’s time to discard those grave clothes you were never meant to wear! God says to you this day, I AM the Resurrection and the Life – you, when you believe in Me you will live! He says discard those deadly things which want to cling to you – unforgiveness, animosity, bitterness, wrangling, discord, pronouncements, judgments, decrees, sentences and more…Every single piece of grave cloth that tries to hang onto you, or that satan himself wants to say you must wear – they are free to be cast off!

Run to His Word and see – His tomb is empty! You are completely free! God loves you so much that He went to the cross for you, He went to the grave for you, He rolled back the stone for you and He is making intercession in heaven for you this very day! He is for you so much that He has made a way for you to live FREE! Rejoice in this Easter, for it’s like no other!

John 11:25 Jesus told her, "I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

Revelation 1:18  I AM the living one. I died, but look--I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

I Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.

I Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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