Because He Lives

This weekend millions of people around the world will acknowledge and most of them will actually celebrate the historical fact that Christ arose from the grave. I am grateful for every occasion that reminds people in any way of God’s love freely shared through the sacrificial death of His only Son. Betty and I pray that many who attend various services honoring our Lord will come to personally respond to the invitation God offers by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. Because He lives we can also live and experience life filled with hope, grace and abiding peace even in the face of difficult challenges and circumstances.

Eleven tornados ripped through our Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and north Texas this week destroying many homes, property, and possessions. Thankfully no one was killed or seriously injured. We are hearing expressions of gratitude for lives spared and witnessing acts of compassion and voluntary assistance. Life was regarded as that which is most important while personal items and even things that cannot be replaced were considered insignificant when compared to the value of a single life.

In light of the obvious hand of God at work, I will always wonder how so many people can reject or miss the life He offers which is celebrated around the world. Jesus came to show us how to live and love, then died to pay for our sins by paying the price and assuming the debt we could never cover so we could be forgiven and redeemed forever. Through the resurrection He conquered death and the grave so we can also. Jesus is alive to live His resurrected life in us!

I have personally experienced the reality of this life and the Holy Spirit working through me in transforming power. I see the living Jesus revealed clearly in the lives of my wife, children, grandchildren, staff and friends, and in the lives of church members who have met this living Lord Jesus. I continually witness the power of Christ’s resurrection life freely expressed through missionaries around the world as well as through those who support them. I see God’s love revealed in the outreaches of LIFE through churches and those who give attention and time to others in need. I do not need Easter to remind me of the fact that Jesus lives because I experience and witness the reality of resurrection life every day personally and through observation. I see it clearly manifested up close and personal through my wife every day.

Betty recently shared from her heart on LIFE Today the reality of who the living God is to her. Many of our friends were encouraged by the sincerity of her heart and passionate pursuit of God:

My God is the creator of all things. My God is the great physician. My God can walk on water. My God is the King of kings and Lord of Lords. My God can heal the brokenhearted. My God can raise the dead. My God gave His Son that all might have eternal life. My God is the great deliverer. My God is the great comforter. My God is my shield. My God is my rear guard. My God is my protector. My God knows all things. My God is wisdom. We are God’s prized possession. God is the giver of peace. He parted the sea.  He turned water into wine.  He gave sight to the blind. He delivers us from evil. He calms the waters. He is the Most High God. In Revelations He says, “I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Join Betty and me praying that this weekend many will move beyond the recognition and honor of the Easter message to personally experience the transforming power of the One who was raised to live in all who will receive Him. When we lose our life in His kingdom purpose, we discover it. We can all join with the apostle Paul saying, “I count all things but loss for the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

Death and the grave could not conquer or hold our Lord and it cannot hold us in its dreadful grip. We can all experience the reality of resurrection life in Christ. To God be the glory, the honor and praise forever!