Guys, I am
so excited to share with you today a little bit of what God has placed on my
heart. Often when I think of Easter, I
think of chocolate eggs, pretty dresses and springtime, but Easter is so much
more than all of that. Easter is the
celebration that is most central to our faith; today marks the day that Jesus
came back to life, conquered sin and death once and for all, and made a way for
us to have a relationship with God! Easter
is the time for the greatest celebration because it reminds us that we do not
have to go through this life alone. God
is with us!
When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that He was God, and that the curse of sin had been broken. Jesus not only bought our eternal life with His death and resurrection, He has given us freedom from sin today! Because the Holy Spirit lives inside of each of us believers, we can find victory over our struggles.
1
Corinthians 10:13 tells us that “God is faithful; he will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
What
incredible news this is! Not only does
God tell me the best way to live life, but even when I fail to live life that
way, or when I’m tempted to choose to live life my own way, God will help me
choose Him.
Each of us
as believers will still struggle with choosing God’s ways over our own as long
as we are on this earth, but we don’t have to go through that fight on our own.
I don’t know about you guys, but I often find that the harder I try to not
think of something, all of a sudden that thing is the only thing I can think
of. I think it is a similar thing when I
focus too much on the things I am not supposed to do: when avoiding sin becomes too much of a
focus, then my failure is almost sure to happen.
But the
great news is that because of Easter, because of Jesus, I don’t have to focus on
a list of dos and don’ts, I can instead focus on building a relationship with
God Himself.
Because of
Jesus, we now get to have a daily relationship with the God of the
universe! When I focus on Him, on
getting to know Him as a person, and building our relationship, it is easier
for me to live life the way that He wants me to live. It’s the same as with any relationship; the
more you get to know and like a person, the more you may find yourself having
similar mannerisms: using the same phrases, liking the same things, or maybe
even dressing the same way. The more
time we spend with God, the more we become like Him.
Because of Jesus, God is available
for us to talk to any time we want. I
know for me, this has been super helpful in this time of isolation. I am a bit of an extrovert by nature, what I
mean by that is that getting to spend time with the people I love gives me
energy and motivation. So, living by
myself this past month and being isolated from people has been really difficult
for me. I have been finding it tough to
do productive things and not just want to lay on the couch and watch Netflix
all day.
But what I have found in this
time, is that when I so desperately want to be with my friends and family who
would normally energize me, I can turn to God and share with Him my loneliness
and desire for companionship. And you
know what? It works! It may sound crazy that God could be that
kind of a friend, that He would be FUN to be around, but guys, I have found
this past month especially that God is amazing to spend time with! He loves spending time with me, He thinks I’m
funny, He shares His heart with me, He shows me the wonders of His creation, He
shares in my love of music, and He loves me just the way I am. I can be completely myself around Him, and
that’s what we all desire, right? To be
in a relationship with someone who knows us completely and loves us despite all
of our imperfections and flaws.
This is
what Easter reminds me of. Because of
Jesus, I can have this kind of relationship with the God of the universe. I can be fully known, and fully loved, and
even when I am cut off from friends, family, even normal life, God gives my
life purpose, meaning, and joy! It is a
relationship that is better than I can describe, and it is available to every
one of us. God wants to have this deep
relationship with you today.
So, I want
to ask you: do you have a relationship with God? Have you accepted Jesus as your friend, but
even more than that as the King of your life?
The person who your whole life centers around? If you haven’t started that relationship yet,
you can do that today! There’s no magic
prayer that saves you, you start a relationship with God the same way you start
a relationship with anyone, you talk to Him. Tell Him that you want to live life His way and not your way and that
you accept the gift Jesus has given by dying in your place. And if you want more information on how to
build your relationship with God from there, let me know. Send me a message and we'll talk.
If you do
already have a relationship with God, how is that relationship going? Have you been going to God here lately? He loves you so much and He wants you to
experience the joy of being in His presence. God wants to build that relationship with you, and all it takes is just being real with Him and talking to Him. So, I would encourage you to seek Him out and spend time enjoying His amazing love!
