Happy Easter!!

Jesus is King. He is Lord. He is Savior. He is risen from the dead, and he is Lord of Lords. He is Prince of Peace (not as the world gives, in the sense of fleeting and incomplete, but rather a peace in your soul that cannot be explained in full in our human-ness). He is friend, brother, guide, protector. He is funny, silly, beyond genius (duh), Love, merciful, just, gracious, all powerful, and Holy.

    Jesus is above all. Nothing exists in all of creation that did not come from him. He is mighty. He is wonderful. He is ever present, ever caring. He will not leave, nor forsake (emotionally abandon or ignore, because he cares for you). He will be here, with us, for as long as time exists, and after. He is light. He is generous, giving us so much that it is shaken, pressed down, and still overflowing. He is kind. He is a warrior, a master strategist, commander of heaven’s armies, the owner of everything, the defender of his people, the weak, and the vulnerable. Jesus is the advocate. He is the vine (think main root of a grape vine, from which all the branches have life), the source and sustainer of all. Jesus is both the lion, and the lamb. He is everything.

The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our teacher, our guide, our strength. Only through the Holy Spirit do we Christians have the boldness to speak up about Jesus. It is through the Spirit that we are given the words to say when confronted about Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals to us the truth, gives us the words to pray when we don’t have the words ourselves. The Holy Spirit is what we are baptized in. He renews us, strengthens, comforts, prunes us, and is a true friend. He coordinates us to be where He wills it, when. He blesses us by giving us the opportunity to bless others. The Holy Spirit is my quiet place of healing, wholeness, and preparation. He is the Holy Fire.

I cannot keep silent. How can I? Jesus is King. There is no other above him. He died to take on our sin and shame, brokenness, guilt, and sickness. It is through his stripes we are healed, and it is through his death that we have the opportunity to have a relationship with God. And it is through his resurrection that we have eternal life.

Scripture says that when Jesus died, the veil in the temple (the one physically showing the reality of the separation of all people from God’s presence) the curtain that was insanely thick, was torn from TOP to BOTTOM. God himself tore it. HE gave us a physical sign of what He had done for us. Forgiveness for the sins that broke the relationship. Our consequences, our punishment, was willingly taken up by Jesus, once and for all time.

      The gift of being able to be in a relationship with The Holy One, should we want it, is sitting; waiting for us to choose. He has been calling all your life. Waiting patiently for you to respond. He has been there. Will you accept his gift? Will you choose a relationship with the Creator and sustainer of everything, the savior of those who call on his name? He loves you so much.