Having recently celebrated Easter Sunday/Resurrection Day, I found myself asking, “What does it really mean to live a resurrected life?”
Livingway presented an awesome testimony service where members held up a cardboard with their personal testimony on it. On one side was written their hardships, struggles, and shame and, on the other side, their freedom, deliverance, and joy. Their testimonies ranged from substance abuse, to suicidal thoughts, to anxiety, to bodily afflictions, but the one thing they all had in common was the blood of Jesus Christ which proves HE is GREATER than every single one of the things they faced, and because He lives, we live. Because He got out of the grave, now we can get out of our graves too.
He took our place. He took upon His shoulders the weight of the world, the weight of us.
He didn’t have to. He chose to. He chose to love us, to help us, to give us a second chance that we did not deserve. Even while we were yet sinners, He loved us. He chose us.
So now I find myself asking, “Am I really living a resurrected life?”
I want to say ‘yes’…that there is no grave I still have one foot in, but as I searched my heart, I found that there are subtle graves that ensnare us quietly, like the grave of pride, social acceptance, political correctness. They may seem to be shallow graves, graves that are harmless in the grand scheme of things, but a grave is a grave.
If you’re reading this, I humbly ask you to ask yourself the same question…
Are there any graves in your life trying to bury you alive?
Whatever grave you find yourself in, remember you can wake up and walk straight out of that grave by the power of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to stay dead in your sin, affliction, or whatever else may be tormenting you.
You were made to live. To breathe. To Worship.
You were made for more than the grave.
His Blood equals our testimony.
Matthew 27:50-54 (NIV)
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection andwent into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
I pray we all get up out of our graves and live the life God has called us to live, because HE LIVES!
Blessings,
Mandy Fender
