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My Two Cents
by Rev Chuck Behrens
April, 2014
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Past Articles |
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Has it happened to you?
Sometimes the Bible actually makes me laugh out loud. Before I began
writing this, I was reading the Easter Story, it happened again. They're
about to bury Jesus in a borrowed tomb. Pontius Pilate, the Roman
governor, issues this command to his soldiers: "Make it as secure as you
know how" (Matthew 27:65).
This has to be - at least in retrospect - the dumbest order in history.
"Use a really big rock, guys. Put on a really strong seal. Post some
really intimidating guards." Sure, Pilate was probably concerned about
keeping meddlers out. Sorry, Governor, but that's not your problem. Your
problem is keeping Jesus in! That is Mission Impossible!
No man, no plan, no empire can stand in the way of Jesus. The stone?
Rolled away. The seal? Easily broken. The soldiers? Here's what the Bible
says, "So afraid...that they shook and became like dead men" (Matthew
28:4).
And Jesus? Well, our word for today from the Word of God is Luke 24:5.
Here's what it says, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is
not here; He has risen!" (Luke 24:5). Our precious granddaughter said it
this way as she was waking up, "It's Easter morning. And Jesus is alive
again!"
He's not "entombed" in some dusty old history book or in some religious
institution or religious observance. He is the all-powerful,
death-reversing, game-changing Savior who's proven there's nothing He
can't beat. Unleashed that Easter morning, Jesus is this very day, healing
families that nothing else can heal, lifting up the oppressed, protecting
the vulnerable, reshaping nations, steering history, He's shattering
addictions, He's defying disease, and He's making sinners like me into
living proof that He is alive.
And He's fighting for you. This living Savior is knocking on the door of
your heart this very Easter season; seeking to do for you what He has done
for millions who've let Him in. He walked out of His grave so He could
walk into your life. He died on a cross so you could be forgiven of the
sin that will forever keep you out of heaven and condemn you to an
unthinkable eternity. But he already died that death penalty. He died to
pay for it. He's offering - yes, this Easter season - to forgive every sin
of your life, because He died for every sin of your life. He's standing
ready to unleash that resurrection power on the things you can't fix, on
the things you can't change, on the things you can't control.
You see, they found out two thousand years ago; we've been finding out
ever since that nothing... nothing can stop this Jesus. And today He
stands at the door of your life ready to come in and bring all that love
and all that power into your life. Once again, all over again, you get to
begin a personal relationship with a living Savior named Jesus, could
there be a better time of year than this to let Him come into the life
that He paid for on a cross?
Hmmmm....Easter and Christmas have the same message, don't they? Funny!
Jesus came from unimaginable places for one thing and one thing only: TO
BE WITH US, ok, Two things: TO BE WITH US and MAKE SURE WE NEVER FORGET
IT...even 2000 years later!
See you in Church,
Rev. Chuck
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