Tag: jesus

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Someone Understands!

Desert Sky Sunrise

Do you ever feel like God just wouldn’t understand?

Like He couldn’t care about you? Or that because He is God, He would never be able to understand what it is like to be a human? How to help you with your problems? “He isn’t like me. He’s invisible and is probably busy with all His God-like duties.”

Hebrews 4:14-16 says,

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

It’s like the classic teenager’s excuse not to talk to their parents about anything. “They wouldn’t understand, they’re not my age.” Okay, well, they were your age. Did you think they were born adults???

It’s the same with Jesus.

Yes, He is fully God. But He was also fully human, and in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

 

Jesus is the mediator (also called “High Priest”) between us and God. He isn’t “un-relatable” or “doesn’t understand” or is too far off to get involved in our lives. He lived our lives. He was fully human. He fully sympathizes with our weaknesses! Jesus was tempted to “steal the cookie,” just like we are. (Okay, maybe not cookies. Cookies probably didn’t exist in the first century.) Just as we are tempted to sin, He was. Just as our hearts get broken, His did too. He was fully God yet fully human, and we can’t take that lightly.

We can’t hide from God. First of all, it is impossible. Second of all, He doesn’t want us to. He loves us and wants what’s best for us. He wants us to get to know Him. He is our Heavenly Father and paid the penalty for our sin so we could spend our lives (and eternity – in heaven) with Him. He wants us to draw near to His throne (pray) CONFIDENTLY, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In time of need – for me, that’s every minute. Why do we have confidence? Because we are His children, and He loves us ever so much. His grace covers us, and will help us. He wants us to come to Him.

Jesus understands what it is like to be tempted and to suffer (hello, he was tortured and executed the most painful way possible). And Jesus is God! God wants us to come to Him, because He knows how much we need Him. Jesus, our High Priest, sympathizes with us and is on our side.

Isn’t it great to have the GOD of the UNIVERSE on our side? Empowering us! Giving us GRACE! Helping us through hard times! I don’t know about you, but that’s really encouraging to me.

Don’t ever forget that.

*aj

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I’m Fighting

Typewriter

It’s Monday night.

I’m tired. I don’t really want to write a blog post.

I cooked, cleaned, washed dishes, did tons of laundry, watched my brother, and attempted to write an essay for a scholarship contest.

I’ve had a long day, and I don’t feel like writing.

I’d honestly rather chill out in my bed, with a book that hasn’t been written yet. (Favorite authors, keep writing for me. I can’t stand waiting.)

I want to give into my introverted self and hole away in my room, read for ten hours straight, and magically receive a bunch of emails and texts from people I miss without being the first to send the message. I want to sulk for a million hours, and give up on life. I don’t have the experience. I don’t always have motivation. I’m so done with school. And I just want to be selfish and make life about me. Right now, I want life to do what I want, what I think is best for me, and whatever my snobby little emotions want.

And, though I think it would be nice, I’m not giving in because it’s not going to fix me.

And it’s a good thing, too, because when I give in to self-pity, not only is it pitiful, but it is even more discouraging. Hello world, I’m human too. More than I’d like to admit.

So I keep on fighting. Fighting to get my joy back. Fighting to be strengthened. Fighting to find truth amidst the lies. Fighting to regain hope in hard times. Fighting to remember where true love comes from. Fighting to remember God has a plan. And life isn’t about me, so I shouldn’t try to make it seem like it is.

Believe it or not, fighting is hard. Because the not-so-smart human nature in the back of my head says, “Go do pointless things for hours on end. Life is all about you. Go sulk. Go ignore everything. You’ll be happy.”

But will that make me “better?” No, it won’t. I know it won’t. I know that giving into that selfishness will not make me happy because I’ve tried.

Trust me, writing three blog posts a week is tiring. It is really hard. It is hard, because I can barely keep up with school, reading books, and writing, and then having time after that to do what I want. But do you know why I keep up?

I keep up because God has called me to write. God has not called me to wade waist-deep in self-pity, waste time, and sulk. God has called me, an introvert, to use my voice. Right now, I can’t get up in front of 10,000 people and share my life story. Maybe that will come at some point, I don’t know. What I do know, is that my voice right now is being expressed online, writing three times a week, for Him. And whether I like it or not (though I do like it), this is my platform that He has called me to share on. Even if I were to only have had five followers, if God had given me the opportunity to share Him with the world, I would still write.

So I won’t let my selfish sin nature get in the way of sharing the Gospel with twenty-two countries. (Yeah!)

I want to encourage all of you today, to keep on doing what God has given you the opportunity to do and has called you to. Living for God isn’t our obligation (although it’s the wisest thing and He wants us to). Living for God is our joy!

As I write this, my mood is brightening. (I’m not kidding.) Do you know why? Because my satisfaction is found in living for God, not living for myself. I am satisfied and filled up in living a life that is pleasing to God, because deep down, that is what my heart craves. My heart “wants” to be happy, but it can only be truly satisfied by a life abiding in Christ.

So this is why I write.

I do not write for money. (I have to pay to write, actually.) I do not write because it saves me time. (It takes me a lot of time.) I do not write because it makes me famous. (Probably, I’m the least famous out of everyone I know.) I do not write because it looks good on my résumé. (I don’t even have a résumé. I’m fifteen years old.)

I write, because this is the life God has given me. This is what He is calling me to, even though it’s small. This is growing my own faith. This helps me remember that life isn’t all about me. This helps me remember the joy that comes from a life with Christ. By writing even when I don’t feel like it, my own heart is encouraged because I know that this is what abiding in Christ feels like. I am getting to know Him more and more, day by day, and I am satisfied because living my life this way isn’t about me.

I’m glad that life isn’t about me.

I have laid my heart to rest in the satisfaction of Christ. I am pressing on toward the goal. I am fighting, and I am not letting my sinful nature win.

Because if I were to let my sin nature win, I would never taste satisfaction in those shallow, earthly pleasures.

My heart has been won over, and I am living a life dedicated to Christ.

*aj

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When I Am Weak…

Galaxy

Honestly, I usually think of myself as a weakling.

Not just physically, although I should probably work on that…

But I mean, I don’t really have amazing strength as a person.

I know how easy it is to fail a test.

I know how not to get stuff done.

I know how not to keep my emotions intact.

I know what it’s like to go through hard things.

I know what it’s like to be completely imperfect.

I guess we all do.

So many times I’ve relied on myself for strength…and failed.

Because my strength isn’t enough. My power is imperfect.

Imagine if life was all about how well we accomplished things. (Obviously, I would fail.) So if this was so, where would grace come in? What if we failed once? Twice? Ten thousand times?

I guess this comes back to the age-old question, “If people are good enough to get to heaven on their own, then why did Jesus have to die?”

Well, let’s face it. We are not good enough. Nobody has to teach us how to do wrong. Or fail. Or suffer. Weakness is a part of our humanity. But have you ever thought that that could be used for God’s purposes?

Yesterday morning, I was reading 2 Corinthians 12. And though I’ve read it before, it stuck out to me. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says,

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’ve gone from being perfection-obsessed to being fine with failure. So, where’s the balance?

Life is going to be hard, and we are going to struggle. I know I do. But the one thing we must remember when all of this happens, is that we were not meant to carry this alone. Because, as we know, life isn’t about us. And if we try to depend on our own strength, well, it isn’t gonna work. If we want to get through life, we need to depend on God. And this obviously implies that we don’t get the credit.

So, because of the weakness we have, Christ’s power will help us. Which is better than being “all set.” Because of our weakness, we are given grace. Because of our suffering, His power rests upon us. So, therefore, what Paul is saying here is that our strength comes from God alone to fill in the gaps of our weakness (which is like, every part of our lives).

So, on our own, we are hopeless and weak. Because no one can do life alone, no matter how pleasant it may seem.

But with God, we are given His grace and power to live life. We’re never going to be perfect until we get to heaven, and life’s never going to be easy until then, either. But remember: His grace is sufficient! He is the perfection for us.

It’s not the end of the world when we suffer, because we have hope and assurance that God will be right here, beside us. His power rests upon us in and through it all.

And we can say wholeheartedly, “When I am weak (living in the flesh), then I am strong (God’s power in me).” Remember guys, God will never leave you or forsake you. His love is everlasting, and you can’t do anything to make His love for you go away. His love has forgiven your sin, and has been poured out upon you.

I’m not perfect, but I don’t expect to be. I am living a life without regret: a life devoted to God, living for Him, through Him, and by Him Alone.

I’m going to be weak, and so are we all. But when we are weak, it is then that we are strengthened by Him.

*aj

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The Liebster Award!

Happy Saturday, friends! This week, I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Shantelle Mary Hannu at A Writer’s Heart. This is such a fun thing to participate in! Okay, here we go.

  1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you.
  1. Answer the 11 new questions.
  1. Nominate other bloggers (however many or few as you’d 

like).

  1. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominated.
  1. Notify the new nominees of their award.

1) What is the driving passion of your life?

The driving passion of my life is my love for God. (Of course, right?) Through His only Son, Jesus Christ, I have eternal life and I’ve been saved; I’ve literally passed over from death to life! Knowing His love for me drives me to live for Him, day after day, and I am striving to grow and be more like Him.

2) Can you name a favorite character from a movie you’ve seen recently?

Ha! I haven’t seen any movies recently, but I just finished watching American Idol (and I have to say that Jax was my favorite and SHOULD HAVE WON). Does that count? 😛 Probably not.

3) What’s one book (or chapter, verse, whatever…) of the Bible that has particularly touched you and why?

Oooooh. Good question! I have a few…

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

4) How tall are you? *smiles*

I’m 5’3”. *shrivels* I’m petite, I know. 95% of my friends are taller than me, but hey, what can ya do?

5) What’s one thing a book needs to have in order to make it a favorite for you?

Though it might sound quite old-fashioned, for a book to be a favorite for me, it must have a strong Christian theme. If our life’s purpose is to live for God and not for ourselves, why would I want to support a book that does not hold that view? It’s a conservative opinion, I know, but for me, books that bring me closer to my Creator are what I want to be filling my mind with. 🙂

6) How did you start and what’s your favorite thing about blogging?

I started blogging about three months ago. My favorite thing about blogging would be that I get a chance to share my faith as much as I want. In “real life”, I’m an introvert, and I don’t always have a chance to talk (or I don’t feel as comfortable…) so blogging gives me an opportunity to share everything that’s going on in my head, and I get to seem like I’m more outgoing than I really am. If you don’t want to listen to what I have to say, you don’t have to. I’m not “forcing my beliefs” on anyone, I’m just sharing my heart with all who will listen. 😉

7) What’s something exciting that has happened in your life recently?

Haha!  My life really isn’t that exciting, but I have to say, I’ve been devouring books recently and living in some other pretty awesome worlds. And on top of that, I’ve gotten to connect with some really awesome people (awesome-worlds’ authors included!). I wouldn’t ever want to give that up. I love getting to know awesome people.

8) Why do you write (blogs, books, whatever)?

I write because I love Jesus. I write because of what He’s done for me and how grateful I am. I write because I get to share my faith with anyone who will listen. I write because I get to express myself in more ways than I could if I didn’t. I write because I want to bring glory to God and point others to Him. I write because God has given me this platform to make Him famous, and it is one of my biggest passions.

9) Can you describe (or find a picture of) a different-era outfit that you’d love to wear?

I love the 1940s and 50s era a lot. (I love the middle ages and Ancient Rome period too, but I’ll save that for another time. *winks*)

I’d love to wear something like a retro-blue blouse with a yellow polka-dot skirt or a red blouse with a black and white polka-dot skirt. I looooove that kind of fashion!

10) Favorite songs?

Right now, I really like “Your Hands” by JJ Heller and “Make A Way” by I Am They. And “Salt and Light” by Lauren Daigle.

Just. So. Good.

11) Any advice for your fellow Christian bloggers/writers?

Never give up writing, you can only improve. Know that the only abilities that you have are a gift from God, and not because of how great you are. Remember to give all the glory to God in everything, and lean on Him for help. And never forget…He will never leave you or forsake you, and He is one-hundred percent trustworthy, all the time.

Now for my lucky nominees! These people have fantastic blogs, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Blogger friends, I nominate YOU to answer my 11 new questions!

Katy Parker at Captured in Christ

Jordan Shea at Carefree Flower

Leah E. Good at Leah’s Bookshelf

Rachel Schaus at Notes From My Corner of Creation

Christy at The Teen Theme

11 New Questions:

1) What is the driving passion of your life?

2) What/who has encouraged you the most to write?

3) What genre of books is your favorite?

4) Where is the furthest place away from home you’ve ever been?

5) Who is the coolest person you’ve ever gotten to know?

6) How important is your faith to your writing?

7) Are you a morning person, a night owl, a mix of both, or neither?

8) What’s your favorite part about writing/blogging?

9) Who is your fictional hero, and what makes them so special?

10) If you could make a favorite book into a fantastic movie, what book (or series) would it be?

11) What era “should” you have been born in?

*aj

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Covered by the Cross

Covered by the Cross

Sometimes, I think we see ourselves as dirt.

Yeah, something like that. Like maybe we don’t feel like we are good enough.

Or we don’t believe that God hears our prayers because we think we are so sinful and hopeless…

But we’re not.

We’re not hopeless. We’re not seen as sinners anymore. We’re not living under the law. Why? The blood of Jesus rescued us.

Hebrews 10:19-23 says this to us in encouragement.

 

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. Because of His death, we have communion and a relationship with God.

Because of the blood of Jesus, we are seen through the lens of His holiness. The curtain between God and us has been torn. His love for us broke the separation.

We have a full assurance of faith! Our hearts are sprinkled clean and we are counted pure. We have hope! And God is faithful.

That passage is soooooooo encouraging to me. See, I know that my sin nature is, well, sinful. Nobody needs to tell me that. HOWEVER. My sin does not define me, because it has been paid for. The blood of Jesus (via the cross) is what purifies me. Not by anything I’ve done, of course!

There’s one thing that’s the most important to know: The Cross is enough.

 

I can’t do anything to add to the finished work of Christ because it has already been done.

We are not perfect, but we are holy because of Christ. He has rescued us and poured His holiness over us.

There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, to hear our prayers any better, to give us more blessings, to make us “less sinful”, to make us more joyful. It’s been done.  We are loved infinitely, and we will never be loved or accepted by God any more than we already are.

The Cross covers it all.

We are pure. We are loved. We are adored. We are accepted. We are holy. We are blameless. We are redeemed. We are worthy. We are wanted. We are hope-filled. We are defined by the Cross. We are blessed. We are children of God. We are saved. We are good enough. We are righteous. We are forgiven. We are more than conquerors.

But why are we all these things?

We are all these things because of what Jesus has done. We are all these things, yet we cannot boast about it. Why? Because when we were undeserving, He came to save us.

 

Seriously, we did not do anything to earn this. It’s a free gift.

And that’s what makes it so AMAZING. We are forgiven because of the blood of our Savior.

We are holy, righteous, and redeemed. We are loved, and we are forgiven.

We need to live in light of that.

*aj

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True Peace

Peace, Mountains

Peace.

*takes a deep breath*

Visualize world peace. 

There’s a sign in my dentist’s office that says just that. “Visualize World Peace”.

That sounds good, right?

Well, it seems so…but here’s the thing.

Peace, many times, is mistaken for a lack of conflict.

Therefore, it stands to reason that if there is peace, there is stability. If there is no conflict or apparent danger, there is peace.

According to the Bible, however, that’s not really true.

In John 16:33, Jesus says,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Here, Jesus is talking to His disciples. And He just dispelled a myth about peace. Jesus says that in Him, we can have peace. Notice that He confirms that in this world, there will be tribulation.  (Think of this as conflict mixed with really hard times and trials. Not exactly pleasant.)

Yet, we still can have peace. Why? Jesus has overcome the world.

But what does that mean?

I’m big on explanations (if you haven’t noticed).

Jesus overcame Satan, the Prince of this world. He overcame sin’s power over us. He restored the peace we can have with God.

Peace is like an apple. (What?)

Imagine that the inside (core) of an apple is like the “inside” of us. If we have internal non-peace (which will rot the inside of us), that will eventually result in the “outside” of us being rotten and non-peaceful. Likewise, our inner peace – coming from a relationship with God – will result in a fresh apple, because no apple rots from the outside in.

That might not have made a lot of sense.

My point is, we have hard times in the world and outer non-peace (insecurity). Because the world as a whole does not have Jesus, the world as a whole does not have true peace.

You cannot do ten thousand hours of meditation and spiritual rituals to achieve inner peace.

You cannot buy enough stuff to achieve happiness or peace.

You cannot cut out all wars in the world to achieve world peace.

There is no magic handbook that you can follow to convert the world to be a conflict-free place (although you’ll get those claims).

The chance of having a “peaceful” world seems really hopeless, right?

However, there is a clause. (I’ve always wanted to say that!)

Inner peace for the Christian is possible through Jesus. This peace is a restored communion with God. An assurance of security and fellowship with Christ. We can rest in Him; He is our safe place.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:15,

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

 

We can let His true and lasting peace rule in our hearts.

The world does not know true peace. Until Jesus comes again, true world peace will be promised by many and fulfilled by none.

But we are secure in Christ, which produces our only real peace.

Isn’t that the only kind of peace we should want?

*aj

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How Much of the World is Too Much?

 

 Oh, it is very much a difficult feat to write a blog post at the time that it should be posted. (It will supposedly auto-post early Saturday morning, at 12:00 A.M. if I’ve finished it.)

But I’m committed to it and I love it, so it’s not a burden at all.

Maybe a lot of our lives are that way.

Maybe you enjoy school. Or you have the perfect job. Perhaps you have tasks that you do every day – not just because you should – but because you want to.

And then there are also things that go the other way around. For me, it is getting out of bed in the morning. I could sleep until 10:00 A.M. every day – but I wouldn’t get anything done, so I don’t do that. Instead, after hitting snooze probably four times, I drag myself out of bed and shove myself into the shower. Painfully.

This is an example of doing something despite the fact that I passionately do not want to do it.

Dear friend, I think we approach so many things in life with a less-than-“enjoying-it” attitude. For example, reading the Word of God.

That’s right. The Bible.

How many times do we take for granted what we have access to?

Most of us probably have at least five Bibles in our homes. Or maybe even one or part of one. (Including digital copies, my family most likely has over twenty…But that’s probably just us.)

When did reading the Holy and Inspired Word of Truth become a chore?

Seriously, we have no idea how good we have it. Freedom to read (let alone own) a Bible is a privilege. Friends, this book is ALIVE! There is no other book that has the power of the Inspired Word of God.

Here’s one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It’s Psalm 119:9-16.

How can a young man keep his way pure?

    By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you;

    let me not wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart,

    that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O Lord;

    teach me your statutes!

With my lips I declare

    all the rules of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight

    as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on your precepts

    and fix my eyes on your ways.

I will delight in your statutes;

    I will not forget your word.

 

There’s a lot of truth we can pull from this. First of all, we learn how to remain pure.

How can a young man keep his way pure?

    By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you;

    let me not wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart,

    that I might not sin against you.

 

We must guard our lives according to the Bible! We can’t expose ourselves to the world purposefully, then cross our fingers for good luck, hoping we won’t be influenced by the world too much.

I’ve thought about this question a lot lately, “How much of the world is too much?” But I’ve realized this is the wrong question.

The question cannot be “How much sin can I get away with and still be a Christian?”

Grace isn’t about God forgiving our sin and letting us get away with whatever we want because He’s not going to punish us. When we understand grace – undeserved forgiveness when were so hopeless – we realize that we were saved from being a slave to sin, not just being condemned to Hell. Why would we want to go back into sin when we were rescued from it?

Think about it. If your house was burning down, and someone rescued you and your family from it and got you out, would you go back in there? You’d better not. Because that burning-down house is l.i.t.e.r.a.l.l.y. fleeting from existence. “But my cash is in there…”

Human, do you want your wallet, or your life?

Do you want your fleeting-pleasure-sin, or eternal life?

Listen to the Bible. Don’t be a part of the world because “It’s cool.” In a hundred years, when you’re dead, cool will not matter. Eternity will matter.

The better question would be, “How much of my life can I possibly spend living for my Savior? How much can I grow to know Him more?”

That’s the best way to spend our lives. Live. For. Him.

Now please don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying that if you don’t read your Bible, you can’t truly be a Christian. That is NOT what I am saying at all. But the difference between reading and not reading is the difference between surviving and thriving.

Blessed are you, O Lord;

    teach me your statutes!

With my lips I declare

    all the rules of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight

    as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on your precepts

    and fix my eyes on your ways.

I will delight in your statutes;

    I will not forget your word.

The Word of God is amazing. It shows us who God is. How to live. His majesty. Splendor. Love. The most priceless artifact in all the world. And it belongs to us, the children of God.

Don’t let the Bible become that dusty book on the top shelf. Let it be the Book that has a cracked binding because it’s been read so much. Let it be the Book that is never “put away.” Let it be the Book that has so many pen and highlighter marks that you can barely read the words anymore. Let us buy a new Bible because the old one is so worn – not because we think it has gotten “boring.”

The Bible is beautiful. Will you read it along with me?

*aj

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The Resurrection: Part 4

  

Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope that you had a wonderful Easter Sunday. Now, I have one last post in my Resurrection series and I like having one last thing to hold onto from the Holy Day. 🙂  So, without further ado, here is post #4 in this Easter series. Thank you for reading!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that most people want to die. I mean, usually, to die means to suffer. And if you’re not sure of where you’re going, dying isn’t exactly something that you look forward to. Am I right?

We celebrated Easter a few days ago. If you haven’t noticed it already, Easter is my favorite holiday. Why? No, it’s not because of the candy, or because I get to see my family and friends (although that’s fun too). It’s because I get to rest in the assurance of my salvation, that sin has no power over me. I am not punished for what I’ve done. What I deserve — Hell — is not given to me, because I have placed my faith in Christ alone to save me.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

I love these verses because — like I said — we have victory over sin and death. But let me back up.

Verses 50-53 talks about the Blessed Hope.

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

To simplify, we (believers) have hope. H. O. P. E. Some of us may never experience death, but be taken to heaven in the ‘twinkling of an eye’. We will be changed! We will be given immortal bodies!

I know that earlier I said that we don’t need to worry about dying if we know where we’re going. But this is even better. Not only do we have the assurance of Heaven, but some of us won’t even die at all. Woah. I find that extremely awesome!

Okay, now for my favorite part. 15:54-58.

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality (AKA when we are given new bodies and we become live-foreverable) this saying will be able to be quoted in the present tense.

Christ has defeated death. Death is conquered by victory, the victory that came by Jesus’ death and resurrection. We are victorious over death — we are not owned by the devil and sin that drags us to Hell — we are SAVED.

Sin and death have no power over us! NO POWER!

And for the last verse, we are to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain.

We are not working for others, we are working for God. Our work is never wasted in God’s kingdom. We live to give glory to God, and that is never in vain.

I know that Easter has passed. I know that today is not Easter Sunday. But the truths we celebrate are the same all year round.

We have been saved. Sin and death have no power over me any longer, because Jesus has done the amazing thing — conquered death.

Easter is about the amazing love of God. It’s about the joy that it brings. It’s about the hope that we’ve been given. It’s about the peace that now rules our hearts. It’s about how we didn’t deserve what was given to us, which is what makes the resurrection so beautiful. Salvation is a wonderful thing because we fully deserve to be punished for our sin. It’s about this amazing grace bestowed upon us.

God is not out to get us. He is out to save us.

And this is why I love the resurrection so much.

Mankind rejected Him, but even still He came.

To conquer death, sin, and the grave,

though not deserved, He took my blame.

Isaiah 53:5-6 pretty much sums it all up.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.”

*aj