The body – part 6

March 25, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

‭‭Luke 24:3 NIV‬‬
[3] but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
This. This right here. They entered the tomb but did not find the body of Jesus. Why? Because He had risen. Jesus rose as He said He would.
Have you ever lost something? You know you put it right there. Yet when you go back it’s gone.
The deciples knew they had left Jesus’s body in that tomb. They knew that it took a good four, strong men to roll the stone away. Yet, there the stone was, and there Jesus was not.
It must have taken a long time for the deciples to wrap their heads around that one. He was there. Now He wasn’t. The ladies had told them that there was an angel (mistaken for a gardener) who told them that Jesus had risen as He said He would and to go tell the others, but to accept that. To look and go. Huh, he really isn’t here. You know where you left Him, He was in a safe place right? No way He could go missing. But now He’s gone.
I know I’m making this a little funny. But I can just see the perplexed looks on the faces of Peter and John. I can see them stare at the tomb, then each other, then back at the tomb.
The crucifixion was so horrible that they were still raw. Nothing could cleanse that pain. And then Jesus’s body dissappears. They saw Him dead. They mourned Him. They were still mourning. Now. How do they recall Christ’s words and joy in His return? First. They must have been so very confused.
Then Jesus comes and shows Himself. We have the upper room, we have the road to Damascus, we have several places Jesus appeared to show, “Yes I am alive.”
Then just as the deciples got their feet under them, Jesus ascends to Heaven. Never again in this world would they touch Him or laugh with Him. But God.
Jesus sent His Holy Spirit do the deciples and now we, can know Him better and serve Him through His own Spirit.
The body is gone guys. I know people still search for it, wanting to find it, wanting to prove that it’s still there. But as the angel said, “He is not here, He has risen. Just. As. He. Said. He. Would.”

As we end this series I want us to remember the journey. Because we followed part of Jesus’s journey. We are always walking slowly on a path following the cross. Because, of we aim for the cross, if we aim for Jesus. We get all we have ever dreamed of, simply by having Him.

Devotional · free · Jesus · lent

The reason

April 9, 2023April 9, 2023 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

The reason

I was too late. She didn’t know the truth, and now she was gone. The cancer won in the end. We didn’t think it would.
Six hours we had spent together. All the time in the world. Yet never once did I speak the truth. Now it’s too late. Now she’s gone, her soul lost forever. If only I could go back. Say anything that would make a difference. Anything at all.
The reason for the death and Resurrection was so that people would be able to come to Jesus and be free from hell. We get caught up in the ribbons and the bright colors added to this day and forget, today was the winning of a battle, not an Easter parade. It’s a happy day for those who know and love Jesus, it’s a hopeful day for those who find Him, but for those who don’t believe it’s just another Sunday to stay in bed. These souls are what we are supposed to fight for. We all fail daily to spread Jesus to the world, for those who aren’t missionaries, preachers or evenagelists, it’s really hard to find the words and the moment to show Jesus to people. Sometimes a lady you met once who you pray for for years will suddenly die from cancer and you never know, was it enough? Did she find Jesus in the end?
Souls of the lost and found are the reason for it all. My soul, your soul and the wandering souls out there are the reason for the empty tomb.
He gave us everything. We need to give Him all of us in return. Don’t be half a Christian following the easy path. Serve Him and be a jewel in His crown.

Christianity · encouragement · free · Jesus · lent · Love · power of God · searching · The Bible · True Joy

I can smell it, life is returning

April 8, 2023 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

I can smell it coming, life is returning.

Walking through the grove of blue spruce trees in our yard I took a deep breath. The past several months of winter, the air burned and smelled like snow; today my senses were filled with warm scent of pine. It was faint, but it was there. Little by little the trees were coming back to life. I know pine trees don’t go fully dormant during the winter like Birch or Poplar, so they are usually the first you notice a difference in during Spring. Yet that doesn’t change the joy of having the trees start to show sign of winter ending.
Yesterday Jesus was killed and buried. Today He was busy preparing for tomorrow. His body lie in a stone tomb, yet His Spirit was working on the Father’s plan. He wasn’t up and walking about yet today, but there was something stirring, life was returning. Lewis would speak of it as the other world or realm and that is how I will speak of it also. We couldn’t see or hear anything happening here on Earth during the middle day of Holy Week weekend, yet in the other world- the one our souls belong to- there was a great awakening of souls who had lied in death for many years awaiting their savior to come and take the keys from the devil and bring them home. Jesus’s death and resurrection was always planned, God didn’t suddenly go, ‘oh no! The world is really bad I need to send someone to save them!’ He knew all along what would happen and was ready for it. Today was a busy day for Jesus, and though his body lay dead in the tomb, life was preparing to return to it.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · Jesus · lent · The Bible · True Joy

Death accepted, death defeated- Jesus is RISEN!

April 17, 2022 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

All this lent time, all our lives, all of Jesus’ ministry comes down to these words of Paul:

And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So, you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again? And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour? For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you. And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” Think carefully about what is right and stop sinning. For to your shame, I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
1 Corinthians 15:12-25, 27-34 NLT

In movies when death is defeated it means the MC was half killed, as Mad Max from Princess Bride says, ‘he’s only mostly dead.’
That was not the case for Jesus, He was completely dead and buried before that third day when He walked out of the tomb. Death defeated means that Jesus walked up to the devil, took the keys from his hand, and strode out of hell with all our souls in His hands. We still sometimes choose to return to death and hell by not choosing to believe in Jesus, but we no longer belong to the devil, we belong to Heaven and Jesus.
Carmen imagined what today was like for the devil as two fighters in a ring, the final blow was struck and everyone even tje demons were shocked that Jesus had gone down, this is how he says it:
God the Father turned His head
His tears announcing Christ was dead!
The 10 count would proclaim the battle’s end
Then Satan trembled through his sweat in unexpected horror, yet…
As God started to count by saying
“…10…”
“Hey wait a minute, God…” “…9…” “Stop! You’re counting wrong…”
“…8…”
His eyes are moving…
“…7…”
His fingers are twitching…
“…6…”
“Where’s all this Light coming from?”
“…5…”
“He’s alive!”
“…4…”
“Oh – nooooo!”
“…3…”
“And yet,”
“…2…”
“Oh…Yessssss!
“…1…”
He has won!
He has won!
He’s alive forevermore!

He was killed. He is risen. He took the keys of death from the devil and waits, sharpening His sword for the day when He comes back for us, because He is our avenging warrior coming back to destroy the enemy, and there is an enemy, don’t get into the train of thought where you feel that the devil is not moving against you, because he is. But! Jesus is here with us! His spirit is within us, His Holy Spirit guides us! He has won our souls if we give them back to Him. Stop taking your life out of His hands, He cares more about you then you could ever care about yourself. He died for you. Would you suffer even for the sake of your own life? Jesus died, and He rose again. Why is that important? Because if He did not rise again then we have no hope, but He did rise, and we are saved.
Prayer:
Oh Jesus, how saved we are. Beyond this life, beyond us, beyond it all is You and You saved us. Glory to God! Let us sit in your presence forever. Thank you, God, for you alone are our Hope and Safe place! There are no words but thank you, and it is not enough, but it is all we can say, so we say thank you. Amen.