If He Wouldn't Have Come

I have a hard time truly understanding the Resurrection. Every year I pray for greater comprehension of Easter and its monumental message, but I can't say I've gotten a better handle on it. I must pare away the churchy words and bring it down to a level I can catch. So this year I decided to think on what my life would be like if He wouldn't have come.

If Jesus wouldn't have come, died, and conquered death by coming back to life . . .

. . . I would be slaughtering animals, OFTEN, to pay for my mistakes. Ew.

. . . I couldn't approach God with any amount of confidence.

. . . there would be no clear way to heaven.

. . . my life would lack meaning and purpose.

. . . I'd always be waiting for the other shoe to drop, certain I'd offended God.

. . . the Holy Spirit wouldn't reside within, guiding and teaching me each day.

. . . I would not know the comfort of a sympathetic God.

. . . there would be no mansion waiting for me in heaven.

. . . I would not have a friend that sticks closer than a brother, available to me any time, anywhere, for any reason.

. . . I would be lost.

By coming back to life, Jesus proved He is God. He provided a way to unite with our Heavenly Father and ensured a place for us in heaven. These are HUGE implications for our lives, yet tough to grasp. I've decided to accept it anyway.

Because I am changed.

I know who I was and who I am since choosing to believe the Truth about Jesus. I know the impact our relationship has on me. I can muddle through no matter how gray the days are on earth, knowing the best is yet to come. Because of Him, I cope with the stresses of life. I know anything hard will be made good. There is beauty in life. Because Jesus came, died and yet still lives, I have hope and a future.

“No one can remain neutral regarding Jesus’ resurrection. The claim is too staggering, the event too earthshaking, the implications too significant and the matter too serious. We must either receive it or reject it as truth for us. To remain indifferent or undecided is to reject it.”

Mark Driscoll

Even though I don't fully understand it, I accept the Resurrection because I am changed.

What about you? Have you believed Jesus, the Son of God, died on your behalf and rose again to unite you with God? Just as ignoring or dismissing a red light doesn't save you from the consequences, ignoring or dismissing Jesus doesn't nullify His work and the impact it has on your future.

How would your life be different if He wouldn't have come? What do you believe about the Resurrection?

Visit Loni at Writing Canvas for more thoughts on this quote.



Photo Credit: David Gunter

7 Quick Takes (Volume 76)

1) Miss Innocent One survived "the film." She didn't have to learn about any guy "junk" and came away thinking it was pretty silly to get worked up. Kevin looked through the materials she brought home and found this: "Puberty: It's not summer vacation, but it is a great journey."

I don't know why that makes both of us laugh.

2) Drama Queen attended Prom on Saturday and when her friends came over for pictures, I swear the girl acted like she was on crack, flitting about, talking loud, being generally spastic. I think these pictures pretty much tell the story.


I'm not sure what she's doing here. HELP!




Finally a REAL picture. Love you, babe! You keep our lives entertaining!


3) In the middle of an ordinary Tuesday, my cell phone beeped indicating I had a text from my son. It ended up being my favorite text exchange of the week.

Drummer Boy: For some reason I just thought I saw you on campus. Turns out it was Asian haha.

Me: IT?! Thanks a lot!

Drummer Boy: Oh sorry. SHE was an Asian.

Me: Too funny. Tell me she was at least a little attractive.

Drummer Boy: Haha uh idk. That's weird lol.

Me: OK. U have a point. Have a good one!

4) My poor girls. It's a hardship having me for a mother. Thank the Lord they overlook my handicaps.

Miss Innocent One: I'm going to take a shower. Mom, when I'm done, can you help me put my hair in braids?

Now you must know I am just terrible at doing girly hair. I've told my girls from infancy that their mother was hair challenged.

Me: I can try. I can't promise anything.

Miss Innocent One (with a knowing grin): We'll just experiment.

Does she get me or what?!

5) Drama Queen came into our bedroom to turn in her cell phone for the night and realized her brother and sister were gone.

Drama Queen: Am I the only kid in the house tonight?

Me: Yep.

Kevin: We'll try to keep it down.

Drama Queen: Ew. Sick. That's disgusting.

Kevin (to me, laughing): It's too easy.

6) We're sitting at dinner when Ladies Man asks if I went to Walmart that day (the presence of Little Debbie cakes which never last long in our house clued him in).

Kevin: You went to Walmart? I should have had you get me some more body spray.

Drama Queen and Ladies Man blew a gasket laughing.

Me: What?

Drama Queen: Body spray?

Kevin: So? You use it too.

Drama Queen: Okay, Nancy.

She and Ladies Man yucked it up for a few minutes and went on their way. The next day I found an addition to a new shopping list I started.


I laughed out loud, wishing Drama Queen hadn't already left for school. Later at lunch I told Kevin about it.

Kevin: I was wondering when you'd find it.

Me: Did you see it?

Kevin: See it? I WROTE it.

And to think I gave Drama Queen credit for it! Who says the guy doesn't have a sense of humor?

7) I pray this weekend, friends, you take time to remember, to be thankful and to worship our Lord and Savior.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:36

Happy Easter!

Stroll through some other Quick Takes posts at Conversion Diary.

Remember

See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.

Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected--a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived any one. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave.

But it was the Lords' good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (New Living Translation)




Photo Credit: Remara Photography