I wanted to share a couple of thoughts today that are making this Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday extremely meaningful to me. God has graciously given me some touch points this frazzled brain of mine can hold to when I’m feeling disconnected from the beautiful truths of this weekend.
About a week ago, my 4 year old daughter was acting really out of control, and unfortunately, me in my 34 years of wisdom “decided” to go there with her. I had been through hours of her difficult behavior, and had stayed so calm and quiet and firm, until all of a sudden I was the complete opposite of those things. I yelled at her and slammed the door and just acted like a fool. A few minutes later I went back to her and her sister, and in tears, I asked for their forgiveness. They were precious; we hugged and kissed, and while I didn’t feel like I deserved such immediate love, they gave it. Then I asked them to please pray with me. I closed my eyes and as I began to pray, asking for God’s forgiveness for my anger and lack of self control, I saw a bright red drop of blood. Still with my eyes closed, this is what I saw in the darkness–a bright red drop of blood. I felt Jesus saying, “When drops of my blood spilled onto the ground, it was for this, it was for you. It was for all these moments when you realize you are not righteous on your own and have no where to turn and no where to go to be cleansed, but to Me.” I will never forget this, and this Good Friday I see that drop of blood in my mind and all I can say is “It cleanses and covers me. I’ll take it and let it do it’s work in me. Thank You, Jesus.”
And then not too long ago my friend shared on Facebook about her newborn son dying. He would be a teenager now and she was writing a message on his birthday. Her message to him brought me to tears and I was speechless–I don’t know where she found the words, except that the Holy Spirit gave them to her. She reminded all of us reading that her son’s very existence in Heaven with Jesus, that his eternal life that began on his birthday, is proof of the Resurrection. Because Jesus was victorious over death and the grave, SO SHALL WE BE if we are in Christ! If He had not risen, what hope do we have of His promise of our own resurrection? None at all. What hope would we have of seeing the saints, the children, and our loved ones who have gone before us someday in Glory? None at all. But because He lives, so do they, and so will we. Full of His Spirit here, alive in the light of His Face there. It’s a win-win situation, as all things are in Christ.
May this sacred weekend bring you and your family to the Cross and to the Throne, both of which are available fully and freely to ANYONE, all because of our hero, Jesus Christ.
