Weekly Devotionals - Raquel
“He is not here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” Matthew 28:6-7NIV
This past Sunday, we celebrated Easter.
Hallelujah, He is risen!
A time to reflect on the Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again in 3 days! Because of this truth, we are given the opportunity to have direct access and relationship with God if we choose so. After we choose to accept the Good News, what’s next? How does the Resurrection impact how we live out the rest of our days?
To sum up the answer in a handful of words from the RSV (Raquel Simmons Version)… The Resurrection impacts how we live by giving us: authenticity in a world that has filtered and altered our perception of reality, contentment in a society that tells us more success and power = more happiness, and hope in a world that can often feel hopeless.
It’s one thing to simply say that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. It’s a whole other level to live it out like it’s true.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3 “Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before… It is this Good News that saves… I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me.”
The Resurrection of Jesus is the most important doctrine in Christianity. Doctrine is the Truth we live by. In a world that shouts, “speak your truth!” Let us be the rebels and sing out, “Jesus you are the Truth. You are the Way. You are the Life. You are MY life.” We do not need to give in to the pressure of conforming to the patterns of this world. We can live in authenticity of who Jesus calls us to be. We can live a life free from striving when we know who we belong to. When we believe the truths that God speaks of us. Where striving ends, contentment begins.
The Resurrection of Jesus IS what fuels our faith. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. This is how we gain direct access to God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us! (Are anyone else’s hands starting to feel tingly and more powerful or is it just me?) This means that whatever we encounter in this world, we never experience it alone. We will always have God going through it with us. We can turn to Him every second of every day with every single situation we come upon, “big” and “small,” and trust that He will take care of us. I put those words in quotes because nothing is too big or too small for God. He sees and cares about it ALL.
1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners,” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”
The Resurrection of Jesus allows our hope to transcend this world. The more real the resurrection is to us, the more we can see beyond the right now. For believers, everything on Earth is temporary, even death! My biggest fear used to be dying. Then I fell in love and my biggest fear became my husband dying. THEN, my son entered the world. You all know what my biggest fear became then. The moment I laid eyes on him I was simultaneously overjoyed and heartbroken. Heartbroken at the fact that this little boy is mine, but not completely. And the fact that no matter how hard I try to protect him, I have no control over when his time to die is. (I’m sorry you guys, I don’t know why I’m this way. My mind is complex and thinks of these types of things but stick with me for just another minute.)
Loving deeply is the most vulnerable thing we can do. To love is to risk. Since we have no control over death, when we love deeply, we risk being hurt. Unfortunately, some of you reading this know the sorrow of losing a child or someone you love. It’s unfair and cruel. But the resurrection proves that by his wounds we are healed. God understands grief and loss because He experienced it, too. The resurrection gives us hope that one day we will be restored, renewed, healed, free of pain and sorrow, and reunited with those we have loved and lost. Jesus’ resurrection in the past ensures our resurrection in the future. Everything that is broken will be made right.
I ask again, how does the resurrection impact how we live? Take some time to sit with this question and then, let’s go out and live it.
Raquel
This past Sunday, we celebrated Easter.
Hallelujah, He is risen!
A time to reflect on the Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again in 3 days! Because of this truth, we are given the opportunity to have direct access and relationship with God if we choose so. After we choose to accept the Good News, what’s next? How does the Resurrection impact how we live out the rest of our days?
To sum up the answer in a handful of words from the RSV (Raquel Simmons Version)… The Resurrection impacts how we live by giving us: authenticity in a world that has filtered and altered our perception of reality, contentment in a society that tells us more success and power = more happiness, and hope in a world that can often feel hopeless.
It’s one thing to simply say that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. It’s a whole other level to live it out like it’s true.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3 “Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before… It is this Good News that saves… I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me.”
The Resurrection of Jesus is the most important doctrine in Christianity. Doctrine is the Truth we live by. In a world that shouts, “speak your truth!” Let us be the rebels and sing out, “Jesus you are the Truth. You are the Way. You are the Life. You are MY life.” We do not need to give in to the pressure of conforming to the patterns of this world. We can live in authenticity of who Jesus calls us to be. We can live a life free from striving when we know who we belong to. When we believe the truths that God speaks of us. Where striving ends, contentment begins.
The Resurrection of Jesus IS what fuels our faith. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. This is how we gain direct access to God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us! (Are anyone else’s hands starting to feel tingly and more powerful or is it just me?) This means that whatever we encounter in this world, we never experience it alone. We will always have God going through it with us. We can turn to Him every second of every day with every single situation we come upon, “big” and “small,” and trust that He will take care of us. I put those words in quotes because nothing is too big or too small for God. He sees and cares about it ALL.
1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners,” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”
The Resurrection of Jesus allows our hope to transcend this world. The more real the resurrection is to us, the more we can see beyond the right now. For believers, everything on Earth is temporary, even death! My biggest fear used to be dying. Then I fell in love and my biggest fear became my husband dying. THEN, my son entered the world. You all know what my biggest fear became then. The moment I laid eyes on him I was simultaneously overjoyed and heartbroken. Heartbroken at the fact that this little boy is mine, but not completely. And the fact that no matter how hard I try to protect him, I have no control over when his time to die is. (I’m sorry you guys, I don’t know why I’m this way. My mind is complex and thinks of these types of things but stick with me for just another minute.)
Loving deeply is the most vulnerable thing we can do. To love is to risk. Since we have no control over death, when we love deeply, we risk being hurt. Unfortunately, some of you reading this know the sorrow of losing a child or someone you love. It’s unfair and cruel. But the resurrection proves that by his wounds we are healed. God understands grief and loss because He experienced it, too. The resurrection gives us hope that one day we will be restored, renewed, healed, free of pain and sorrow, and reunited with those we have loved and lost. Jesus’ resurrection in the past ensures our resurrection in the future. Everything that is broken will be made right.
I ask again, how does the resurrection impact how we live? Take some time to sit with this question and then, let’s go out and live it.
Raquel
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