Weekend Words

Easter Sunday

 

From Beside the Still Waters devotional...

Christ the Lord is Risen - Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

He is not here:for he is risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay. - Matthew 28:6

What a glorious revelation when the truth comes to our hearts that Christ's tomb is empty!  If it were not for this truth, we would be of all men most miserable.  "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept."  The grave couldn't hold Him and the devil himself couldn't stop Him; Christ arose triumphant!

There is no other religion on earth with such a message.  This is why we meet on Sunday morning week after week, because the tomb is empty.  This is why we can have victory.  This is why we can be free!

Romans 8:11 tells us that the same Spirit who raised up Jesus can dwell in us.  Once this is a living reality in our hearts, we will be done with lesser things and be among the most blessed people on earth.  We will do as the song says: "Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears."  There will be a burning fire in our hearts that inspires us and helps us to live high above the doldrums.  We won't walk around half the day with long faces or have a victim mentality.  We will be truly joyful (although not silly and lighthearted), because the truth of Jesus' resurrection is the zeal of our hearts.  The power of God will transform our lives because Jesus is risen!

There is no other victory like this.  Christ has burst the gates of hell; He has opened Paradise - Allelluia!  "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through out Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foreasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:57-58)

(Kenneth Nolt - New Holland, PA)

Lift then your voices in triumph on high,

For Jesus hath risen, and man shall not die! - Harry Ware