What is Easter?

Someone tell me--what does the "Easter Bunny" and colored eggs, and baskets of candy have to do with Easter?  What is Easter?  I will gladly tell you!  "Easter"--as it has been come to be called--is the celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead!  Another wonderful name for this day is "Resurrection Sunday."  That is what I love to call it…and in all actuality, Christians should celebrate this wonderful and miraculous day every Sunday!  

But Resurrection Sunday is just the wonderful climax to the whole gospel.  What is the gospel, you ask?  "Gospel" is an old word meaning "good news."  And Scripture tells us the wonderful "good news" in the following verses: 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 "…Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures:  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

Christ came to this earth to die for us, to take our sin upon Him Who knew no sin, that we might be saved through Him.  And dear friend, you can be certain, there is no other way to Heaven but by Jesus Christ.  In John 14:6 it says, (and Jesus Christ is speaking), "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."  Jesus Christ is our only way to Heaven!  He came to this earth that He might die for your sin and mine.  Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  As sinners, the only thing we deserve is death in hell.  Jesus Christ, however, paid our sin-debt on the cross!  God offers the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.  All we must do is accept His precious gift, His Son as payment for our sin.  Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast."  You see, there is absolutely nothing we can do in and of ourselves to earn our way to Heaven.  But Jesus Christ has done everything we need by dying in our place.  His wondrous, matchless grace!!  All we must do is confess our sin and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour…it's that simple!  Your acceptance of Christ--or not--makes the difference of Heaven or hell.  Won't you make that decision today?  God loves you so much that He died for you!!

I hope you can truly...

              Celebrate with me

              Resurrection Sunday!

              Merle

Roots for Strength and Fruit

Re-post: May we go forward for God!

I love trees--particularly oak trees!  They're so strong looking.  Do you know that God likens us to trees, in at least two places in scripture.  I believe I mentioned this before when I discussed fruit.  Let me reiterate!  

I thank God, our God is a God of new beginnings!  He is most gracious and merciful…how awesome a God we serve!  But He's a God of new beginnings because He desires for us to go forward, to reach higher heights for Him. 

Let's discuss that topic again: producing fruit.  What is "fruit"?  I believe "fruit" is everything in our lives--as born-again Christians--that points others to Christ.  That can mean everything from the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace...), to our witness and testimony for Christ, to even the character (or God-like qualities) that God and His Holy Spirit is producing in us. 

Fruit refers to evidence of what is within

We will see a harvest of fruit as we yield to God and allow His Spirit to work in and through us

The fruit of the Spirit should be evident--ever growing

Psalm 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Jeremiah 17:7-8  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

vibrant productive fruitful

strong stable dependent sturdy confident abiding rooted in Him focused persevering ever-growing reaching forward

"rivers" is referring to the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is often likened to water It is the Holy Spirit that keeps us alive, vital, vibrant--growing and productive rivers don't stand still--they're always moving--so we should always be growing, going forward for God

the tree is a picture of strength because it is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that make us strong--sturdy and stable just as a tree's roots dig down deep into the soil, so we should dig deep into God's Word to keep us strong and sturdy.  A tree that has a very shallow root system will assuredly fall over in a bad storm. make sure you're feeding the right kind of root system something to note:  a tree does not produce fruit without roots

         That we might produce

          fruit for His kingdom!

              Merle