Easter Basket Reflection

 

Dear Friends,

Here is some food for thought. Happy Easter! The Lord is risen. He was risen a long time ago, and He is alive spreading, hope, love, peace, and joy "every day"! While our children, nieces, nephews, and the like are hunting for an Easter basket this morning, let’s remember to take a moment and thank Jesus!  I’m not a naysayer or killjoy of any Easter festivities, but I am smart enough to know that Jesus suffered and died for more than Easter baskets, new outfits, and family dinners, which I like and enjoy.  He went to the cross for our abundantly daily life (John 10:10). He died for you and me!

So on this Easter day, may you take the time to “remember” what the Lord has done for you. May you look at today as any other day that you can serve and thank God. That you can attend church more than once or twice a year as a marked holiday and or calendar appointment because of what He has done means something to you. Some argue that people don’t need to go to church, but if we want to grow in God, we need to allow iron to sharpen iron. We need to be challenged in our thinking. We need people to encourage us and support us; we need the body of Christ too! We need to read our Bibles more and pray too at home. But in all of these things, may we see and remember God’s gift to us: eternal life through His death, burial, and resurrection.  May we grab ahold of what He has done for us.

We nee a savior we can rely on,  and Christ is it. When you go looking for Christ, you will find Him. When Mary Magdalene and Salome went to the tomb, they saw that the stone was rolled away, that Jesus was gone. The angel told them He was not dead, but alive.  So I rejoice in this promise every day and on Easter. God makes Himself known to us in a variety of ways. This helps us to know and remember that we can celebrate life because of Him!

God Bless,

 Pastor Illy

What are You Shaking On?

Let’s just face it; we get down. We inadvertently set ourselves up for these moments, putting on a depressing song, mediating on what is lost or gone, and focusing on what looks like it is not working instead of what is good, honorable, true, honest, just, and lovely. Add a busy schedule; demanding customers at work or school drama, a family crisis, and the common-cold, if you are running yourself ragged; and voilà, you have just set yourself up for a dangerous dance with hell. There are irresistible secretly-seductive repeating thoughts that we are drawn to by the spirit of familiarity, tapping our feet and attending our ears to the beguiling sounds of the “dark world”:  What can I have, take, and do if I take matters into my own hands is the message being sent, but will your inbox see this is as junk mail or spam, or will it embrace the trickery of half-reckoning sounds that are whispering to you and drawing you in?   What are you agreeing on, shaking to, and accepting as truth in your life?

The truth is the “Kingdom of God (heaven) is at hand”, but the kingdom of darkness (hell) is just as real as it has ever been and can be just as near. We can be one thought away from backsliding, giving into an addiction, walking away from commitments, and the like. We wear ourselves out and not taking the necessary precautions; we then find ourselves in cantankerous situations. We can be one thought and moment away from an answered prayer and or remembering an encouraging scripture that breathes life into us. Too often, I hear these comments: I couldn’t help myself or the devil made me do it. I don’t believe that. I believe that God gives us choice and all of the plans in place to succeed. He gave us the Bible to help us see into other people’s lives, having avarice to sin, destruction, impulsive behavior, and stupidity.

 We forget liberating truths in the Word that make our pathways easy, sure, and straight. I’ve been getting up early almost every day since late December, declaring health, healing, and victory over my life and family. I have decided that I will become familiar with the kingdom of heaven and the word of God and that I will allow God to renew and transform my mind by reading and declaring His word. I have decided that I will not take no for an answer, when it comes to the promises of God. I will not measure my successes or failures to the any-man character found in the stories and in real life; instead I will weigh them by Christ and His example. Though I may come up short, I have learned that measuring myself to other people is another trap that I won’t allow myself to step into!

Psalm of Declaration

I bring verbal declarations and praise to God when I find myself in a dank and dreary place. I praise myself right out of that pit. The underworld cannot drag me down with its deceptive somewhat tantalizing calls.

I will refuse to bring incredulous half-praises to my King because I’m all in! I thwart every message coming from any other source and stick like glue to the promises of God. He is propelling me above all hurts and attacks from the enemy, whatever form they are manifesting in.

I engage every day and season with praise on my lips. I embrace the kingdom of heaven that is near me by accepting its language, citizenship, principles, and policies.  I am walking with God in heavenly places here on earth.

References:

Psalm 34:1

Philippians 4:8

Matthew 3:2