An Overflowing Heart


Today is Easter or Resurrection Day, a day on which we (as those who believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior) purpose to remember His sacrifice for us on the cross.  But not just His sacrifice, not just His pain and death, no we also remember His life.  For He IS RISEN!  When He died He didn't stay dead, but rose again to give us newness of life . . . to offer us the opportunity to choose Him, and in Him, victory over sin and death.  My heart is overflowing today--overflowing with joy!  For these are the truths that bring joy . . . and hope, and peace.  And I want to remember these truths, not just today, but every day.  For they are just as true tomorrow as today, and just as true next month as tomorrow.  These are the truths that put a smile on my face, and make me cheerful even when I am at work and it is 7 in the morning.  I desperately need to claim them as true in my life, to reckon them, daily.  For then I live as I am called to--joyful, peaceful, free, and filled (to overflowing) with hope.
As I've been thinking about Easter I've been reading a little book entitled The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper.  In it I "discovered" this verse:
"Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.  For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."~1 Corinthians 5:7
And this quote:
"We have been made unleavened in Chirst.  So we should now become unleavened in practice.  In other words, we should become what we are . . . the suffering of Christ secures our perfection so firmly that it is already now a reality.  Therefore, we fight against our sin not simply to become perfect, but because we are.  The death of Jesus is the key to battling our imperfections on the firm foundation of our perfection." ~John Piper
Another verse he pairs with this is Colossians 1:22 (for background's sake I'm quoting verse 21 for you too.) "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him."
Oh, I am ever so thankful that the Lord has made me perfect through His sacrifice and that I do not have to attain perfection in order to save myself!  No, instead as the Corinthians verse points out I am to fight for perfection in my life because that is who I am in Christ!  And I do not have to fight for it on my own, because my Lord is risen, and He lives in my heart, continually challenging, changing, renewing, and teaching me!  Oh glorious truths!  I am so thankful my Lord is alive.
As the old hymn goes:
"I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today;
I know that He is living, whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He's always near.
He lives, He lives, Chirst Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?  He lives within my heart."
~Alfred H. Ackley

Comments

  1. Unknown4/01/2013

    Amen! Thank you so much for writing all this down. Such glorious truths for us to preach to ourselves and one another, remember on a daily basis, and practice in our lives in service to our beautiful and risen Savior!

    Much love,
    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Single Woman's Hope

Hope . . . I love that word!  It's a word that brings so much life & joy, but only when it's used rightly. I'm here to tell you today that my hope as a single woman is not placed in the possibility of marriage someday.  I don't live for that time, and I don't believe that will be when I am finally and perfectly fulfilled.    Jesus fulfills!   HE  is my hope.  Today and forever I rest in those truths! That said, I would still love to be married someday.  I still PRAY for my future husband.  However, I'm not promised marriage in this life.  For today, I've been given the gift of singleness, and I want to live fully in today. . . taking in all the joys and sorrows that are in this moment!  I want to embrace the people in my life today. . . loving them and my Savior unreservedly. Those words are my heart. . . but there are times when it's hard to remember them.  There's this lie floating around that too many peop...
Read more

Our Love Story (Part 3)

(Missed the earlier installments?  The story starts here:  Our Love Story-Part One ) A week and a half after our first meeting, I was sitting at my desk at work, and had just told KJ to pray I would hear from him soon. (Or maybe I just needed patience?) Opening my facebook messages I discovered one that started with, "Dear Allison," And the rest is history. Just kidding, I'll tell you the rest of the story. ;) That message let me know that Carl wanted to get to know me better, Not just dating for fun, but seeking to see if God would lead our lives together toward marriage-- which HE did! :) BUT, at this point, we were practically strangers. Nevertheless, After he talked with my dad on the phone for a good couple hours, We started regularly calling each other, Skyping, and Facebook messaging. It wasn't long till we felt like we had known each other forever, And our regular phone calls turned to once a month visits, And all afternoon and evening Su...
Read more

The Story Behind Her Eyes

Wait, When did those eyes staring back at me change? When did the girl become a woman? There's a story behind her eyes. Was it when she realized love hurts... But is still SO worth it? When the world became a little more black than white? Was it when life became a series of routine days? When joy became a choice? Or, I know, When the perfect walls came crashing down? Actually, no, I don't know. When does the face of a girl change? Behind the story in her eyes, I still see joy. Still see the girl inside. She's just . . . aware. Aware that joy is a choice, Love is a choice. Hard choices, Worthy choices. Her smile comes from the inside. Beauty shines as she chooses each day: Christ rules this life. May His glory shine.
Read more