Happy Easter!

I know this might sound a little weird but I feel like today was the first time I realized the true meaning of Easter... what it really means to us as Christians and how it is the sole purpose for believing in Jesus. Of course I know what happened on Easter and how amazing that is for us but what Andy Stanley's message showed me was that Easter was more than Jesus dying for our sins and rising again; it was the physical proof! Maybe I'm the only one but it never dawned on me until today of how impactful that was! He died and CAME BACK TO LIFE! I feel like this is my "duh" moment... this is the foundation of Christianity... but I never really though about it until hearing today's sermon. Andy spoke of what happened after Jesus rose from the grave in Acts and the impact of Peter and John's eye witness accounts. (Check it out here if you have time. It's awesome! http://www.northpoint.org/site/message-mp3)

 Imagine what it must have been like to hear about someone coming back to life let alone the man who claimed to be the Son of God! And then you see Him!?! How could anyone deny Him after that?? What more proof can you ask for... He died, in front of hundreds of witnesses, and then came back to life, which was witnessed by hundreds more!! No one can do that except the Son of God! And this, Jesus dying and rising from the dead and Peter and John's account, is the reason that so many converted and chose to believe (Acts 4:4)! Because they had proof (i.e. first-hand accounts) beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was who He claimed to be. Who else in history has proclaimed his future death, died like he said he would, and then came back to life like he said he would? Only one man's name is on that list and it is Jesus. I encourage you to read Acts 3 and 4 and put yourself in the audience's place. Would you believe?

What is so awesome about this story is that it is just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago! No one else has done what Jesus did... I dunno about you but I haven't heard anything on the news about some one coming back to life after being dead for 3 days haha. It is history and we even have multiple accounts of it from the apostles! When I thought about why I believe in Jesus, I had no better reasoning than I just do. But today I realized what my reasoning was..... he died and rose again!! And people saw this! And they shared their story of it and people believed! And that is how Christianity spread. The death and resurrection  of Jesus is the physical proof we have to set us apart from other religions and teachings; it is why He is so important!

I feel like God revealed this to me today.... this year of all years, at the age of 24, and after hearing an Easter sermon every year for those 24 years... to remind me of the support that I do have when telling others of Him and Jesus! This revelation could not have come at a more perfect time because of my service to Him this summer. It is not my job to convince others of His existence but to tell the undeniable story of Jesus. And from there He will work. In Africa, I will be telling others about Him, His love, and of Jesus and what He did for us. Praise the Lord for His preparation of me! Pray that He continues this in me everyday before, during, and after this trip.

I am humbled by this so much because of how many times I've heard this story yet consistently failed to realize its impact! I am so human and I ask that the Lord reminds me of that everyday, in order that I may remember who I live for and what my life means. "Then he said to them all, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his live will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it'" -Luke 9:23-24.