Daily Prayer Guide - Easter - Game-Changer! Jesus is Alive

Read: Luke 24:1-8

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

Also, Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16: 1-8; John 20:1-18

Consider:

When you walk with Jesus it will lead you to an empty tomb, and it is there that EVERYTHING changes!   Humanity can kill Jesus, but death cannot hold him. When the disciples discovered the tomb was empty, they finally understood the power of their master Jesus. They “saw and believed” and knew that what they were experiencing with Jesus was very different than anything else they had ever encountered. 

Jesus has drawn us to walk with him, to follow him in his way, and now his resurrection takes our relationship with him to a whole new level, where his crucifixion heartbreakingly provided us forgiveness for our sin and made the way for us to be in a righteous relationship with God.  Now, his resurrection becomes a game-changer for how we are to live the rest of our lives.  Now we can live with the hope that is greater than any worldly threat.  We can live a life that he gives us that is stronger than any darkness we could ever encounter.  Jesus defeated death not for himself but for us all. “The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:10-11) 

This makes a difference in how we can live today.  We live with the effects of a pandemic that has sent our world into a tailspin, but we have an anchor for our souls because Jesus is alive.  We live in a world that fears economic destruction and physical death, but because Jesus is alive we can live with hope that our lives are secure, because we have eternal life and we live in the kingdom of the God who has all the resource we could ever imagine.    If nothing can stop God, if nothing is stronger than Jesus, then nothing can deter us from living in a way that reflects him and his goodness, love, truth, joy and hope. 

Today, as we pray together, allow the reality of Jesus’ resurrection to sink into your soul and let him renew your life today. 

Prayer: Father, Thank you for loving me and giving me this amazing experience of knowing and walking through my life with Jesus Christ.  Thank you for bringing Jesus to life, and that now His life can live in me.

·      Tell God what it means to you that he brought Jesus back to life.

·      Thank him for the changes he has and is making in your life.

·      Ask him to use your life to bring him glory and make his redemption known to others he brings your way.

·      Ask him to bring life, physical and spiritual life to those dealing with the affects of coronavirus.

·      Ask him to restore the strength of the medical professionals who are selflessly serving those struggling with COVID

·       

Father, May your Spirit always remind me of Jesus’ words and ways, and may I always long to faithfully trust and obey you.  Give me a heart that is willing to sacrifice for the sake of your kingdom in the life of others.  May my life be permeated with the atmosphere of service so others might see your kingdom.  May the life that Christ lives in me be lived for you and for your glory.  Amen 

Listen: The Lord is My Salvation; Shane and Shane 

Meditate: Ephesians 2:4-5 

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.