what do you think about when you hear the word “Easter”; chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, easter eggs, good food, family, the new fad: colored chicks and ducks, time off work…what? its not wrong to think about all those things, as long as you don’t bury the real meaning under all that the world has put out there. so with that said, what is the real meaning of Easter? what if this holiday as we know it, never came into existence, what would that mean for us as Christians? we all know the story, and most of us know what the general significance is for this holiday; Good Friday is the day we remember that Jesus died on the cross and Easter is the day we celebrate his resurrection. you would think hearing the same story over and over again would get tiring, but its not…to me, i seem to see it a little more clearly every time i hear it….

how many of us stop and think about the true meaning of this holiday? how often do we stop and think about the sacrifices that were made for us and what they really mean?  we all have those people in our lives that we “don’t like”, but how many of us would be willing to give up our lives for that person? well, that’s exactly what Jesus did for use…we don’t deserve what He’s given us, we don’t deserve to have the chance to live with Him eternally…there are so many things we have/or are offered, that we don’t deserve.  we are sinful, arrogant, prideful, selfish, wicked people. there are times when we completely turn our backs on Him…there times when we ask for things and when He says “no” we get angry…i have listed a lot of stuff that we don’t deserve, but there is something we do deserve…we deserve to spend eternity in Hell…but what can keep us from that? we often hear Jesus referred to as our propitiation, but what does that really mean? well, webster puts it this way:

when God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross He took the wrath of God upon himself so we wouldn’t have to take it upon ourselves….he shielded us from what was intended to harm us. because of Jesus’ suffering we are able to have that chance to come to know him and spend eternity with Him in heaven, He is our atoning sacrifice and He is the perfect and spotless lamb.

something i’ve heard a lot from our pastor lately is this, we are free to choose but we are forced to decide. we are free to choose whether or not we want Jesus to be ruler of our lives, we are free to choose whether or not we want to spend the rest of our lives with Him…it’s our choice, but eventually we are forced to make the decision….we are forced to “pick sides”.

who are you going serve? where are you going to spend eternity?

think about it! but not just during the Easter Holidy, Christ should be on our minds all the time! as Christians we should be living for Him, we should be making His name known. we should be making it clear who we are going to serve and where we are going to spend the rest of our lives…..

the song is “Always” by Building 429, here are the lyrics:

“I was standing in the pour raining
One dark November night
Fighting off the bitter cold
When she caught my eye
Her face was torn and her eyes were filled
And then to my surprise
She pulled out a photograph
And my heart just stopped inside
She said He would have been three today
I miss his smile, I miss his face
What was I supposed to say

But I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
He will be with you always

He was living in a broken world dreaming of a home
His heart was barely keeping pace
When I found him all alone
Remembering the way he felt
When his daddy said goodbye
Fighting just to keep the tears
And the anger locked inside
He’s barely holding on to faith
But deliverance is on its way

‘Cuz I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
He will be with you always

Friend I don’t know where you are
And I don’t know where you’ve been
Maybe you’re fighting for your life
Or just about to throw the towel in
But if you’re crying out for mercy
If there’s no hope left at all
If you’ve given everything you’ve got
And you’re still about to fall
Well hold on, hold on, hold on

Cuz I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all faith is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
Always, Always
He will be with you always
He will be with you always
He will be with you”

this songs tells about some pretty intense situations/circumstances, and for some people these situations are all too real. there isn’t a day that goes by that we aren’t faced with trials, maybe not as harsh at these ones, but trials none the less. our christian walk will not be an easy one and some of us are going to struggle more than others, but God says that he will always be there and he is always faithful. my favorite lines are:

Friend I don’t know where you are
And I don’t know where you’ve been
Maybe you’re fighting for your life
Or just about to throw the towel in
But if you’re crying out for mercy
If there’s no hope left at all
If you’ve given everything you’ve got
And you’re still about to fall
Well hold on, hold on, hold on

they tell us to HOLD ON even if we think we can’t go on anymore. sometimes in our lives we just reach the end, we come to a point where we don’t think we can go on anymore, and sometimes that’s when Satan gets ahold of us and we start going down the wrong path…but don’t let Satan win….keeping holding strong to your faith in God….because he is (and will always be) there for us if our faith remains in Him.

This might hurt, it’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care if I break,
At least I’ll be feeling something
Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?

No regrets, not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something
Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

Cause I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?

Take me all the way (take me all the way)
Take me all the way (cause I don’t wanna go through the motions)
Take me all the way (I know I’m finally feeling something real)
Take me all the way

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?

I think these lyrics are just what Christians need to hear right now. How many times do you find yourself just “going through the motions” in your walk with God? It’s so easy to go day to day, week to week, year to year doing what we think the normal Christian should do. We go to church, we pray when we’re out in public, and we try to be on our best behavior. But what are you like on the inside, what are you doing when you’re by yourself, what do you do when you’re not around your Christian friends?

Our lives should reflect Christ in every way and in every situation, no matter who we’re with, and I am speaking to myself when I write this. I know how easy it is to get in the habit of just going through the motions…My favorite lines are: “I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?”

Make Christ personal in your life, don’t just go through the motions.

I don’t want to look back on life asking myself “what if I had given everything instead of going through the motions”.

on march 2nd i will begin my journey through cosmetology school! i am going to be attending Regency Beauty Institute, and i am very excited!