What is Easter all About?

Crosses, the Easter bunny, lent, egg hunts, and candy galore— why is Easter so important and why do Christians celebrate it?

No one knows exactly when Easter began but now it is celebrated in many countries around the globe. For Christians, we celebrate Easter as the time when we commemorate Jesus dying for our sins and conquering death by coming back to life three days after He was killed. Sounds pretty remarkable, right?

It can be hard to comprehend all Jesus did for us. For my devotions this morning, I read through all four gospel’s accounts of Jesus’s death (if you want to read about it too check out Matthew 27 & 28, Mark 15,  Luke 23 & 24, and/or John 19 & 20). I feel like I have a new appreciation for how much Jesus did for me. He experienced so much hardship that He did not have to go through. He could have stayed comfortable in heaven and let us mess up and go to hell, because that is what we deserved.

Instead, He went through many difficult thing. He sweated blood and begged God for some other way to save us but went through with it despite His feelings. He was betrayed by one of His close friends. He was falsely accused multiple times for “sins” he had not committed. He was ridiculed, spat on, and punched. He was mocked while dressed as a “king”. He was beaten with a staff, flogged, and ultimately crucified (a horrific Roman death which you can learn more about here).

There are two reasons why it is extraordinary that He did this. First:

To God it doesn’t matter if you’ve committed adultery or told one lie, you are tainted by sin. Key point: Jesus has never sinned. That made Him the perfect sacrifice, unlike us.  He went through all of these awful things and He did not in any way deserve any of them. He chose to because He loved you and me. We are the ones who deserve to be killed and crucified. Because of what He did, we can live forever in Heaven. He has conquered death!

Secondly:

This is still true today isn’t it? It is very unlikely that a person would die for someone else. It is almost unheard of that someone,would die for a murderer or someone who is not a “good” person. Jesus did. In the next verse it says,

We didn’t clean up our act and then God thought, oh maybe I’ll send Jesus down to save them. We were sinning and He came down anyway. This truth is something to celebrate.

This is why Christians celebrate Easter. It marks the time when Jesus saved us from our hopelessness. If we believe that Jesus died and rose and ask him to forgive our sins, he will. Then, we are able to go to heaven.

If you don’t know Jesus very well (or at all) I challenge you to learn more about Him, what He did on Easter, and why it is so important. This coming Easter consider going to church. Check it out. You never know what you might discover.

If you already are a follower of Jesus, thank him for His amazing salvation. How can you let your light shine for Him this Easter season and furthermore?

Have a blessed and peaceful Easter!

-Rebekah

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Choosing Joy

It can be easy to be joyful around the Christmas season, summer vacation, or any other time where you are doing things you enjoy. But what about Monday mornings (personally, I love Monday’s but I know most people don’t) or weekends when you are sick and can’t hang out with your friends?

Joy is always being content with your situation and being happy in it. Paul is someone who demonstrates a crazy amount of joy.

Paul didn’t always have a lot to be joyful about. He was shipwrecked (multiple times!), persecuted, beaten, thrown in jail, on house arrest, and ultimately died painfully (1 Corinthians 11:23-33) . He chose to be joyful through all of that. He said,

I wish I could be as joyful as Paul is. I find it very easy to be happy, especially when I’m around my friends. When I’m tired or stuck at home doing school work, it is a different story. How can we choose to always be happy (aka joyful) even through tough circumstances?

Jesus.

Jesus is the only way we can ultimately have joy. We can’t find joy on our own. We need Him to help us along the way. In the Bible it mentions many times about doing incredible things through Christ. Christ can give us that strength to have joy if we ask him.

Whenever I really stop to think about what God has done for me it fills me with so much joy. I’m saved. I do not need to fear anything because God is there for me. He sent Jesus to die even though I do not deserve it. I am sinful and he was punished for it. It can be so hard to wrap my mind around but at the same time it fills me with a joy that is bubbling up

We have so much to be grateful for. I bet you can name five things right now. Do it (and tell me what they are below). Jesus has done so much for us.

So today, let us chose to have joy.

Have an awesome week!

-Rebekah

Everlasting Love

For some, today is filled with gooey chocolates and sweet love notes while for others it is a day that reminds them about what all their “missing out”on. All around the world, people are looking for something to fill them up. Many people turn to relationships and another person.

Those who don’t have this can be reminded of it, especially on a day full of showing others how much you love them. They can feel lonely and unloved. Even if we reach what we think will bring us happiness: a job, a friend, a significant other, a certain amount of followers, etc. We will realize that it didn’t fill us up and we will just keep searching.There is a way to find something that will fill us completely, a love greater than you can imagine.

You want to hear more about an everlasting love that is immeasurable and incomprehensible? Read the Bible. It is a book full of love letters for you from God, the one who made you and who holds the world in His hands. I want to show you one way that God shows us His awesome love.

God created us perfect. We decided to mess up and go our own way. God is holy and therefore, has no sin in Him. We can not be around Him because of our sin.

As it says in the verse above, we sinned. Therefore what is the consequence? Death. You may be thinking, we all die, right? Yes, we all physically die. That doesn’t mean we have to spend eternity separated from God (in a place called hell).

Then there is the magic word, but. This isn’t the end of the story. Even after mankind disobeyed God the first time, [Genesis 3], He loved us and wanted to work out a way for us to be with Him.

The only way this would be possible is if we somehow became blameless and pure. If one man could be pure then he could take on everyone’s sin, dying, falsely accused.

Before it was time for God’s full plan to come into action the Jews [God’s chosen people] had to go every year to sacrifice a lamb in exchange for their sins. The blameless lamb took on their sins and died in their place. This was obviously not an ideal situation. God wanted something that could be for everyone and last forever.

God sent his one and only son to die for us [Jesus]. Jesus became like the lamb, except through Him it could be once and for all.We weren’t perfect [or any where near it] when God sent His son. Jesus came in the middle of our rebellion.

What did we do to earn this gift? Nothing. Zap, nada, none. Even if we were trying, nothing we would do could ever come close. God showed His outstanding love for us in this.

Are you starting to see the theme? We messed up and fell short time and time again and God still loved us. He demonstrated this when He sent His son. No one can love you as much as God. We all fail and disappoint. God’s love is unfailing.

We have the chance to accept this free choice of spending an eternity with God and accepting His love. You know that feeling you receive when you mess up so badly and you feel worthless? God can take that away. He loves you so much and forgives you of all those crummy things you’ve done.

Do you want to know how you can receive this free gift? In Romans 10:9 it says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

That isn’t very hard, is it? God forgives us each and every time we mess up. Most importantly, we don’t have to be perfect to believe in Him. So, what’s holding you back from accepting this radiant love that will never run out?

If you are feeling down today remember that there is a God out there that knows you by name and loves you.

-Rebekah

A Good Enough Christian

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Sometimes I feel like I’m a good enough person. I attend church every Sunday, I volunteer, and I’ve been called a goody-goody before, but I’ve come to the realization that it isn’t enough.

I beat myself up inside when I make a mistake. When I wish I hadn’t said something or don’t follow the rules.

It’s hard because people say that I’m a good person. I like to hear that. I enjoy that standard. The problem is it’s harder for me to admit that I am actually just as much of a failure as everybody else.

I try not to be prideful about it and I hope that’s not what you are thinking because I’m not trying to brag. I finally realized that I mess up, a lot. I’m not perfect. I’ve known that I’m not the best, but it didn’t fully sink in. I need to be saved from my sin just as much as anyone else. I struggle with that. I always want to compare myself to others and say, “Well, I’m not as bad as so and so. I’m still pretty good.”

When really, that’s not what matters.

Did you know that The Grand Canyon is gigantic, 277 miles long?

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You can stand on one side and try to jump across but you will never make it. Even if you could jump almost to the other side, we know it is impossible. But what if there was a bridge?  Then you wouldn’t need to jump.  Jesus is like the bridge that spands from one side to the other.  With this bridge, anyone can reach the other side. Anyone can cross. They don’t have to do anything super great. They only need to accept that the bridge will take them to the other side and walk across.  That is what it is like with Jesus. Jesus, is perfect and he died, so that we can enter heaven.  Without him, as our bridge, we won’t reach the other side.  Jesus states, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

The point I’m trying to make is that none of us are perfect, me included. I mess up. I shouldn’t think of myself as better than others. I’m a sinner who needs Jesus just as much as anyone else. I don’t know where I would be without Him. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Which means, we all make mistakes and none of us is perfect. Then in Romans 6:23 it says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The other point I’m trying to make is that us (you and me) will never be able to make our way to Heaven on our own. You ready for another example? Ok, say that someone murdered (I know it’s a little harsh, but it gets the point across.) your mom. Wouldn’t you want the judge to give a fair trial? What if the person guilty of the crime pleaded, “Well, yes, I did this horrible thing, but look I’ve done all these other great things!”

If the judge let him or her go free of charge, would you think the judge is fair? Most people would explain that he’s a terrible judge. (I borrowed this example from the movie Courageous). This is also the way God works. He doesn’t judge us by the good things we do, but by what we do wrong.

You may be thinking, well then I guess I’m toast. I would be too, but there is this amazing thing called grace. We don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it, and there is no way to buy it. But it is free to accept. In Acts 16:31 it says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” That’s all there is to it. How simple, am I right? It’s amazing that God cared enough to send his son to die for me and you and all of us. That’s the takeaway I want to leave you with. God forgives us each and every time we mess up. Most importantly, we don’t have to be perfect to believe in Him. So, what’s holding you back from trusting in what Jesus has done for you?

I got contacts last week! If you wear them, do you have any tips??

Christmas Quotes

PEOPLE, CHRISTMAS IS 9 DAYS AWAY! I’ve barely finished any Christmas shopping. Okay, now that I’m done ranting about how close Christmas is, how are you all? What are you finishing up last minuet before Christmas? Today I’m going to be sharing with you some awesome Christmas themed quotes from Pintrest (I’m slightly obsessed) This is day 6 of Megan’s Christmas blogging challenge. 

Here are some awesome Christmas quotes:

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(the source has vanished)

And lastly,

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Just because it was 70 degrees this past weekend doesn’t make it impossible:D

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What are some of your favorite Christmas quotes/Pintrest posts?

Days Until Christmas: 9!

Verse of the week

Do you ever feel like nobody cares? Or your life is pointless? That’s not true! God loves you and wants the very best for you.

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper and not to harm you plans to give you a hope and a future.”

This verse says that whether your discouraged, thinking your worthless, or worried about the future. God cares for you and he has a plan for your life. Remember God loves you!

Verse of the week

I know another verse of the week post…… I have been really busy. Anytime I have had time to blog( not a lot!) I have been working on the finale for worst enemy best friend. I hope to have the posted soon. No promises!

DISCLAIMER: I didn’t take this picture

                                                    Psalms 46:1                                                                                                                  God is our refuge and strength,                                                        always ready to help in times of trouble.

This verse is really comforting especially during hard situations. God will help us if we trust and ask him.

Verse of the week

The verse I picked for this week is:

Psalms 44:8                                                                                                                           O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.

This verse is saying that we can praise God all day. Why wouldn’t we want to thank the guy who created us?

Verse of the week

I guess this is self-explanatory. Every week (hopefully!) I will post a verse. All these verse I highlighted during my bible reading and I picked one for you guys!

This week I picked

Psalms 73:26                                                                                                                       My health may fail,

and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

he is mine forever.

The man writing this(David I think) is saying even though we get tired, scared, and worried, God will give us strength to push on if we give it to him and in-trust him with it. He will never expire, die, or grow tired of you. He is yours forever.