He is risen! Let the celebration begin. Jesus appeared for the next 40 days after Easter. It is the biggest upset to the religious and civil authorities in the history of the world. Hope is alive….because God’s not dead. As people of the cross, where do we go from here? As the candy eggs and the marshmallow peeps get stale, our faith is sure to follow. It’s easy to fill our cup at Easter and leave the rest alone settling back into routine and frivolous activity. I urge us to learn more, do more, and be more…because we’re not dead, we’re surely alive. May Jesus appear to you these 40 days in the form of love, peace, and joy. May He overwhelm you with Grace, so much so that you can’t keep it to yourself! “This victory death: a complete surprise as demons and devils with fear in their eyes realized that once a perfect man died the law was finally satisfied. No more striving. No more trying. No more guilt. No more dying. The man who lived the way we should died the way only God could and that’s why we call last Friday good. The day Christ fell…is the day mercy stood. So hold your faith. Lift your praise. And remember – as good as Friday was… Easter is victory over the grave. Hope Rising, forever rising. Jesus lives. Jesus lives.”
