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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, 

reserved in heaven for you,

who are kept by the power of God through faith 

for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  

~ 1 Peter 1:3-5

 

Greetings dear sister,

Hallelujah, Jesus is alive!!  

I get so excited by Resurrection Day! It’s the world’s greatest testimony, the greatest story ever told! The Son of God, come to earth by being born of a human, protected through childhood and adulthood by His Father in heaven, ministering and showing us mortals the way to eternal life, loving us enough to take on the sin of the whole world and to die for us so that we might be cleansed and fit to live with Him forevermore!

Christ coming into the world was miraculous, but His death, resurrection and visible ascension to His Father is beyond miraculous! (whatever word that might be, I’m sure there’s some theological, ecclesiastical, unpronounceable term for it.)

And even beyond THAT, Our Father says that He has an inheritance for His children! AND, not only is He keeping this inheritance safe, He is also keeping His children safe until the time we can claim it! That’s just mind boggling!

But then I think of myself as a parent, hasn’t the wisdom of the Bible and our walk with God taught us to put ‘something’ away for safekeeping until the child is able to handle/understand/grow into it? It is a joyful time when that milestone or maturity is finally reached and the child can take hold of that new level of freedom, responsibility or duty. 

I am an imperfect parent and do an imperfect job (just ask my kids), but our Heavenly Father is perfect in every way! He 'keeps us kept' as we grow in maturity and faith. He 'keeps us kept' as we struggle and make mistakes. In His mercy, He forgives us when we sin against Him. He keeps our inheritance safe until His perfect time! How Heaven must rejoice as we grow and mature in faith as well….I can almost hear that great cloud of witnesses cheering!

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Since I have room for a few more words, I will tell you that my husband and I were conversing about this earlier today. (yes, he teaches me quietly at home). I was thinking about all this inheritance stuff and I asked him, “Would you still follow Jesus even if there was nothing in it for you?” He replied “Yes!” Followed by a bunch of those theological, ecclesiastical, unpronounceable terms that I mentioned earlier. Then, he stopped working on my sink because he had to go think about it some.

And possibly write a book.

So, I got to thinking to myself, would I follow Jesus even if there was nothing in it for me? Yes and yes again! Phil. 4:8-9 says, “Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” 

Jesus is all these things and more! He is worthy of all of praise, admiration and love just because of who He is! The fact that He is alive, not a mere image or an idol of stone makes Him worthy to be praised! The fact that He has changed my life and kept me in that new life for '35+ none-of-your-business’ years is testimony that He is alive! Even if this life is all there would be for me, it would be worth it just to know Him more and more now!

But really, we know better than that, don’t we? What a treasure we contain in these earthen vessels! Praise God!

As you think about the Lord’s resurrection this week, reminisce about what Jesus has done and continues to do in your life! Your testimony can bring the truth of God into someone else’s life! (That’s a hint, btw) Ask someone if they want to live forever and see what they say!

May the Lord richly bless you so much this week that His joy will be oozing out of every pore and people will ask you why you’re so happy in this troubled world! You have an answer ready!

With love, your sister, Celeste