Living the Easter Life

Easter 2020 in Australia was radically different to what we are used to.  Instead of full churches, fun with family and friends and parades and celebrations; we gathered together through technology, remained isolated from others, and watched in disbelief at the tragic loss of life across the globe.  For many in our communities, this Easter was marked by fear, anxiety, loneliness and hopelessness.  But when we look at Easter 2020 through the eyes of faith, what we truly see was an undistracted Easter; a day where the anxieties of our world simply highlighted the power and beauty of what Christ accomplished for us through His death and resurrection; it captured beautifully the tension between fear and hope.


As Disciples of Jesus, we know that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ we are people of hope, not of hopelessness.  As Christians we know that God’s grace can transform the most hopeless situations to the greatest of victories; the greatest isolation into incredible community; and the deepest sadness into unspeakable joy.  Because we are a people of hope, even in situations where things have fallen (or are falling) apart and all seems lost, we can get up, put one foot in front of the other, and let God make something beautiful out of it.  We know with certainty that God IS working all things together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  And what is this purpose?  To live our lives on purpose.  To be intentional about how we live in all things - to bring honour and glory to His name.  Jesus said:

• "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.”
• "Go out and make disciples' 

The Easter life is about a personal encounter with Jesus it’s about dying to self, to our old ways, our old self, and our old life, and its about living a new life in Him.  The Easter life is about opening our hearts to the hope and love that He holds out to us; about living a distinct life.  It’s about growing in intimacy with our Lord and Saviour, and about being transformed day by day into his likeness.  The Easter life is about living for His glory and not for our own; and about helping to bring those far from God near to God.  In a world where anxiety, fear and hopelessness are on the increase, it has never been more important for us to share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ:  making disciples; bringing those far from God near to God: that is the outworking of the Easter life.


Let’s move forward living the Easter life everyday; let’s share our hope, our joy and our peace with a lost, hurting and desperate world.


In His strength and through His grace.
Jen 

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