A lot can happen in 3 days...

Yes, I know it's no longer Easter, but, about that Easter post I promised... 

I hope that everyone had a great Resurrection Sunday!!!  The climax to the most important story that is the foundation of the Christian Faith!!! 

I saw this posted on Facebook and felt that it summed up everything about the conclusion to Holy Week:  

Yep, that's it, that's all.  For believers such as myself, Easter is the most wonderful time of the year!  That is because it is the conclusion of the prophecy foretold in the Old Testament: sure there's Christmas, which symbolizes His birth, and then there's Good Friday, which symbolizes His death, but without the Resurrection?  There's no glory!  And so it is the best part of the story!

Service was very lively on Easter; it was truly a celebration!  The praise dance ministry danced along to the choir's singing and it was out of this world!  Pastor Singleton preached a special message entitled "The Living Don't Belong Among the Dead."  The text came from Luke 24:1-12.  It is in that passage of scripture where we find the women going to the tomb to put spices on the body of Jesus.  The women weren't seeking Him; they thought that they knew where to find Him.  However, as we know, Jesus wasn't there...

Pastor Singleton noted that things are not always as they appear to be - Jesus appeared to be defeated, but He conquered death by rising again.  When He rose, He left the tomb because the living don't belong among the dead.  As believers, we are resurrected to newness of life.  We were born again, not to fit in again; we weren't saved to go back among the world.  Moreover, going to church is your covering for when you have to deal with the world (for those who think that they don't need to attend church).

So now for some real life application, right?  I know that Easter was over a month ago now and you might be scratching your heads as to why I decided to post this message anyway. Well, I'm glad you asked!  So just go with me here...

To sum up the image above and one of the main points of Easter weekend - a lot can happen in 3 days.  Sometimes, all it takes is 3 hours!  See, the Pharisees, the devil and his minions thought that they had won by crucifying Him.  But the fact of the matter is this, the plan had been set in place from the beginning of time and He had already won.  His resurrection was the physical manifestation of the sovereign power of God!  The resurrection was the conquest of death and that is good news for believers because we already know the end of the story.

Now, I have to admit, I'm not always so good at having hope.  Real talk?  I've been beaten down so much that there are times when I just expect the worst so that I won't be disappointed.  Which is a horrible, horrible way to see things, but sometimes that's how it is. There have been many times (too many to count) in the not to distant past that I have felt defeated concerning some situations in my world (just looking at the surface).  But that's not where my story ends (thank God!).  I will get a call, text, facebook message, read a post, a scripture or something that just speaks to my situation and it's like a match lit in a dark room.  It's not a whole lot of light, but it is light.  And in that light lies hope.  When hope burns, then prayer and praise go up.  And in 3 days (hours or minutes), what looked like a dismal and hopeless situation can be turned around!  That's my testimony; too many times to count!

So can you holla @ Darvi and share your 3-day testimony with me???? I love hearing your stories, they speak light into my life.  I have a lot to say, so get ready for the ride!  Be blessed!  xoxoxo

Good Friday...

Today is Friday,  March 25, 2016.  But it's not just any Friday - at least not for believers of the Christian Faith.  Today is the day that Christians observe the crucifixion of Christ, "Good Friday." 

This won't be a long post, as I'm at work (on another project), and will be leaving soon so I can gather the not-so-little-anymore people so we can go to church this evening.  I remember when I was younger,  Good Friday always meant a midnight musical at my church.  Um, yeah. Those days are long gone,  as I would more likely be turning over at midnight on a Friday these days than out anywhere!  Anyway, I digress. I couldn't let Holy Week pass without reflecting on Christ's death and it's meaning for believers. 

Bible scholar, stellar Sunday School student or not, most people have heard of The Crucifixion.  Whether you observe the holiday or not, at this time of year the airwaves are flooded with Holy Week programming, such as last week's  "The Passion," as well as "Risen" and "Young Messiah" in theaters.  So I think it's safe to say we are all familiar with the story,  although not the whole story,  but an amazing midpoint to a story that was first foretold many years before it happened,  way back in the Old Testament.  Just briefly, the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 53) spoke of the "substitutionary death of Christ" as replacement of the traditional Passover Ceremony.  Sidenote: for a more detailed analysis of this subject, head over to this site for this writing, Seeing Christ Through Old Testament Prophecy, at lettersofchrist.com.

Anyhoo, believers know that this day represents the fulfillment of the prophecy that a savior would be sent into the world and, blameless, would shoulder the sins of the world, in redemption.  All born out of God's love for us.  As stated in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life."  Or this one found in Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that,  while we were yet sinners,  Christ died for us."  So, without getting too deep,  that is indeed good news and why we call this a "Good Friday." 

So take time today to reflect on how Christ's death was a necessary midpoint to the story that began with His birth of a virgin mother...  

Ah, but as it's just the midpoint, that means there has to be an ending, right? Stayed tuned! Questions,  comments or just to say "hey," you know the drill, Holla @ Darvi!  Be blessed!

P.S. - I had finished this earlier, but just got in from church, listening to seven (7) sermonettes on the 7 last utterances of Christ when he was on the cross and it was outstanding!  It was the first time I've been able to hear it because I've always been tied up in recent years.