April 1, 2018 www.PositiveChristianity.org presents Positive Daily Inspiration MESSAGE OF EASTER "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3 There are four parts to the resurrection story: the trial, the crucifixion, the tomb, and the resurrection. This is not just a story of Jesus Christ from 2000 years ago. It is a story about us and for us, today. There are many of you who have gone through a trial in the last year. Sometimes that trial has been so painful that you feel as if you have been through a crucifixion. When you experience a crucifixion, it is a human's tendency to want to hide. You feel as if something in your life has died, and you want to put it away-- you want to put it into a tomb. Maybe it is ill health in your body. Or, perhaps, you do not know how to remove the mountain of debt in your life. Or, possibly, it is disharmony in your home. Remember that if you put anything into the tomb because you think that part of your life is dead, and roll a stone in front of the tomb to seal it in, it is for self-protection. You think if you bury it, it cannot hurt you anymore. Remember, this Easter Sunday, that if you let the light of God into the area which seems dead in your life, there WILL BE a resurrection. God is the God of resurrection -- not just 2000 years ago, but inside of your life now. You are a child of God. If you want to roll away the stone in your life, if you are tired of living in the stone age of believing in doubt and human limitation, if you are ready to witness a resurrection, just ask God. You follow Jesus by believing in things that are past appearances. You are a child of the third day - not the first. As children of the third day, we believe in eternal life, past the temporal problem that has bogged us down. Human greatness is achieved when we follow Jesus in this way. We do not relive in our minds the pain of yesterday, we believe in glorious tomorrows. History is written through a rearview mirror, yet it unfolds through a foggy windshield. God can show you the way, guiding you through the maze of life, to a more successful and better tomorrow. On this Easter morning, we follow Jesus, by having our own personal resurrections. We ask God to lift us above our personal trials, personal crucifixions, and even our tomb experiences in our own lives. We are ready on this Easter to rise above former doubt and human limitation. Jesus Christ said, "I am the Resurrection and the life… whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." John 11:25-26 This pertains to any area of your life that seems dead right now. Christ is the Resurrection. When you experience the Resurrection (whether at Easter, or any other time), you will find you are not the same – you are better. You will have a new body. You will have a new life. You will have new happiness. You will have new relationships, friends, and companions. You will have new good spring forth in your life. The empty tomb had a message for the disciples then, just as it has for us now. It says to science and philosophy, "Explain this event." It says to history, "Repeat this event." It says to time, "Blot out this event." It says to faith, "Believe this event." The message of Easter is death of the death idea through the death of Jesus Christ. You have two choices in your life: to live the external, or to live the eternal. Jesus said that what He did, you can do also. You do not have to wait for the big challenges in life to ask for God’s help. You can resurrect the small things in your life. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." John 15:5 The message of Jesus Christ is the message of the third day, NOT the first. The Resurrection is a fact. Jesus moved beyond the trial, the crucifixion, and the tomb to new life. He was seen by countless witnesses after his death. The very fact that the disciples changed so dramatically from a scattered and scared group, fleeing in separate directions, to such decisive people taking the actions that they took, shows us that something dramatic took place. A miracle of miracles occurred on that Easter morning, POSITIVE DAILY PRAYER: Let us pray, God, there is an area of my life that seems dead. I do not know what to do about it. I do not know how to repair it. I have exhausted everything I can do as a human being. Now, I ask for help, because I need superhuman power to act on this. I consent to God's help coming to me and in and through me - radiating through my life. I ask for new life. I pray that I follow Jesus by rising on this Easter. No longer am I held in tombs of the past, I resurrect my life from former difficulties and crucifixions. I celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ this Easter morning by following Jesus Christ in the Resurrection of my own life. I honor Jesus in this way. I think about God's ever-present help, aiding me moment by moment, to help me over hurdles in my life. I rejoice in the life of God with me now. I rest in this life and feel the joy of God's presence pulsating through my whole being. I feel resurrected into newness of life. I am moved beyond my trials, crucifixions, and tomb experiences, also. I am not a victim, but with God -- I become a victor. On this Easter morning, the Spirit of God is a living presence with me. With God's help I express new health, I express new harmony and new perfection in my life. With God, I am strong. I am strong in God. With God I am whole. I am whole in God. I believe in resurrections because I believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ. It is so… Amen POSITIVE DAILY AFFIRMATION: God's help extends to include every person I know, and God blesses us all continuously. POSITIVE DAILY QUOTE: "On every thorn, delightful wisdom grows, In every rill a sweet instruction flows." Edward Young Reply - if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will pray with you daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer. GOD BLESS YOU, Make It a Great Day !_______Christopher Ian Chenoweth