Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you have a blessed and fulfilling day no matter how you spend it!

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I'm taking this opportunity to stop and think about the Easter holiday. Easter is one holiday that means different things to different people. There are many different traditions surrounding this time of year. Some people are celebrating Easter, some Passover, some Ostara and some chocolate and bunnies. Whatever you believe or why you believe it is your business. I haven't really thought about what Easter really means to me in a while, so here goes...

This Easter our plan is to go to church like we do every Sunday. However, this morning Zoey is excited to  wear her pretty new dress that my mom and I made for her. When we get home there will be an Easter basket waiting for Zoey from the Easter bunny with a few small gifts and candy in it. Then we will color eggs with the promise of very colorful Easter egg salad to eat for lunch all week.

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As you can tell from my description, we do not stay directly to the "Christian Easter" though we do learn about it. Teaching a three year old about the death and Resurrection of Christ is not exactly easy. It's hard enough to explain death that young, let alone Christ rising above it. Instead I focus on this message: Jesus loves you. That is something she understands.

I love Easter. It is a great day to spend time with friends and family. But Easter is so much more than that. Easter is recognized by Christians as the day Jesus rose from the dead.

Matthew 28:6 -- "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."
Jesus died on the cross three days prior (Good Friday). He died as a sacrifice for our sins because He loves us. But the point of Easter is not that He died, it is that He lives! Death itself could not hold the Son of God.

Revelation 1:18 -- "I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

Jesus has conquered death and He has conquered sin. He is victorious and He shares that freedom with all who believe in Him.

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What does Easter mean to me? Easter is a time to remember, to refresh and to renew my focus on:

1. The Love of God the Father

John 3:16 -- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

2. The Sacrifice of God the Son

John 19:30 -- "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

3. The Power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:4 -- "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

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Above all, I believe Easter is a time for thanksgiving and prayer, a time to reflect on how much God truly loves His people. How much God loves you. I pray to keep Him as my focus, not only on Easter, but all the days of my life.

Ephesians 1:15-23 -- "15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

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Well, that is what Easter means to me. It means love, sacrifice and many reasons to be thankful. I hope you have a wonderful day and that your life is truly blessed.