Preparing Your Heart for EasterShembull

Advent To Easter

Most people say their favorite time of year is Christmas, and I understand that this great season of expectation and gift-giving is wonderful. If Jesus weren’t born a babe, prophecies would not have been fulfilled, Jesus would not be able to identify with us as flesh, and ultimately His life of miracles and love in action would not have been recorded for all to know Him. Yes, Jesus’ birth is beyond exceptional, but I beg to differ and say that I love Passover/Resurrection, maybe even more! Seriously, this season of Lent and advent to the crucifixion is SO meaningful. When it is revered and savored, your heart will soar with renewed joy at what Jesus has done for you!

I particularly love to sing all the songs of victory over death and teach my kids about Passover and its significance! My hope is for more people to get excited about what our Savior has done on the cross and in the tomb and to understand that Satan doesn’t want anyone to know that he was defeated when Christ shed His blood as a sin offering for each and every one of us and then conquered death by rising from the dead.

I am sure Satan wants the miracle of Resurrection to be kept a secret. He has done an excellent job twisting Christmas to be about Santa, reindeer, and shopping frenzies. Too many bunnies, baskets, and bonnets have also crowded this holy day and tried to steal the significance of what Christ has done. When you cut out the world’s frivolous replacements and focus on the true meaning of God’s feasts and celebrations, you will clearly see the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice for you and me!

Sisters, when Jesus’ blood redeems us, we enter a beautiful covenant relationship with God the Father! If you know history, man did not have access to God directly before Jesus died and rose from the dead. They had to pray via a priest in a temple and receive words from God via a prophet. This is one of the mysteries of being a Christian; the Bible says that the only way to the Father is through the Son and that when the curtain was torn in two as Jesus took our sins on the cross, access to God became available, tangible, and life-changing for us! Jesus is our High Priest Who lives in us when we invite Him, making our earthly bodies temples of the Holy Spirit! WOW!

I propose we shout VICTORIOUSLY this Resurrection Sunday and courageously tell our friends and family members that they can receive the free gift of salvation- and the shame of sin that shackles them won’t bind them any longer when they do!

Mama, if you have never experienced the joy of Resurrection Sunday, I pray your eyes and heart will be open to understanding Jesus as the perfect Lamb of God who became our sin offering once and for all. I encourage you to spend time in God’s Word and in church this year. The Lenten season might just become your favorite time of year too.

Love,

Rae-Ellen Sanders & the Help Club for Moms Team