​Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
 
Boldly and joyfully, the Bible declares God’s Son is alive! And so are the sons of God!
 
“He is not here; for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying” (Matthew 28:6) The angel’s awesome, early morning announcement to the despairing disciples on that first Easter morning changed forever the lives of Christ’s fearful, feeble followers.
 
 Paralyzing fear gave way to potent faith. Believing in Christ’s resurrection, the disciples were transformed into resurrection people. Previously powerless, Christ’s followers became spiritually powerful. Through Jesus’ mighty resurrection power, they turned their world right side up (Acts 17:6).
 
The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:10-11 “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”   Philippians 3:10-11
 
Paul longed to know Jesus and “the power of His resurrection”! Paul’s supreme desire was to personally experience the person of Christ (“that I may know Him”) and to live his life with His resurrection power. Paul’s ultimate spiritual goal was to be raised from the dead himself (“attain to the resurrection from the dead”).
           
While journeying on this earth, fighting the good fight of faith, the apostle’s heart cry was to endure and overcome suffering for Christ (“the fellowship of His suffering’) and conquer the power of death (“being conformed to His death”) through the resurrection power of Jesus.
 
Personally knowing God. Daily experiencing His resurrection power. Overcoming suffering and conquering death.
 
Paul hit the proverbial nail on the head: Christlikeness and Christian living is all about Christ’s resurrection power in us. What a way to live…the only way to live the Christian life!
 
Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead provides power for the powerless…. hope for the hopeless…. help for the helpless…. and abundant, eternal life for the lifeless. THE RESURRECTION IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.
 
Without resurrection, death rules and reigns. Resurrection destroys the power of death…. and life reigns!
 
How about you? What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to you? Are you living your life according to the power of His resurrection? Do you experience spiritual power on a daily basis? Does resurrection power empower you to overcome life’s difficulties and live a victorious Christian life?
 
Christians are resurrection people with resurrection power for resurrection living!
           
Here are some thoughts worth meditating upon regarding Christ’s resurrection power.
 

• Christians are powerless without resurrection power.
• Resurrection power is a by-product of a personal relationship with Christ.
• The power the Holy Spirit fills us with is Jesus’ resurrection power (Acts 1:8).
• Resurrection power provides power for effective witnessing to Christ’s resurrection (Acts 4:33).
• Resurrection power empowers believers to rise above and triumph over life’s trials.
• Resurrection power is the power the world is looking for.
• Resurrection people’s lives attract lost people to the resurrected Christ.
• Resurrection power provides power for victorious Christian living.
• Resurrection power is the power that will propel God’s people to heaven!

 
Considering the above truths, how can we possibly live powerless lives when the power of Christ’s resurrection is available to us every day?
 
Think about it. If I am walking through life without power, what does that say about my faith in the One who provides all the power I need to overcome through His resurrection from the dead?
 
Fellow Christian, we are alive in Christ! You and I are powerful persons. Filled and empowered with resurrection power! His power! Formidable, life-changing spiritual power for overcoming life’s trials and witnessing successfully for Him.
 
Resurrection people should live productive, powerful lives, not pitiful, powerless ones.    
 
Away then with powerless lives and non-productive living! Do not be pushed around by life. Never allow thoughts of despair, defeat, disaster, destruction or death to trouble you. YOU ARE ALIVE IN CHRIST AND HAVE POWER OVER DEATH!
           
So boldly lay hold of Christ’s resurrection power…. and His power will lay hold of you. Settle for nothing less than a powerful, productive life in Christ that is powered by His resurrection. Rise up today in resurrection power as a resurrection person and bring resurrection life to people who need the Lord.
 
Glory to God for Christ’s resurrection power!
           
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”                                                                                                Romans 8:11
 
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”                                                                               I Peter 1:3
 
A Word For Your Week: Live your life with resurrection power.

​God’s holy, eternal, authoritative Word is revealed in the Bible.
 
 Preachers of the Good News love to preach. There is nothing like preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I have always said that if a preacher cannot preach the resurrection, he can’t preach!
 
 In the past I preached a message at Easter entitled “Good News From The Graveyard.” I shared with the congregation that Easter emphatically declares that you can put Truth in a tomb but you cannot keep Him there!
 
An angel of the Lord, bright as lightning, sat on the stone at the opening of the once sealed and guarded tomb of Jesus. Grinning from ear to ear, the heavenly messenger told the two Mary’s who had come to look at the grave that “Jesus whom you seek is not here. He has risen, just like He said he would! (Matthew 28:1-8).
 
JESUS WAS ALIVE!
 
Hearing this glad announcement and having collected their spiritual and emotional senses, the women “with fear and great joy” went to tell the disciples that Jesus was alive and they would see their Master soon.
 
Good news from bad news! The tragedy of Golgotha turned into the triumph of the graveyard. Crucifixion became resurrection. Death gave way to life. A huge stone, Roman seal, squad of soldiers, religious hypocrites, Satan, sin and death could not hold Jesus back!
 
Jesus is risen, and guess what, all who believe in Him are too! Paul writes in I Corinthians 6:14 “Now God has not only raised the Lord but will also raise us up through His power.” I Corinthians 6:14
 
Paul declares that not only has God raised the Lord, but He raises us up also! How? Through “His power.” The very same power of the Holy Spirit that resurrected His Son Jesus resurrects us. Absolutely amazing and totally true!
 
Because He lives, we live!
 
Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, His power is our power. The supernatural power that raised Jesus from the dead raises us up to abundant and eternal life! Hallelujah!
 
IT’S A BIBLICAL FACT: Christians are resurrection people because of the resurrection power of Christ.
 
Do you realize if you call yourself a follower of Christ that you have been raised from sin, death and the grave just like Jesus was? You are not dead in trespasses and sin. You are alive in Christ! The redemption He purchased for you through the shedding of His precious blood on the Cross and Jesus’ powerful resurrection from the tomb means you and I are resurrected too! Glory to God!
 
Therefore, as resurrection people with resurrection power nothing can hold us back either. Heaven shouted and hell shook when Jesus rose again. Heaven shouts and hell shakes when we rise up in faith and live for Him!
 
Knowing this, is your life a vibrant and influential witness of resurrection power? Is your Christian testimony and lifestyle one of power and victory? It should be.
 
Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that His followers (that is us) would receive power through the Holy Spirit and be His witnesses throughout the world. What kind of witnesses? Dynamite ones! The Greek word for power is dunamis and means dynamite. Shaking things up is what dynamite does! Dunamis is resurrection power.
 
There is no place for powerless Christianity. How do we know? THE RESURRECTION!!!
 
There is an empty tomb in Jerusalem where Jesus once laid for three days. But on the third day, just as the Lord said He would, Jesus rose in power and glory to never die again. The Living Savior walked out of that tomb and walks into our hearts when we receive Him by faith!
 
As a resurrection person with resurrection power through Jesus Christ:
 
·      I am powerful, not powerless!
·      I am whole, not broken!
·      I am victorious, not a victim!
·      I am above, not beneath!
·      I am the head, not the tail!
·      I am unbeatable, undefeatable!
·      I am a winner, never a loser!
·      I am headed for heaven, not hell!
·      I am not dead but alive forevermore in Christ!
 
How about a loud shout of praise and thanksgiving for resurrection power to live triumphantly and joyfully for the Lord and the Kingdom of God?
 
My brothers and sisters in Christ, live your life with vibrant, confident faith in the power of the resurrected person of Jesus Christ.
 
“That I may know Him and the POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death, that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”                                                                                         Philippians 3:10-11
 
“And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33
 
A Word For Your Week: Tap daily into His resurrection power and be His resurrection person.

“It is finished.”
God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, uttered these three last words as He voluntarily and sacrificially died on the Cross (John 19:30).
We humans tend to pay attention to and give homage to people’s last words.
We memorialize and even immortalize “famous” final words. As Christians, I believe you and I should humbly, reverently, thankfully and joyfully acknowledge the last words of Jesus which are the greatest last words of all time.
This week set apart some time to read the account of Christ’s crucifixion in all four Gospels (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19). Meditate upon the narrative of Jesus’ last moments. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew within you a fresh understanding of what really happened when the Lord declared “It is finished.”
“It is finished” meant mission accomplished. Jesus, committed to do His Father’s will, came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). That’s you, me and all who choose to believe in Him.
What was finished? Salvation. Atonement. Redemption. Forgiveness for our sins. A reconciled, restored relationship with our Father in heaven.
What happened that memorable day on the Cross on a mount named Golgotha monumentally changed human history for time and eternity
As Jesus suffered on the Cross, being in unimaginable physical, mental and emotional agony, His wounds pouring out His precious life blood, the boisterous, devil inspired, disrespectful, irreverent crowd at Calvary, led by the religious hypocrites, trash-talked, taunted and mocked Jesus.
If you are the Son of God, come down off the cross. Look, He saved others, but cannot save Himself. The spiteful, hateful, heart-piercing words of deceived, spiritually lost men and women only drove the cold metal spikes further into His wounds.
The Lord’s response to the abuse: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Forgiveness based on God’s love was the suffering Savior’s offer to those who hated Him.
 My friends, there is power in the Cross of Christ. The power of God’s love. The power of hope. The power of forgiveness. The power of salvation. The power of restoration. The power of a new beginning. The power of death to life!!!
The Apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:2-5 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
Paul’s ministry was founded upon the central themes of the Cross of Christ and the Lord’s resurrection. In the Cross, Paul saw the power of God unto salvation. Paul was faithful to preach Christ and Him crucified in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus humbled Himself to the death of the Cross (Philippians 2:8). The Lord endured the Cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). Why? So you and I could be saved. His death in our place made it possible for us to be forgiven and restored to the Father.
That is power!!!! Pure power from the throne of Almighty God!
What do you think about and how do you feel when you consider the Cross of Christ? I know how I feel. I am deeply moved with a mixture of sadness and heartache for my beloved Savior and a deep, inexpressible well of undeserved gratitude for His sacrifice for a sinner like me.
Where would I be if Jesus had not stayed on that Cross? I would still be lost, headed for hell, not heaven. I would not know the power, freedom, peace and joy of the unconditional love of my heavenly Father.
The hymn says it well.
“I will praise Him, I will praise Him, praise the Lamb for sinners slain,
Give Him glory all you people, for His blood has washed away my stains.”  
Lord Jesus, my precious Savior, thank You for shedding your holy blood on the Cross for Steve Roll.
As we prepare to celebrate the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead this Sunday, remember there is no resurrection unless there is a death first. Jesus died so you and I could be forgiven and have eternal life.
He sealed salvations’ deal when He rose from the dead! The Cross and an empty tomb are God’s way of saying I love you.
Because He died and lives, we live!
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name (Jesus) under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:13
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jews first and also to the Greeks.” Romans 1:6
 A Word For Your Week: Glory to God! “It is finished”!
​

​Imagine what our world would be like if there was no physical light.
Absolute, total, black as black can be, darkness covered the earth. I for one would a bit terrified if there was no light to shine on the pathway of life. You would be too.
Thank God for guys like Edison and others who figured out how to light up civilization!
On a more serious and foreboding note, the world you and I live in is spiritually dark, becoming darker and darker with the passing of every day.  
False religions. False prophets. Cults. Atheists. Agnostics. Deceivers. Satanists…mercilessly peddle their veiled darkness on spiritually blind folks.  All the above have one thing in common: they are lost souls, walking in spiritual darkness, searching for light and a Savior.
The devil is the prince of darkness. He hates the light of God. Ever notice that people sin in the darkness? There are no brightly lit bars or saloons. Darkness is the devil’s playground. Sinful, unredeemed men and women love darkness more than light.
Light exposes darkness. When you walk down a hallway in your house, the hallway light will flood into the dark bedroom when you open the door. The darkness in the bedroom does not go out into the hallway and chase the light away.    
Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, came to the world to bring light to darkness.
The Lord declared about Himself “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them saying, “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD; He who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness but shall have the light of life.” John 8:15
Light of the world. Follow Me. No more darkness. Light of life. I like that!
Christians have the light of Christ in them and are to shine that light in a dark world.
 Darkness makes it difficult to find our way. Flashlights are my friend. They light the path when I need to know where I am going!
Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 “You (Christians) are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
Christians are the light of Christ in the world. If I may put it this way, we are the path lighters, illuminating the road to salvation. The crucified and resurrected Jesus is at the end of that road!
 
Sadly, some professing Christians are lights out instead of lights on. Their light is covered by baskets of worldliness, carnal behavior, spineless convictions and deadly compromise that only add to the darkness surrounding them.
How can no light or a dim lead anyone to the light of Christ?
I am so thankful to God for many, many Christians, who over the years, shined the light of Christ into my life, especially when I was unsaved and walking in darkness. They were a brightly lit city on the hill for Steve Roll. Sent by God, these faithful light bearers showed me the way to salvation and eternal life through faith in Jesus!
I would not be saved today if it were not for preachers, evangelists, pastors, Sunday school teachers, Campus Crusade for Christ students knocking on my dormitory door, a faithful Christian boss who took me under his wings, mentoring me about life and Christianity and a host of precious brothers and sisters in the Lord who cared to shine Christ’s light with a sinner like me.  
With God’s help, I have done my best to shine my light for Christ for fifty years because of those who shined His light into my life.    
How To Shine Brightly for Jesus

1. Walk in the light of Jesus. Every day our faith in Christ sheds light on someone’s dark life.  
2. Shine brightly for Jesus. Do not be dim for Him. Keep your spiritual battery charged to full strength through the power of the Holy Spirit.  
3. Build relationships with those in darkness. Pray, ask God as to who you can reach out to.
4.  Influence lost souls for the Kingdom of God. Be Christlike as you lighten up their life.
5. Invite those lost in darkness to receive the light of Christ. Led them the way out of darkness. Share the plan of salvation with them.  
6. Teach those who receive the light of Christ how to walk in the light.
7. Rejoice and give thanks that you are the Lord’s light-bearer!

Dark days certainly. The good news: the light of Christ in His followers is greater than the world’s darkness inspired by Satan!
Read these riveting, soul-searching words from the Apostle Paul as he shined brightly for Christ from a jail cell awaiting execution.   
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing; that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God, above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.” Philippians 2:14-15
How is your light shining for Christ?
Lighten up your life and somebody else’s with the light of Jesus!
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.” Luke 1:79
“Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
A Word For Your Week: Be the light people in darkness need to come to Christ.