A New Normal

I Peter 1:3-4 "All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, beyond the reach of change and decay." (NLT)

This passage was the basis for the message today at church, and it was focused on the concept of there being a 'new normal' as a result of the resurrection. Easter this year has been more powerful than I think it has ever been before and I was struck by how emotional I was, especially during worship. We were singing about the marvelous light that we have in Christ, and I was fighting back tears as I realized how true those lyrics are. God has provided this incredible luminescence in my life that goes beyond anything that I could ever hope for. He has taken the pain in my life and used it as a opportunity to demonstrate His power to heal and comfort. There are things that will always stay with me and will bring back certain memories, but I am beginning to see how God has enabled me to let go of the hurt and anger associated with those memories and truly give my life to Him. My life is so full and such a blessing and God is showing me more every day how much He cares for me and wants me to be with Him for all of eternity. It is so easy to allow ourselves to feel guilt and shame for things that we have done and mistakes we've made, but when Christ reversed the hold of death on our lives, all the sins that I have committed in the past and will commit in the future were covered with His blood and I am now free to live in the peace that His grace enables me to embrace. Of course there are times when those nagging feelings of shame and guilt creep back in and try to take away the joy that Christ has for me, but I am learning that those feelings are not of God and are not for me to carry with me. I think that for one of the first times in my life I feel genuinely free, the kind of freedom that my Lord died to give me. Wow, I am so unworthy and yet He loved me enough to die for me! What an incredible blessing...

Christ is risen, He has conquered death, He has conquered sin, and He has my heart and soul.

For all eternity, I am His completely.