If You Say You Are An Easter Person, Then Why Are You Living Good Friday?

In my 56 years of church attending I have heard dozens of Easter Sermons. Every year my preacher tries to find a clever, unique way of telling the Easter message to sound like something that has never been heard before.. Sometimes they are wonderful...sometimes they are not. The concept of Easter is that the story is so simple and so clear. Like any other story we have heard before in church, do we go from a listening mode to just hearing mode?  Do we say to ourselves, "I’ve heard this story before, and I know what it’s all about." Do our minds drift, and before we know it, the sermon is over and we are shaking hands and headed for the parking lot?  If so, then let me ask you, “HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE EASTER WHEN YOU’RE LIVING GOOD FRIDAY?” We all know that Easter Sunday is a day of new beginnings, great hope great joy, unexpected surprises, your enemies have fallen out, you get a clear word from the Lord, doors that you thought would never be opened again have been blown off of the hinges.  Are you completely blown away at the Power of God. Well, let me tell you if you are then death gets slapped in the face. But before that day you have to hang on tight from Good Friday until Sunday. How can you possibly live like He’s risen when you feel dead yourself? How do you dance for Joy when you’re knocked down to the floor? How do you celebrate Easter when you’re living Good Friday? Believe me, if I have learned anything this year it is that there is no such thing as a testimony without a test. There cannot be a resurrection without a death. But most important is the fact that there is no such thing as an Easter without a Good Friday. We have to understand that bad days are part of life. Don’t ever let anybody tell you your not supposed to have bad days. You are supposed to have victory in spite of your bad days. Understand that it is ok to have bad days. Good Friday is real but Easter outweighs Good Friday. Your problems are real, but the reality that God keeps his promises will out shine your problems.  If you let go and let God. The troublee you face are genuine but the reality that God’s power is going to change everything is greater than your genuine trouble. So on this Good Friday, April 2nd, 2010 what are you gonna do about it? Well, I hope that the first thing you are going to do is make sure that you are where you are supposed to be and you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. Once you’ve done that then the number one thing you’ve got to do is realize that if you are walking with God then he is leading you to better places. And you’ve got to have hope for that. So on your Good Friday days you need to understand that just because you feel like a failure doesn’t make you one. You are not what you feel you are,  you are who God says you are. You should also learn what God says. Learn specific scriptures concerning your specific area of attack and fight back with the word. You should also share your hurt and your conflict with Godly friends. This is a hard one for me. I have trouble sometimes putting into words my hurts. I don’t want to seem weak. This week I met this one head on when I shared something with a friend I have never told another living soul. It was frightening to vocalize it….and I debated long and hard before spilling my guts….but I felt so free after I opened up….and you know what? I did not feel the first bit weak. I felt empowered. So I sat down and made a list of the areas I am walking in victory and another list of the things I have to be thankful for. I learned this week that if I can do those four things on Good Friday I can make it until Easter Sunday. I got an email once about the dash in your life. I discovered in the email that the life we have is a dash locked between two dates. It is merely a gap between two dates and the question is not how long that gap is…the question is answered by what happens between the two dates. When the time comes for us to stand before the Lord another name will appear in our blank and that name is the master you served on this earth. Is yours the mighty dollar? Is yours a bottle? A career? Who is the master you serve? My Master died on a cross for me today….and yes, I can make it from Good Friday until Sunday…because I know my Savior lives. Tonight I am going to church to celebrate this somber time with other Christians. I am going to sing Via Dolorosa with my friend Rhonda. I am going to delight in the fact that I have a Good Friday to experience…..so I can have an Easter to rejoice in! God bless you all today!