Easter has now come and gone, and just like every year it was celebrated with real-life church dramas, magnificent music, and the fanfare of colored eggs and white bunnies. Some brave soul asked the question, “Why do the bunnies and the chickens get all the attention?” Good question. But also like all the other years, we Christians who celebrated the glorious resurrection of our Savior will calm down and settle back into our usual state of “this-is-just-the-way-life-is” routine.

But what if we had our own personal resurrection—a resurrection from the dead, mundane, ordinary life we are living, and begin to walk in the newness of life that Jesus provides for all believers? (Romans 6:4) Easter can be a time of decision for those of us who are tired of being beat up by the enemy of our souls, or are sick of yielding to our besetting sins, or have come to the sad conclusion that God doesn’t answer prayer or heal sick bodies any more. Then there are those who live in fear that somehow this failed economy means certain ruin, or believe the news reports that America is no longer a Christian nation and that a majority of Americans do not believe in God. Nonsense! I was reminded the other day that in the 1970’s Newsweek announced on their front cover that “God is dead.” It wasn’t true in 1970 and it’s not true in 2012!

We are in the Easter season, the springtime of new life when trees, grass, and plants of very sort come out of their dormant state to grow and bloom again. Christ’s triumphant victory over death, hell, and the grave is just that—a picture of new life, ready to grow and bloom in the lives of believers. If Jesus Christ came up and out of the grave of death and defeat, then so can we! How did He do it? He submitted to the will of God the Father—even though it included death on the cross—because He knew that His Father wouldn’t leave Him in the grave (Psalm 16:10; 49:15). He believed in the power of God to bring Him back to life. Do we believe God is going to leave us in a dead and defeated state, beaten down by our enemy or do we believe God has the power to bring us back to life and out of our graves of despair, disappointment, fear, or hopelessness?

My Bible still says that Jesus wins this war! My Bible still says that Christ died for me so I can LIVE! My Bible still says that it ain’t over this it’s over, and friend, it ain’t over yet! You and I can still have a personal resurrection this Easter season—it’s not too late! By faith in a faithful and all-powerful God, we can wake up and arise from a state of deadness. We can believe and know that God is still on the throne and in control of this world and everything that happens in it. We can make Jesus the Lord of our lives, and when we do, He becomes Lord of everything that affects us. Satan has no more power to keep us down and depressed than he had to keep Jesus in that grave, or bound by grave clothes, or stuck behind a huge boulder over the entrance of the tomb. Got any boulders standing in the way of your freedom?

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to come up and out of my stupor. I’m ready to believe God and look up in faith knowing assuredly that HE’S ALIVE! HE LIVES! OUR GOD REIGNS! Instead of cowering down in fear, let us as God’s strong and mighty army of believers raise our banners high and ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAME! If we don’t have a message of hope for the world, who does? We have been quiet, polite, and politically correct far too long. Like our ancestors from the first-century church, we face the challenge of sharing the Resurrected Christ with the world. Let’s start with our own personal resurrection! ~Janie Kellogg