Monday Like No Other...

THIS Monday after THIS Resurrection Sunday is more precious to me than any since I have come to know the Lord.  Why? Because, today I go to work having experienced the power of the resurrection - for it is the power of God for the salvation of man. 
How accursed are we - this race of man?  How completely void of goodness is the heart of man?  The evidence of our depravity shouts out from the streets from every corner of the world. Man's inhumanity toward man is beyond our understanding.  There is no way we could save ourselves - and that Jesus was willing to take all our sin on himself and be judged by a Holy God in our place  - is also beyond our "understanding."  All we can do is accept what He did for us. 
We cannot grasp the depths of our own depravity - do we not all think of ourselves more highly than we ought? We do - and we do so because we compare ourselves to others...which is really quite comical because we compare our best side to someone else's worst side...not quite fair.  My worst deed is no worse than your worst deed - and my best deed is no better than your best deed.  However, what if we took our most awful deed out of our closet and compared it to a Holy God?  Or our most horrid, jealous, bitter thought and did the same?  NOW THAT'S kinda scary...what would He do to us?  Exactly how holy is God? Soooooooo holy that He cannot - even for one second - look upon us in our sin-soaked condition.  We smell as rotten blood to Him. Unless, someone was willing to take the stench from us - unless someone had the power to remove our sin and make it (sin) of none effect - unless someone was willing to die...

When my Mom died I had just turned 28.  She had been sick for 14 months with cancer - and I watched her die a little bit every day. I was the eldest of four, so I was charged with several duties that no one else would do - including signing the DNR (while she was still living), signing the papers at the mortuary (while she was still living), wallpapering her living room for her last visit home... I held her face in my hands the moment she took her last breath...

Weeks later, driving west on DeBarr past Boniface, I was in a deep state of grief. The question arose in my mind, "How awful must sin be that the consequence of it was death?" The finality of death is incomprehensible until you see someone you love die.  They're alive and breathing - and then they're not. It almost blows your mind.  Once they are gone - that's it.  Separation. 

How awful must sin be? It must be pretty bad because death is pretty awful.

How holy must God be?  God is Love -  Love would not require one more ounce of payment than whatever measure of payment was needed.  He must be pretty holy if death - separation from Him and His Love - is the consequence of the lie I told yesterday...

The power of the blood of Jesus removes my guilty standing before God.  The power of the death of Jesus pays the price of separation from God.  The POWER of the RESURRECTION gives me eternal oneness (LIFE) with God!!

So, back to my opening statement...why is THIS post-Resurrection Sunday Monday so unique?  What mercy did I experience?  Well, last Saturday, March 28th, I was faced with the prospect of seeing another love in my life slip into eternity...and it was very clear to me that there WAS a day in that man's life when he did NOT know Jesus - there WAS a day when and if he had faced God on THAT day - the separation from God would have been eternal. Then there came a different day (after many years, prayers, and tears) when that man crossed from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of His dear Son.  In one instant, when John called on the name of the Lord the power of the RESURRECTION changed his eternal destiny. 

Last Saturday, March 28th, I was so grateful that IF my precious husband were to see Jesus THAT day - he would have been received by nail-scarred hands...

Jesus extended my husband's life. On this planet.  I watched Him do it.  I am forever grateful. I know without a doubt, had He extended John's life into Heaven - I would see them both again - only because of the POWER of the RESURRECTION!! 


I can only say HALLELUJAH!!!


Because He Lives,


Patti