Happy Easter

"Was, I, Paul crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? ... For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News--and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power." (1 Corinthians 1:13-17, NLT)

For days I had prayed and searched through my Bible, trying to find out what the Lord would have me write for Easter. The celebration of the Resurrection will soon be over, and life will quickly drift back into routine. Yes, days I had prayed, but still no answer. The words to an old song by Don Francisco that had been going through my head since Sunday filled my mind again. Pushing it aside, again I prayed, "Father, please, show me what to do. Tell me what you want me to share." Then, in a moment of intense stillness, I heard, "I already have." I sat up with a start, and picked up the Bible I had laid aside. It was open to the chapter I had been reading in 1 Corinthians. Key words jumped out at me: "Preach the good news ... not with clever and high-sounding ideas ... the cross of Christ ... power." My prayer had been answered, and has been answered as you read:

"He's alive!
He's alive!
He's alive, and I'm forgiven
Heaven's gates are open wide!
He's alive!"

--Don Francisco

Praise be to God, He's alive! Do you want to discover and maintain the joy of the risen Savior? Say it out loud, over and over again, "He's alive!"



"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:5-6, NIV)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance
which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you!" (1 Peter 1:3-4, RSV)

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9, NIV)

The joy of Easter never ends! He's Alive!!

Originally published April 2nd, 1997
The Encounters Ministry, Copyright © James A Chase