Christian Reflection and Prayer

I AM ALIVE!!!!!!

RESURRECTION SUNDAY!

Scripture:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish.
But have everlasting life.
God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.
(John 3:16-17)

Reflection:

Today's a celebration, today is a new beginning!
All the pain, all the suffering, all the degradation,
is over. Jesus Christ is risen from the grave.
Actually what have we experienced this past week?
We have experienced "agape", real love, the only love
God can give. This well-known verse in the Bible is
what Resurrection Sunday,(Easter) is all about.
It is so wonderful to believe that God loved us so much
that he literally gave us his son. The celebration of this date
represents a new beginning for me and for you. God
gave us his son out of pure love so that we can begin a new.
That is the supreme example of love. Jesus Christ sacrificed
his life on the cross for us. He went through all of this so that we
can be of forgiven people, so that we do not have to suffer for
our sins, so that we are people who are bonded to our God,
so that we can have eternal life with our heavenly father.
You see Resurrection Sunday is when I make my new years resolutions.
Because of what Jesus Christ did "my life becomes new".
And I resolve this day to be a better person, to be a better follower
of Jesus Christ, to serve others as Christ serves me, to love others
as Christ loved me. Today I bring hope back into my life!

PRAYER:

Our Heavenly Father, thank You for what You have done for me.
Through Your life, death, and resurrection, I have learned
the meaning of love,. Thank you my God for all that You give me,
for all that You have done for me, and for all You continue to give me.
Your grace and Your love abounds in my life, thank You for loving me Lord!
AMEN

Scripture:

Galatians 2:20


I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life
I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Reflection:

Galatians 2:20 best describes how I feel in what I term
the day in between. That is the day in between the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

In a very real sense, I feel like I've just been crucified with Jesus Christ.
I feel like, to a very small degree, some of the pain, some of the suffering
and some of the degradation that Jesus must have felt. In a very real sense
I feel dead. But yet something is alive and in me today, I discover
that Jesus Christ lives in me, yes he now lives in me.
I now live by faith in the son of God, I have faith in Jesus Christ.
And what is the most exciting thing of all, is that my Savior loves me
and has given himself for me. That makes me special,
because today, the in between day, I realize in my heart, in my soul,
in my very being, that Jesus Christ gave himself and now lives in me.

Prayer:

My dear father I would like to take this opportunity to thank you
for my in between day. I want to thank you God, that today I realize
that you love me so much that you gave your son Jesus Christ for me.
THANK YOU LORD! Today I especially praise you and honor you
for what you have given to me. Thank you Almighty God for your
very special love to me.
Jesus name AMEN.

Matthew 27: 28-56

They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then
twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They
put a staff in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt in front
of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.
30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the
head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took
off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him
away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

 32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named
Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to
a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).
34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but
after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified
him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting
down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they
placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE
 KING OF THE JEWS.

 38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one
on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking
their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the
temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from
the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and
the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he
can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now
from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let
God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of
God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him
also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

 45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all
the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud
voice, “Eli, Eli,[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?”).[d]

 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said,
“He’s calling Elijah.”

 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with
wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.
49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes
to save him.”

 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave
up his spirit.

 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from
top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs
broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were
raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection
and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus
saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified,
and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”