IT IS FINISHED...,

Hey Everyone,

Hope you had a wonderful Resurrection Weekend, I know I did... not that I did anything special, this time of year is always exciting to me. Who else do we know that saved our souls from Hell and reconciled our relationship back to a Holy Father and then on top of that, He sealed us with His Holy Spirit.... exciting right! That will make you want to shout, Hallelujah.... go ahead, shout Hallelujah!!! Get your praise on for Jesus. "It is finished".

This past week I was blessed to have a conversation with Audrey Peek, we were talking about the final words of Jesus as He hung on the cross, when he said, "It is finished". So much was compressed into those three words... Salvation would be extended to whosoever wanted to receive it, so therefore; death lost it's power over us, the grave can't hold us and Hell can't have us. "It is finished".

To me, it also means that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us through Holy Spirit, we are sealed with the promises of a loving Father that is for right now and for what is to come... and that same Holy Spirit prays for us when we don't know what to pray for and you know what else.... Jesus is in Heaven at the right hand of our Father, interceding for us. And you know what else, He gave us the authority to use His name and ask for whatever we want... now seeing as how He is a loving Father, we know He's not going to give us anything that would bring harm to us. Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot this, every one of our sins have been forgiven... past, present and future. Jesus was forsaken, so that we would no longer be forsaken.... He said that nothing could ever separate us from His love. "It is finished".

The Cross is offensive because it demands a new lifestyle out of us and it is a confrontation that all of us must face.

-Billy Graham

On Good Friday, the Lord had impressed upon my heart to reach out to one of my FB friends. This person had been on my mind earlier in the week, I pondered whether or not he was Born-Again, in my heart I felt the answer was... no. He is a TV personality and I kinda get tickled because my sister always says, "you'll send a message to anyone" and I'll say, they're people just like us, famous or not. Well, I sent him a message with the question, "are you a Christian", the next day he sent his response, "I am not", my response, "I want you to know that Jesus loves you and I am still a fan". You might be thinking, I understand you telling him Jesus loves him, but why did you tell him you are still a fan? That was my way of letting him know that I didn't dislike or condemn him for not being a Christian. So far, he hasn't un-friended me, lol.  I'm hoping that there will be more dialogue to come, but until then I know that I am to pray for him, there are others that I am praying for as well. I'm telling you this to show the importance of staying in close fellowship with Jesus, I need to know what it is, He wants me to do, I could have missed a God-Given opportunity to be used by Him....Yeah, He could of used someone else, but I'm glad He chose me.

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time

-Zig Ziglar

Luke 15:10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

As He hung on the cross for all of humanity... taking every sin upon Himself for our sake, He said, "It Is Finished". The Son of God and the Son of Man, had just gone through the most horrific beating and crucifixion imaginable, we could never fully comprehend what He endured for us;  a whip with shards of metal and bone ripped open His flesh (that alone would have killed a man), a crown of thorns were pressed into his head, they spit on him and hit Him with the palm of their hands, Jesus was mocked and ridiculed by the very ones He came to save from their sins. He was made to carry His own cross, until Simon of Cyren helped Him. The spiked nails that were driven into His hands and feet would have made the strongest of men cry out for mercy... He is our MERCY.

The Savior of the world, hanging between two thieves; one repentant and the other unrepentant... the mocking continues as they gamble for His garment, "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross" "He saved others, himself he cannot save". In that moment of time, Jesus promised Paradise to the repentant thief and He made intercession for the multitude, "Father, forgive them; for they know not, what they do." We would have wanted judgement... He offered GRACE.

In those three remaining hours, Jesus struggled to breathe and hold His dying body up on that cross. He looked upon His mother Mary... the one we called "blessed among all women", handpicked by our Heavenly Father, to be the mother of the one who came from above. "Woman behold thy son", and He said to John, "Behold thy mother". Her soul was pierced that day, just as Simeon prophesied, in a few days she will understand what it all means.... He showed COMPASSION.

Darkness came upon the land, our Jesus was in pain and He was rejected, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?".... "I thirst", the sun was darkened and the veil in the temple was torn. Jesus cried out again, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" "It is finished", He hung His head and died, the earth shook, He was pierced in His side.... He is the LAMB OF GOD and a RISEN SAVIOUR.!

Jesus lived the life I couldn't live and He died the death I should have died.
-LeCrea

Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against Him, saw that He so cried out, and gave up the ghost, He said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

I've often wondered who that centurion was. How was it that He was able to see Jesus as the Son of God? Was he the one who sent an Elder to Jesus and pleaded for the healing of his beloved servant? (Luke 7:1-10) Maybe, like so many he heard about Jesus and all the miraculous things He had done or perhaps he actually listened to the teachings of Jesus as he was ordered to watch HIm. Maybe, those words spoken from the cross was enough to make him believe and confess, that Jesus is who He says He is... I don't know, but God was Glorified.

Many Christians say, they are going to Heaven, but they are not enjoying the journey.
-Joyce Meyers

You know that song, "I need just a little more Jesus", it's a nice song, I like it; but do we really need a little more Jesus. I mean... What more can He do? He has done it all, paid it all, made Himself accessible to us, empowered us to be over-comers. Could it be that we need to give Jesus more of us? Why are so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ still in bondage; slaves to the very thing that wants to destroy us? Are we so hard-hearted, stubborn-minded and full of pride that we will not submit our will to His Will... which we know is better for us.

I know I sound like a scratched record but...Jesus said "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh to the Father but by Me." He gave Himself, so we could be FREE. We are going to have struggles and trials in this life, but didn't he say, "whom the Son sets free is free indeed" and He said, "I have overcome the world". Our Lord will never force Himself on anyone, that is not His way, but He did say, "come boldly to the throne of Grace", humility precedes Grace. Perhaps we should get alone with God and confess our struggles and make the necessary changes, He will help us, He wants to help us, we only need to BELIEVE that He will do what He says He will do, lets keep our Faith in JESUS. If anyone of us should stumble or fall, may we be counted as worthy to help restore that person with Mercy, Grace, and Love.

Hurt people... hurt people but, Free people...FREE PEOPLE.

-James Robison

If you don't have a personal relationship with Christ I invite you to give Him a try, you've tried everything else. He loves you and me so much that He gave His life for us, He makes us brand new. Just say, Lord, my life is a mess, I'm lost and I'm confused; I've sinned against you and I'm sorry. I need you to help me. Be Lord of my life, clean me up and make me brand new.

John 8

"It is finished", what does it mean to you?

Continued blessings to you and your family <3