Happy Easter!

This morning, whilst delivering my cup of tea, Grumble Stiltskin reminded me that this is a day to be especially thankful & happy. Why? Because it's Easter today. I needed reminding, as both Loud Lungs & the Mischief Maker have terrible D&V (not good when potty training, que multiple gross accidents) & consequently I was awake for over an hour in the middle of the night. Easter sunday, is one of the best days for a Christian, because it's the day when we remember & celebrate Jesus' physical resurrection from the dead, in time & space history, over 2000 years ago. Jesus' resurrection from the dead is a life changing & history changing event for many reasons, but there are two big things I'm remembering this morning.
Firstly, Jesus' resurrection from the dead shows that God's promise of eternal life (for those who trust in Jesus) is REAL. Jesus rose from the dead physically, he was seen & touched by many people, he ate, walked, spoke etc - so when God tells us that there is life beyond death, He means it & He's proved it. Just as He raised Jesus, He's powerful to raise us too. Not in some airy-fairy, clouds, harps & fluff way, but in real life, living, breathing, flesh & bones way.
Secondly, the incredible thing about Jesus' resurrection from the dead shows that he accomplished everything he died for on the cross. Jesus died to bring us forgiveness from God, restore our relationship with God, & give us the hope of eternal life spent with God. How did his death achieve this? The Bible tells us that when Jesus died, though sinless, he took on our sin (our personal rejection/denial/ignoring of God in our hearts, born out in our thoughts, attitudes, behaviour etc) & also took on the consequence & penalty of our sin - death. When Jesus died on the cross, he was punished by God for our sin, in our place, instead of us. He took our sin and bore our punishment. This meant that God was able to forgive us, without overlooking our sin & pretending it didn't matter, as He'd justly poured out His anger & punishment on Jesus, instead of us. And we know that Jesus' death was enough to satisfy God's anger & complete the punishment - because Jesus didn't stay dead! He rose, vindicated & victorious, showing that death has been defeated, there is a way for sin to be paid for whilst enabling us to be forgiven, death doesn't have to be the end! Because of Jesus' death, God's not angry with us anymore - if we trust in Jesus, our penalty has been paid by him, meaning we're forgiven & can know God personally forever, & will be raised physically from the dead to spend forever with Him. WOW!
Remember these verses?

Romans 6v23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Peter 3v18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Romans 8v1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

Romans 8v11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

2 Corinthians 4v14 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

How should we respond to Jesus, on this wonderful Easter sunday? With great thankfulness, joy & hope - knowing that his resurrection has secured ours. What an incredible hope we have in him. Blind-blowing & life changing. And this should change our lives, & mean that instead of living for ourselves, we live for him - for his honour, fame, pleasure & glory, as it says in
2 Corinthians 5v15: And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Wishing you a truly HAPPY EASTER

The Good Wife

This is not about me (although I like to think I am), but the TV programme! I LOVE 'The Good Wife'. Brilliantly written, outstanding cast, gripping story lines, unexpected plot twists....it's fair to say I'm fairly obsessed with it! I find myself completely drawn in by the complex relationships & scenarios, & genuinely cannot guess where the series will end up - which is unusual. I think it's completely unpredictable. My big fear is now that Alicia has revealed she doesn't actually love Will (is that really true?), I will never get the satisfaction of seeing them have a happy ending - especially when poor playboy Will was deciding he was in love, was ready to make a commitment & wanted more in his life than just work. Although given that she's still married, I probably shouldn't want that to happen....Also brilliant plot twist that the corruption investigation into Will is actually secretly about dodgy old Peter (who, let's face is, is NOT a nice man - but very good at throwing his power about - which does add some appeal!), an investigation being led by the lady he beat to the job of State's Attorney. The overlap between the professional & personal is fascinating. And I LOVE Will Gardener. And Diane Lockhart.

My blog title

My blog title comes from Ecclesiastes, a book in the bible, & is the writer's refrain as he reflects on this temporary, earthly life.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”
Ecclesiastes 12v8

I think it sums it up quite well, really! The point of the book is that the Teacher, having examined, explored & experienced life from many different angles & perspectives, realises that ultimately this life - although there's much to enjoy & be thankful for - is meaningless because it's only temporary, nothing lasts forever, & we die - so all we achieve & experience etc amounts to nothing.

The point of Ecclesiastes is that only knowing God & trusting in Him has any ultimate meaning, value, purpose & significance - because He is eternal, & a relationship with Him lasts forever, beyond this temporary life. Listen to the Teacher's conclusion;

¹³ Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12v12-14

The Teacher doesn't want us to despise life now, or give up living! It's about keeping things in perspective, living & investing in what really matters & what will last. The Teacher knows that God is the author of life, & that every good thing we have now - though only temporary - is a gift from Him & a sign of His goodness. So we should make the most of life now, & enjoy all God's given us, by acknowledging Him, investing in a relationship with Him & living for Him now ('fear God & keep His commandments'), remembering that one day we will all stand before Him & give an account for how we've lived in this life, & whether we've made the mistake of thinking that this is all there is & wasted our time just living for the present & ignored all that's eternal.

Beginning

Having attempted to begin several blogs in the past, I've decided to seize the moment & try to make a committment to it. I've wanted to write one for a while, not really with the aim of others reading it, but as an outlet for me to express my thoughts & musings - an online diary, if you will (albiet one that's not too personal, just in case anyone other than me actually does read it!). Often I think of things I'd like to write down, but the moment passes & I can't remember them anymore - just think of all those pearls of wisdom lost forever to the world! I think this will take discipline to make it worthwhile, which I think I'm sadly lacking in when it comes to blogging, so we'll see how it goes....