RESURRECTION

How will others respond when I tell them that Jesus rose from the dead?

God's Response:
[Mary] ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciples, the one who Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb and we don't know where they have put him!". Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord!"
John 20:2; John 20:6-7; John 20:18

Our Takeaway:
People who hear about the Resurrection for the first time may need a while before they can believe this amazing story. At first, they may think the story is a fabrication, impossible to believe. Like Peter, they may check out the facts and still be puzzled about what happened. Only when they encounter Jesus personally are they able to accept the fact of the Resurrection. Then, as they commit themselves to the Risen Lord and devote their lives to Him, they begin to accept the reality of His living presence with them.

Be patient with those who have just heard of the Resurrection. It may take time for them to move from initial belief to a life of commitment.

God's Promise:
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
To encounter Jesus personally? Wow!

I have heard many Christians speak about indescribable, unfathomable, earth shaking coming to know Jesus Christ type testimonies; then there are always some in which there are no bells, no whistles not even a tremble. In either case, to encounter Jesus in any way, shape, or form is an awesome gift from God. It is a blessing beyond comprehension of our finite minds and the moment in which we are set free, incomparable by measure.

I am fairly certain God knows the hard cases out there- the men and women that require being brought to their knees before they're willing to give up all the world has to offer, before they're willing to let go of the sins that they're holding onto so tightly, and before they're willing to surrender it all and allow themselves to be broken!

On March 13, 2008, I felt the thunder roar as my whole world was rocked and turned upside down. He shook me every which way but loose!

It was a typical 15 hour day at the office- stressed to the gills about company sales, my commissions and wondering where and how I was going to bag the next elephant. Where was the money going to come from to sustain my sin -filled lifestyle? I sat down on my favorite couch for a before diner cocktail, kids asleep and Bimini up and ecstatic about the fact that I had come home and not opted for pulling an all-nighter out with the guys tearing up the town.

I distinctly remember after just a couple sips of wine and few bites of din-din that I began to feel poorly instantly! Initially I thought, maybe I had food poisoning? But it came on much too quickly -instantaneously! I set up and ask Bimini ,"Call me an ambulance, I think I am having a heart attack!"

I walked to my bedroom, several feet away and remember thinking to myself... "Tony did you use today? No, can't be an overdose." Within seconds, I became completely drenched, soaking wet from head to toe. A warm radiant heat, together with a numbing, almost tingling sensation began at the top of my head and started to move extremely slowly down through my head, down into my face, my neck, my shoulders, my chest, my arms. It was overcoming me and consuming me in a very peaceful, euphoric and dreamy like way.

I was scared to death! My first overwhelming thought was "This is what people feel like right before they die and are leave this place!" I remember almost being paralyzed by something that felt as if it was entering my body! I yelled, "Bimini come in here and bring the girls, I am dying", I said in a panicked, shaken and fearful state.

Bimini, my two little girls and I began to pray. I begged for my life at that very moment -"Please Lord, just let me make it to the hospital, please let me live! Please don't take my life! Please take care of my wife and little girls, I love them soooo much!!!"

I was rushed to the hospital and I was probed and prodded about every way imaginable- stress tests, heart catherization, CAT scans, MRI's - you name it they did it. I had 4 days in a private room with plenty of time to take a self-inventory of my sin infested life - the drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling, cheating, self-centered, self-seeking, arrogant, egotistically shell of a man!

By world standards, I had reached the pinnacle of life- living the high life, the American dream. I am here today to tell you (only by the grace of God), at the top, it is barren, desolate, and lonely. It is nothing more than a wasteland! The top of the world is empty and it dead ends!
1 John 2:15

This is my coming to Jesus Christ, Road to Damascus, personal encounter and personal testimony that God has blessed me with. I have been called to share it with the hopeless and the hopeful. What I experienced that night was the indwelling the the Holy Spirit spoken in Galatians 2:20; an extremely physical encounter with Jesus Christ where the old natural man died and God made all things new in a spiritual man made alive.
2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:17-24

He is real! He is ever-present in our lives and He is waiting for a broken and surrendered you to turn around - fall into His loving, caring arms today and experience all He has for you personally, which I testify is beyond your widest imagination.