by Morgan Krueger | Apr 22, 2019 | Featured, Life Advice |
This Easter season has been packed with an abundance of spiritual truths from pastors, friends, and from countless individuals on social media using their platform for powerful one-liners regarding the significance of the cross.
However, for me, the most profound truth I have received this Easter came from a spunky 3-year-old name Ryder.
Ryder is a curious little guy who will ask a million questions while trail blazing through the room, not always stopping long enough to hear the answer.
Well, this year, Ryder got a pack of the always popular, loved by all children, Resurrection Eggs.
This 12-piece set of eggs are meant to connect children to the story of Jesus, the true meaning of Easter. The eggs include a miniature cross in one, a piece of fabric in another, and on and on it goes leading children all the way through the Easter story. The last egg, however, is an empty one, displaying the beauty of the empty tomb from 2,000 years ago.
As his parents read him the Easter story, Ryder couldn’t wait to open each and every egg with all the fun toys inside. At the end of the story, Ryder was confused to find nothing in the last egg. This led to his parents sharing with him (in three-year-old talk) that Jesus wasn’t there because HE WAS RISEN.
Let’s be honest, understanding resurrection is a crazy concept for most of us to wrap our minds around, much less for a tiny tot to understand. They did the best they could to put this miracle in simple terms and let him continue to play and enjoy all the items held in the other 11 eggs.
Fast forward a couple days, Ryder was having a ball at one of his friends Easter egg hunts. In Ryder’s mind, these eggs were the best eggs of all because they had not only something inside, but some you can EAT!
As Ryder ran around the field to collect the eggs and the yummy chocolate inside, he picked up an egg that one of the parents had overlooked and forgot to fill, leaving it empty.
In the middle of the hunt, in the presence of at least 30 other children and roughly 50 parents, Ryder lifts the egg up in the air (straight lion king style) and yells out, “Mommy, JESUS IS GONE!”
As all the parents laughed, his mom, Page, couldn’t help but smile knowing the previous conversation that had taken place concerning the Resurrection eggs.
The truth is, Ryder at the ripe age of three probably doesn’t comprehend the reality of what he was saying. Non the less, Ryder’s proclamation is one that we should all lend an ear toward during this season.
Because the truth is, Jesus IS gone. Not only is he missing from that tiny egg, he is also gone from the tomb.
And if Jesus is actually gone, it is for a purpose and for a mission that concerns us all.
So where did he go? He came directly to YOU, friend.
“Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Matthew 28:1-10 (ESV)
And guess where Jesus went after showing up to these women? He went straight to Galilee, just like he said he would.
The direct result of the resurrection means you and I get to experience the living Jesus, just like those women and the disciples 2,000 years ago.
And when Jesus shows up, what does he want to say to you?
He says that he conquered sin and death for you.
He says that he will right every one of your wrongs.
He shows you his love for you by his nail scarred hands.
He tells you that his power will go with you wherever you go.
He says that he can be the one to finally give you rest for your soul.
Finally, he says that you do not have to fear, for ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him for you.
Let Jesus swap out all your fears with His freedom. If Jesus conquered the grave, there’s nothing he can’t conquer in your life.
That’s what I like to call a LIVING HOPE.
Hope for Ryder, hope for me, and hope for you.
The truth is, besides Easter, TODAY is actually one of the most significant days of the year.
Today is the first full day that we get to take our Savior with us everywhere we go. Trusting in him, knowing that he was who he says he was.
Will you stake your life on the resurrected Jesus today and let him show up for you?
You may be asking yourself, “What is that first step?”
Look at the cross, friend! All the work has already been done! Now it’s just time to surrender and let Him love you.
So take your first step today and just praise His name for this breathtaking act of love toward us. God loves to hear your voice.
Here’s a song to get started 🙂
Living Hope
by Morgan Krueger | Feb 27, 2019 | Featured, Life Advice, Relationships |
Have you ever noticed an object that shines? And I mean, really shines? I’m not talking about your friend that got a really solid spray tan in the winter from a Groupon she stumbled upon. I’m talking about a radiant, cannot be hidden or mistaken for anything but God’s goodness kind of shine.
Around this time last year, my boyfriend (now husband) asked me to join him in a lifetime of adventure, unknowns, and a God-given covenant. Saying yes was the easiest choice I ever made. I remember the moment he slipped the ring on my finger. It was the most beautiful symbol of love I had ever seen. That ring represented and still does today a commitment to sacrificially serve, seek to understand, and believe the best in each other as long as we both shall live. It didn’t hurt that it was pretty easy on the eyes, too.
It was a rainy New Year’s Eve day in Texas, but my ring didn’t fail to bring an unexplained brightness to our night as we celebrated our future together with our families. We welcomed all that the New Year and our new life together had in store for us.
As adulting would have it, the memorable weekend ended and Monday was calling my name. I returned to my job, took a seat at my desk, and attempted to wrap my head around all that had happened and the changes that were coming for me this year. I was “afraid yet filled with joy” as described in Matthew 28. I decided to take a quick walk before the demands of the day crowded my mind.
It was still early in the morning, but as the sun was rising, I knew it was going to be a beautiful day. I was soaking in this quiet moment when something amazing happened. I looked down at my ring and it just about took my breath away. The light from the sun was hitting my ring and the brilliant shine that appeared was one I hadn’t seen over the weekend. Not only did it have a new glow, the reflection of the ring shone in what seemed like endless directions. The morning sky seemed to reveal a deeper dimension, one that was there all along, but I hadn’t seen it.
I later discovered that there are three factors that work in unison to give diamonds their trademark shine: reflection, refraction, and dispersion.
Reflection is the process of light hitting the diamond surface and immediately bouncing back. Then the light goes deeper into the diamond, reaching into the corners and ridges and filling those spaces with illumination. This is the refraction phase. Once refraction is completed, the light reaches beyond the diamonds interior and meets our eyes with a shine and that is called the dispersion. The shine created is radiant and multidimensional to the human eye and creates an internal awe that captivates the human heart.
Friends, let us look to this process and consider what it means for us in light of the gospel.
First, the light of Christ will affect us. In John 8:12 (NIV) Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This is a promise from Jesus that says whoever will let His light in will not be the same. Just like the reflection in a diamond, the light that He offers doesn’t have to be earned, but will be freely and immediately given to whoever is willing to walk into His presence.
Next, the light of Christ goes deeper. The complete understanding and depth of who Jesus is will be a lifelong journey for me, but one thing I can tell you is Jesus is not interested in a one-time interaction. You are far more precious to Him than a quick, “Hello, nice to meet ya.” No, He is interested in YOU. You on your good days, your bad days, with your past hurts, your habits, your quirks and your fears. Jesus, by essence, is the Great Pursuer and He will never stop being just that toward you. God called Jesus to go after the one, and as hard as it is to believe this, you, my friend, are the one.
As Jesus’ light hits us, it will go into the cracks, corners, and hidden places of our life. Just as a refraction in a diamond causes light to not discriminate the dark places, Jesus will not discriminate the dark places either. He doesn’t have a threshold of how dark is too dark. In fact, He welcomes those places all the more. He is eagerly waiting for the opportunity to debunk this very lie in your heart. That lie that says because of what you’ve done in the dark, He will withhold his love and be unwilling to qualify you by His light. He will reach deeper until His light reaches every dark place.
Lastly, the light of Christ will always create a shine in you. As you can see, there is a process to achieving a great shine. Psalm 34:5 (NIV) reveals, “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Jesus bids our hearts to come and look. Taste and see. Step out and experience. This daily relationship based on love and trust is what produces in and through us a shine that disperses His light from the inside out, just like in the last phase of a diamond’s shine. This shine acts as a declaration to the world that we have been given a newness of purpose and identity.
A life postured correctly in the light of Christ will be illuminated and bring to the surface what was always there.
You have always been seen.
You have always been loved.
You have always been lovely.
You have always been pursued.
Sometimes this is hard to believe because of things that have happened in our lives. Perhaps you’ve hidden sin and shame from God and others for a long time. You might think the decisions you’ve made have created a dull or damaged spirit disqualifying you from this radiant life. If that’s the case, God, and diamonds, have something to say about that.
Remember this about every shiny diamond you have ever “oohed” and “awed” over: even the shiniest diamonds are a collection of light and dark places. While this may seem like it would lessen the quality of the diamond’s beauty, it is actually the thing that illuminates the shine.
William Goldberg, a diamond expert, put it this way: “It’s like a candle; the flame always appears brighter in a dark room than it does in a lighted room. It all comes down to contrast; a diamond without contrast might still shine just as much, but the shine would be significantly less impressive.”
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV), Paul lets us in on a word that Jesus gave to Him on this matter: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.”
The transformative work of Jesus is the recipe for a radiant shine. No more, no less. He wants to redeem the darkest places in your life and, over time, those will be the areas that will give Him the most glory. God gave us the image of Himself through Christ that we might believe, be restored in relationship with Him, and be healed.
The irony of a diamond’s shine is that, scientifically, it’s classified as a reflection rather than that of a shine. What beautiful, freeing news this is! Our shine is actually a reflection of His pursuit of us.
Find peace and rest in this, friends. Behavior modification is not needed for life change.
A.W. Tozer said it best; “When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us, for it is written that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth. The sweet language of experience is ‘Thou God seest me.’ When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of Good looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.”
Reflect. Refract. Disperse. Repeat.
Morgan Krueger is the newest member of the LO Team and loves any opportunity to hear someones heart (or their enneagram number). In her free time she loves drinking coffee with friends, watching british baking shows, and dreaming big with her husband in Franklin, TN.
Follow Morgan on Instagram @morganwkrueger
