IN

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! There has been a word that the Lord has placed on my heart as a theme within the last year. It also ties into why I celebrate Christ at Easter. It’s a two letter word. A simple word, but one of mystery. The mystery is in discovering it’s full meaning.

IN.

“Therefore if anyone is IN Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” ~2 Cor. 5:17

When I stop and think about the way my Savior has been pursuing me from the very beginning, I’m in awe. He created us IN His image, gave us breath, gave us life. We were created for Him and by Him. To walk all our days IN relationship with Him and to spend our life loving and worshiping Him is His desire. IN relationship. IN relationship with a Holy God. And since God is all-knowing, He knew that we would hurt Him. Turn our back towards Him. Even then, He loved us still.

Jesus left EVERYTHING to become NOTHING. He GAVE it all up to GAIN  y-o-u. “The Word became a human and lived among us.” ~John 1:14 He was tempted yet was without sin. He then suffered the ultimate pain- death on a cross.

Every step in His story is one step closer to us. He is for our hearts. He desires to be IN you and you IN Him. This is amazing grace. When we want to be apart from Him, hang onto our other “hopes”, be our own god, love our fame and successes, we give up what He can do IN us. Because God IN us changes us. We no longer live “dead”.

“In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God…In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered God’s anger because we were sinful by nature. We were the same as all other people.” ~Eph. 2:1,3

But God’s story didn’t end there. It didn’t stop with Christ’s last breath as He hung on the cross. Death didn’t get the final say. Sin didn’t get the last word. God’s pursuit of us didn’t stop for a moment.

Christ bought us back and Satan was defeated when Christ rose from the grave. “He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would.” ~Matt. 28:6-7 Sin couldn’t hold Him. Death couldn’t stop Him.

He is ALIVE!

“But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those IN Christ Jesus so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us IN Christ Jesus. I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a GIFT from God. It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. God has made us what we are. IN Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” ~Eph. 2:4-10

This is the story of redemption.

We have been rescued. Freed from sin. Freed from death. No longer bound by lies that cover up our true identity. We are His. He IN me and I IN Him. IN relationship.

His story continues IN me. His story continues IN you. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is IN us. That is why we can face tomorrow.

I’m learning that whatever comes my way in this life, Christ is sovereign. He reigns still. God IN me is all I need.We don’t have to live under the weight of expectations, sin, approval or past failures. We don’t have to have it all “together” before we think God could love us. He already does. He loved us before we were even created. He loved us before we rejected and hurt Him. He loved us when He died on the cross. He was thinking of YOU. He loved us when He rose from the grave. He loves us NOW as He is sitting at the right hand of God. Nothing can separate us from His love. It’s everlasting.

I don’t walk out every day in awe of His love for me. In awe of His work on the cross and his resurrection. I don’t walk out every day in the victory of His life IN me. His power IN me.

But Christ is still IN me.

He has never left. When I said “yes” to Him, He took up full residence IN me. When I choose to do my own thing, He is still there. He patiently waits until I realize once again that He is all I need. I cannot do anything apart from Him. This is amazing grace. There is nothing special about me. Christ IN me is everything. I’m a work IN progress. We all are.

We can celebrate new life for us because God is alive and He is IN us.

That’s His gift to us. Free gift. Grace. Undeserved, yet freely given.

I would challenge you to think about the power of Christ IN you this Easter. Because He didn’t stay dead. He conquered death. He lives IN us. I’ve been challenged and God is continuing to work on my heart, but I will never fully grasp the height, depth and length of His love for me.

Write “IN” somewhere you will notice it every day. When you walk through every moment of your day, He is IN you. You are IN Him.

Because Christ is IN us, we have hope. Hope that we can live this life victoriously only because of Him. And one day we will live with Him forever in heaven.

Be blessed, friends. See His power and glory IN everything. He is alive!

IN Him,

Regina