Is It Really That Simple?

This photo screams simple to me, calm waters, a simple canoe (nothing fancy), a clean tree line, with a blue sky. I like things simple. I don't like chaos, I fret about the unknown, and I especially hate to debate and or argue! I like to keep it simple! It is ironic really as my life the last few years has been a lot of things, simple not being one of them. This reminds me of religion, how for me it seems quite simple but many would argue that it is anything but. Some find it to be quite confrontational. Believing in God was never a huge issue for me. I pretty much took it at face value and strived to learn more and more. I didn't feel the need to question, argue, or debate; I simply believed. This is not the case for many. I can remember telling my high school boyfriend that he was too smart for his own good as he was very skeptical about my beliefs at that time.

For those with a curious mind, I imagine putting their faith in God the Father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit, based on this book called the Bible, is quite a stretch. Adding further complication may be to watch others who profess to believe in God live out their life in a way that can only be described as wretched and/or hypocritical. Even though I have been a believer for quite some time, I know I have likely said or done things that could be viewed as both wretched and hypocritical and this must be confusing to those who struggle to believe. "Why would I believe in a God like that when this is how they act, treat me, or make me feel?" Valid question with only one answer...I am human, they are human, and we definitely should not be compared to God! This doesn't excuse my words or my actions but it does explain how it could happen. It also explains why I need Jesus in the first place, why we all need Jesus. We are incapable of being good enough to get to Heaven on our own merit. We do not get to enter Heaven based on our good behavior or our good deeds.

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast."

-Ephesians 2:9

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

-John 14:6

Good Friday reminds us just how loved we are and the sacrifice that was made so that we, despite our sins and our flaws, may have unlimited access to God. God sent His perfect son to die a criminal's death because He knew that we could never be good enough. To really put thought into the brutality of that death on a cross is excruciating. Jesus, who seemed to fear nothing the years he walked the earth as a man, expressed great anguish about what He knew was to come.

"Then he said to them, 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.' Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.'"

-Matthew 26:38-39

Jesus went away and prayed not once but twice, "He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.'"

-Matthew 26:42

"And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."

-Luke 22:44

I cannot fathom the dread He must have felt knowing what was to come, yet He did it anyway. Jesus chose to go to the cross, accepting the will of God, and He did so for you and for me. The part of the crucifixion that I find the most excruciating is the hours of separation that He had to endure, the hours that He was spiritually separated from God. This was so agonizing for Jesus that He cried out to God...

"About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'- which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'"

-Mathew 27:46

You and I never have to know this separation from God because of Jesus' death on the cross. During those hours of darkness, Jesus took on all of our sins and He did so willingly so that we may experience and know the love of God. He did this so that we may have the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. As stated above, this eternal dwelling is only possible through Jesus. We can never do enough or be good enough to make it on our own. Why else would God sacrifice His one and only son?

For me, it really is that simple to believe. To believe in a love so profound, so deep. A love that is not deserved, it cannot be earned but was freely given and all we have to do is keep it simple...accept and believe.

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

-Romans 10:9

"As the scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'"

-Romans 10:11

"...for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

-Romans 10:13

Praise God that Good Friday led to Easter Sunday and He Is Risen!!

"While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" "Then they remembered his words."

-Luke 24:4

Happy Easter, friends!

Much Love!