From Israel #9

There are two places in Jerusalem where they believed Jesus’ tomb may have been. One is a little more likely, the other one is way better (to look at, pray at, etc.). Today I was at both, here’s something I wrote in my journal afterwards:

Thank You Jesus for walking out of the tomb (as I just did) alive. Thank You for all the evidence You left, which helped lead me to You and which assures me when my faith is shaky.

Thank You God for the power You worked in the tomb that raised Jesus from the dead. Thank You that that same power is still at work in the world and is working in my life. Thank You that no matter how bleak things look, no matter how much death is present and at work in this world, in my life, in my circumstances, that You are present and Your strength is greater, Your power mightier and that You overcame and overwhelm death. Thank You that with You, life follows death, not the other way around. Thank You that You always can bring life out of death in my life, and that at the end of this life, I’m going to walk out of a grave.

God, I pray that I would walk in Your resurrection power each day. So often I feel discouraged, defeated; I act as though I don’t know that I serve a risen Savior and that life follows death, Sunday follows Friday, power follows mercy, and laughter follows sorrow. Please help me not to leave the empty tomb here, or resign it to pages in my bible, but to carry it with me in my heart, my smile, and the way I hold my head high as I walk with You.

You have risen indeed.

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