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May you be strengthened with all power,

according to his glorious might,

for all endurance and patience with joy,

giving thanks to the Father,

who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1: 11-14

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

God made alive together with him,

having forgiven us all our trespasses,

 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame,

by triumphing over them in him.

Colossians 2:13-15

GO

I know these aren’t traditional Easter verses, but they certainly carry the message don’t they?

The Father has nailed not only our sins, but the legal demands of the debt we owe from them, to the cross. By forgiving us and dealing with that debt in a just way, we are now qualified to move from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of Light!

Is that good news or what?

I no longer have to live in the darkness and gloom of that old kingdom.  I am a daughter of the King now.  The Kingdom of Light…where there is no darkness of any kind.  I usually associate darkness, particularly in Scripture, with sin. That is frequently true, but in everyday life, darkness can also be associated with things like fear, gloom, sorrow and sadness as well.  There is something about darkness that makes life particularly difficult, because we can’t see very far ahead.    STOP

There are times in life when that is just the way life is: life is hard and it doesn’t  look like any let-up is in sight.  Looking at darkness helps us think about the Kingdom of Light.  In that Kingdom, darkness will be gone!  No uncertainty.  No fear.  No sin or sadness.  No depression or gloom.

Being a member of the Kingdom of Light where I know my sin is forgiven. My debt is paid.  I am redeemed.  I am alive. I am part of the family.  That is indeed something to celebrate!  It is what we celebrate this weekend.  It has nothing to do with Easter bunnies or new dresses…even though that may be part of what we do on the side.

Our celebration is about becoming part of the Kingdom of Light and being rescued from the Kingdom of darkness.  It is almost like an old fairy tale…except we didn’t deserve it.  We were the “ugly stepsisters” of the story and GOD still rescued us.  We weren’t sweet Cinderella.  We were dead in sin and darkness and our natural tendency was to NOT seek after GOD.

How exciting to know that Christ’s resurrection power is available to us as we relate to people both within and outside of the church!  It will help us endure and be joyfully patient.

How exciting to know it is available for us!  Often, it is when we are in the middle of difficult circumstances that GOD provides encouragers for us…or uses us to encourage them.

How exciting to know that each of us who has a past, we lived in the domain of darkness, can now stand confidently before the Father because we are “in Christ”.  We are dressed in His righteousness and took on Himself our sin.  He paid the debt and took the punishment that we deserved.  Now we are alive “in Christ”.

This is a Five Minute Friday post from 2012. I think it is from before Kate Motaung took over the site! As you can see, I sometimes got carried away with my 5 minutes.