(Luke 24:30 NIV) When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
This morning we take a pause from our current Proverbs series to share a special message. Yesterday was Resurrection Sunday, the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus the Christ. The Resurrection of Jesus is what sets apart Christianity from every other world religion. Resurrection Sunday is about the empty tomb that became the Good News of the gospel for all eternity. That empty tomb gives Christians all over the world the spring in our step. That empty tomb is the fuel in our fire, the air in our lungs, and the wind beneath our wings! Without the empty tomb there is no Christianity. Without the empty tomb we have no hope. Without the empty tomb our message is just a story. Paul said it this way, “And if Christ wasn’t raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith” (I Cor 15:14 CEV).
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the single most important event in history – period! We don’t serve an idol. We don’t serve a man. We don’t serve a dead God. We serve a Living Savior – Jesus is His name! Over the 2,000 years since many have tried to discredit and discount the validity of Jesus’ Resurrection, but the truth lives on. As Dr. Charlie Parmer (one of my mentors) once said, “The most telling affirmation of the validity of His literal Resurrection was and is the dramatic change that it produced in the lives of those followers. From the weak, wavering, faltering, denying group of fishermen, tax collectors, etc.; the twelve plus the others became the most zealous, faithful, dynamic group who ever lived. They literally became burning evangels for the cause of Christ; and they totally turned the world up-side down for Him over the next 71 plus years. They were condemned, threatened, imprisoned, beaten, and commanded to be silent; but they just got right back out on the streets and just started preaching Jesus again – alive by Promise, dead by Purpose, Resurrected by (God’s) Power, and reigning for our good Measure and Pleasure!”
In Luke 24 we read the story of how the Resurrected Jesus met two men on the road to Emmaus. They were mourning His death without realizing that the Resurrected Christ Himself was walking with them. After Jesus took the time to explain to the men how He was concealed in the Law (through Moses) and the Prophets, the men did not want Him to leave. Everyone who comes in contact with Him wants the fellowship to continue. So Jesus broke break with them and our text tells us that He did four things: 1) He took the bread, 2) He blessed it, 3) He broke it, 4) He gave it. This is the same pattern Jesus used when He fed a crowd with a little boy’s lunch and during the Last Supper. This same pattern is repeated throughout the halls of history as Jesus does to us what He did to the bread. He takes us, blesses us, breaks us, and then gives us.
So what does this mean to you today? If you allow Him, the Resurrected Christ will:
1. Take you: Just as you are… failures, flaws, sin, and all. Nothing you have done can disqualify you from His love. He loves you JUST as you are.
2. Bless you: If you allow Him, He will bless you real-good! He will ‘love on you,’ fellowship with you, and manifest Himself to you. His blessing will overtake and overwhelm you!
3. Break you: If you want to truly be used of God you are going to have to allow Him to break you, change you, and transform you from the inside out. When you truly and totally surrender to Him He will transform you into His image and likeness.
4. Give you: This is the goal. After you are transformed He then turns around and presents you back to the world as a vessel of honor, ready to be used by the Master. The Father wants to GIVE you as a gift to every environment you step into!
Closing Confession: Father, I give myself to You completely. I ask You to use me for Your glory! Take me, bless me, break me, and give me back to the world as a gift from You. Use me to reach others. Manifest Your love through me to others. Use me as a conduit of Your grace, a vessel of Your peace, and an example of Your love. Release Your Resurrection Power in my life so that I will be transformed and so that You can effectuate transformation in the lives of others through me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
