Happy Resurrection Sunday!!  My pastor’s message this morning, focusing on the stone that was rolled away as the women went to anoint Jesus’ body according to their burial traditions, went so much deeper into something relevant to our lives today.

Mark 16:2-3 ~ “And very early on the first day of the week they came to the tomb: (by then) the sun had risen.  And they said to one another, Who will roll back the stone for us..?” Amplified version

Do you have stones in your life? Not real actual stones, but stones of anger, resentment, regret, shame, sin, grief, relationship difficulties, financial struggles?  Maybe your stone is something else, but equally debilitating in your life. These are all stones that can stand in our way of walking in the fullness of life that Jesus died to give us.

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How about not yet knowing Jesus?  Have you never committed your life to Him?  That can be the largest of all stones, and He can remove that one right now!  Just pray the simple prayer below to turn your life over to Jesus, and He will remove that stone and turn your life around for you.

*Thank you Lord Jesus for shedding Your blood on the cross in payment for my sins and for offering me the gift of eternal life with You.  I am truly sorry for and repent of my sins. I turn from them and open my heart and invite You into my life.  I commit to follow you the rest of my days.  By faith I receive the gift you provided for me, and I acknowledge You as my Lord and Savior.  Amen

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My pastor discussed three stones we can have in our life that Jesus can help us get rid of.  One is the stone of trying to handle life on our own.

Galatians 3:3 warns us to consider the foolishness of trying to handle this on our own without seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.  Hear what it says: “Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun your new life spiritually with the Holy Spirit, are you now reaching perfection by dependence on the flesh?” Amplified Version  Once saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, why would we not tap into His resources but rather attempt to return to our old ways of trying to do things in our own strength?  Oh how this is a word for us all!

The second stone my pastor listed was the sin of struggling.  Life can certainly throw some challenges at us but when we know Jesus and have the Holy Spirit living inside us, we are foolish to allow the cares of this world, the struggles, to get us down.  Jesus will help us!  We simply need to roll those cares over onto Him.  He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us; we just need to ask Him and listen for His direction.  So much in the world seems desirable and lures us into thinking we want it or need it, but hear what the word of God says:

I John 2:15-17 ~ “Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh (craving for sensual gratification) and the lust of the eyes (greedy longings of the mind) and the pride of life (assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things)-these do not come from the Father but are from the world itself. And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.” Amplified version

So much of what we experience in this world will one day pass away, and the day is coming closer every day!  Unless we focus our lives on God and the truths He has given us in His word, we will miss out on God’s best for us, and we may even miss out on eternity in Heaven with Him!  Believe me, the alternative is not pretty!!

The last thing my pastor spoke about was how impossible things can look in life when we focus on our stones, our struggles, our circumstances.  I once heard it said, “What are you doing down under the circumstances?  Get up on top of them!”  Jesus is the Way to getting on top of our circumstances, He is the answer to our struggles, and He is the One who can roll away our stones!

On that Resurrection Sunday many years ago, it was the shed blood of Jesus the Christ, our Supreme Sacrifice, that had the power to remove the stone from the grave, and it is that same power that is available to us today and every day.

Jesus will roll away every stone!

So how about it my friend?  Still wondering why you need Jesus? Click Here.