April 2021 Email Archive – Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come
I was really surprised last week…
to find new green growth springing from last year’s potted geranium that had been stowed in the dark without any water.
It was curious because, from all appearances, that plant was completely dead.
But then it wasn’t.
Yet… it doesn’t seem completely alive, either.
“I will not say that your mulberry trees are dead, but I am afraid they are not alive.”
– Jane Austen
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Remember those WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE posters from the Old West movies?
While it’s true that Christ came for us when we were DEAD in our sins (Ephesians 2:5), his desire is for us to get up and LIVE.
He wanted us when we were dead, but he wants us to come alive!
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you.”
Isaiah 60:1 (HCSB)
“Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.”
Ephesians 5:14 (HCSB)
What does that life look like?
The mission hasn’t changed. The work that Jesus announced in Luke 4:18-19 is the same work he now shares with us:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”
– Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)
Parting Words
If you are not dead, yet not quite alive either, ask God for the power to arise and live the life he has commissioned you for.
To your freedom, health, and wholeness,
AmyLu
P.S. For the greatest account of rising to life, see Matthew 26-28.
What I’m Writing Now: Inspirational Fiction
Spring is a beautiful time for growing things, and one of the characters in my new inspirational fiction series will soon find herself thinking about bringing an old garden back to life.
Plants have always inspired me. How about you? I’d love to hear what you’re planning—or planting—in this season of emerging buds and blooms! Just hit reply to send me an email.
As l continue to write this new inspirational fiction series, these emails are the place to get updates about my new books. Thank you for being here.
Faith with Wings by AmyLu Riley
Faith with Grit for the Not-Yet Healed by AmyLu Riley
Stay: Why I’m Still Here, A Spiritual Memoir by AmyLu Riley
Jesus as Healer by AmyLu Riley