Risen

“He isn’t here!  He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.  Come, see where his body was lying.” (Matt. 28:6)

He isn’t here.  He is risen.  Risen from the dead.  Although He took the sin, the disease, the hurt, the pain, the trauma and the wounds of the whole world, He has risen where He is now seated in the Kingdom of love with our heavenly Father.

He has risen.

Risen above the noise.  Risen above the chaos.  Risen above every voice that tries to define me, lie to me, or tell me I’m something I’m not.  Risen above every wrong I’ve ever committed and risen above every wrong committed against me.  Risen above insecurity.  Risen above fear.  Risen above doubt.

When I revisit the grave, the grave of the old, the grave of what once was but now isn’t, I am reminded, “He isn’t here.  He has risen.”  I look up to where He is seated with the Heavenly Father and I am invited to rise with Him.

I am invited to step into the new.  I am invited to step into the resurrected, the redeemed, the restored.  I am invited to step into a Kingdom cascading with love.  Yes, He is here.  As I take brave steps away from the grave of everything I once knew, He is here in the wide-open spaces.  Where He is there is Freedom.  Finally, my eyes see beyond the limited scope of an empty tomb and adjust to the sun illuminating a world of beauty beyond anything I can imagine.  Fresh breath fills my lungs as if for the first time.  Finally, I understand that it was never intended for me to stay behind in an empty tomb.

He has risen.  And because He has risen, I am risen too.