Because He Lives...

I feel so blessed. Friday night and tonight I went to the small house church I attend and we sang and read scripture and watched parts of a film about Jesus and it was such a gift to be with those people and experience anew Christ's passion and love and the hope that we have because he didn't stay dead. We read Matthew 26:17-27:56 Friday night, then Matthew 27:57-66 tonight. I heard that a number of churches in Cambodia don't do anything special for Easter, and so the fact that this small group of people got together 3 nights in a row is amazing. As I was sitting there tonight, looking around at their faces, I wanted to laugh and cry, and I also just felt content. There was no where else that I wanted to be. Praise God that these people don't just worship God on Sunday. They really like Jesus! He's a part of their lives and they desire to be with Him and know Him. We watched the rest of the film tonight and when they showed the empty grave, one of the children asked, "Where did his body go?" It's the wonder of God that what he did through Christ is so powerful that each time we hear it, it is like we are hearing it for the first time. It's that amazing grace that makes no sense and always washes me again in awe that God would take pity on me in my wretchedness, take my sentence of death upon himself, and then wipe away all my transgressions like they never existed. Tonight we sang Because He Lives and isn't that really why we can call Friday good? Without his resurrection, we wouldn't have hope. Because He lives, I can trust what he said. Because He lives, I can also die and rise to new life. I can't wait for tomorrow morning!! =)