Traditionally this is the Easter season where we celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, the Saviour of the world. Praise God that we can celebrate Jesus’ resurrection every day of our lives. Let all the earth rejoice – JESUS IS ALIVE! Let us remember this in our darkest hour. Jesus said, Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Is Jesus my greatest treasure? If I allow Him to be and declare Him Lord of my life, then I will know His peace in the midst of circumstances I would prefer not to have. This is where I prove God to be who He says He is. Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Thee.” Our minds are a wonderful gift from God. Let us seek to bring every thought into captivity to Jesus and His resurrection life in us. The resurrection life of Christ celebrated at Easter can be our daily portion. Let us walk, talk and live worthy of Him.

A sister gave testimony that as a young Christian she had struggled in the dark moments in her life. Only in retrospect could she see where the Lord had helped her through the circumstances. As she questioned the Lord about her struggles during those periods the Lord gave her a promise. He told her that He was going to bring her to a place where, when life’s circumstances became more difficult, that she would not feel abandoned to struggle, but be aware that God, as her Father, was indeed her refuge and a very present help in times of struggle. The following scripture became true to her as the Lord fulfilled His promise: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” Psalm 46:1. She learned to enter into the secret place of fellowship and trust in God, during the trials of life and discovered the joy and peace of the Lord, in the midst of the trial. We discover the treasures of darkness as Jesus gives us the sweetest song to sing in the “midnights” of our lives. Isaiah 45:3 “And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places.”

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As we continue our spiritual journey we are always facing new challenges. Acts 4:32-37, Acts 5:1-11 records details of the multitudes of lives changed after the Holy Spirit infilling. Great grace and great power was evident in their lives as they witnessed to others of the resurrection life of Jesus. Many who had possessions and land sold them and shared what they had amongst their companions, insomuch that there was no lack of anything to anyone of them.

Acts 5 gives the account of Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Ghost and kept back part of the price they had received for selling a possession. It is often quoted that God meets people where they are. This is true. The problem with Ananias and Sapphira was that they were not transparent, walking in truth. They pretended to be identified with the people who gave their all, but secretly kept back part of the price for themselves. If they had been open about it, God would have met them because He is obligated to truth, but they lied and tried to hide what they had done. God wiped them out.

It was a day when great power and great grace were in operation, but at such times there is also greater accountability to a righteous God, and there was also great judgement.

The challenge to each of us is: Am I holding back part of the price? Am I living in a false way, saying one thing and yet hanging on to things that God requires me to surrender? It is not only possessions that can possess us, but also our rights. Oswald Chambers often spoke of surrendering our right to ourselves. In the natural this is present in all of us and surrender is required on a daily basis as situations come. God is not a hard taskmaster. He is a loving Heavenly Father who seeks the very best for each one of us. We can never out give God. The desire of His heart is to bless us, but He is bringing many sons and daughters “to glory” – His glory, and His purposes will never be thwarted. If He is not Lord of all in my life, then I have not made Him Lord at all. Everything we possess in our lives is ours by the hand of His grace and favour. We are just stewards of all He has given, to do with as He pleases and directs. We may quote glibly that we are not our own, that we are bought with a price and yet our actions may not marry up to our words if we just do what pleases ourselves, fulfilling our whims instead of God’s ways. Jesus only ever did the things that pleased His Father. He came to do His Father’s will, not His own, on this earth.

Our Father seeks to take us into the fullness of His Son. He cannot live in fullness when I am full of me! Be encouraged! You may not have arrived, but you surely know if you have left! By God’s grace, a lot of things have left us, like the moulting feathers on a bird – they are discarded because they are no longer needed when the NEW LIFE pushes through. The new life of the incorruptible seed of the Lord Jesus Christ will daily challenge us to a surrendered walk with Him. Surrender is only painful when I struggle and resist. As I surrender to His will, His will becomes so sweet to me as Jesus walks with me, talks with me and reminds me I am His own. When He becomes the essence of my day, there is nothing that can compare with the joy and peace of His divine presence. Our hearts would keep us in the safety zones of the shore, but there we will never find the fulfillment that comes from abandoning the “safety nets” of our comfort zones. When we swim out into the depths of the ocean trusting God alone, He will meet us in ways we never thought possible. Only God, our Father, can make the impossible possible. What is His challenge to me today?