Happy Easter!

Today is the day that we celebrate Jesus Christ being raised from the dead to live again after He was crucified on the cross thereby giving us the gift of salvation.  He came and walked among us but was without sin Himself.  He willingly took on our sins as part of God's plan to redeem us so that we could return to relationship with Him and end the separation. John 3:16- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Easter has always been a favorite holiday of mine because of the hope that it brings and the promise of renewal.  I think I also really enjoyed Easter because it occurs around my bithday. I grew up in Maine which is well known for the long gray winters. Easter ushers in spring, which is a marvelous sight to behold as everything springs back to life in such cheerful ways.

Like spring, I also feel that I have begun to come back to life.  God has truly heard our prayers and as the cancer recedes my body is springing back to life.  Everyday I am making strides back to a feeling of health and vitality.  I am able to work more.  I able to stand long enough to do more cooking and cleaning and even though doing the dishes hurts my back I am growing stronger and stronger.

I want to thank God for allowing me the time that I have and for the future time that He will give me to be with my family and to serve my community.  I want to thank those of you who have so blessed me with your prayers and petitions.  I believe that my good health is a direct result of the petitioning we have agreed upon and have made.  If you look to the right of this post you will see an orange heading for "A Scripture and Prayer Petition for Susan Rebecca" which is a collection of verses and petitions that many of you have been praying over me.

Included in that petition are the following verses:

Jeremiah 29:11-14a
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you…

Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted. “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.”

I leave you then with this verse...

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I am celebrating Easter today with a glad heart.  I am praising God for my good health and I am thankful to you who have so faithfully prayed for me.  I believe it has made all the difference.

Susan