I Love My State :)

Wishing Hawaii A Blessed, Victorious Resurrection Sunday
By Daniel de Gracia, II and Dr. Stephen Lowell Swisher, 4/10/2009 1:15:41 PM

This Sunday, April 12, we would like to wish the people of Hawaii a blessed, victorious Resurrection Sunday as they spend time with their families and commemorate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “our Savior, Christ Jesus … has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” Jesus Himself said, “whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me: that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

There are so many issues, struggles, and sorrows that are part of the human experience. The weight of this world is an excessive burden that has broken many hearts and shattered many dreams. There are things that happen that defy rational explanation and leave us often wondering for lifetimes, “Why?” The message of the Resurrection is that God never intended us to live under a curse, and His love for us was so great that to restore the Blessing to us, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the world and to accept upon himself the curse. When Jesus rose from the grave three days later, He rose a triumphant conqueror over the power of death and the mediator of a new covenant of blessing. Jesus rose from the dead with power and authority to have dominion over all things in Heaven and on Earth.

Today, God wants to invest the full measure of His Blessing upon our lives. Today, the authority that was won by Jesus’ death is God’s free gift to all those who are willing to place their faith in Him. As it is written, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

We don’t have to live in fear of sickness, death, loneliness, financial destitution, strife, shame or any of the things that this world fears. The Bible says “it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” and “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

Ronald Reagan once said, “We can do better than before. All we need to have is faith, and that dream will come true. All we need to do is act, and the time for action is now.” It’s time that the people of Hawaii stop being put to shame and held captive by fear. The answer to every problem that faces us today is still the same as it was two thousand years ago - and that is Jesus Christ.
May God bless all of you with His favor and abundant life as you celebrate the Resurrection and come to the knowledge that Jesus is Lord.

Daniel de Gracia, II is an ordained minister and has a master’s degree in political science from Southwest Texas State University. Dr. Stephen Lowell Swisher is a senior executive with Kenneth Copeland Ministries, the author of “God’s Way To Good Health” and holds doctorates from United Theological Seminary and Dorchester University. Both are part of a national campaign for religious freedom known as Believers Stand United. Find out more by visiting http://www.believersstandunited.com