non-stop
"God freed Him from death's bitter pangs, however, and raised Him up again, for it was impossible that death should keep its hold on Him." —Acts 2:24
Alleluia! Today is the second day of fifty days of glory. Easter is not just a memory but is as real as an empty tomb and Jesus' glorified body raised from the dead. Alleluia!
He is risen! Alleluia! Satan could not stop Jesus from rising. However, he can try to stop us from proclaiming Jesus' resurrection to the world. He's so desperate he will bribe us to shut up or even lie about the resurrection — if not in our words then by our refusal to let the risen Jesus change lives (see Mt 28:12-13). Satan may even try to convince people we are drunk or crazy (Acts 2:13), as he attempted to convince people at the first Pentecost. However, when we witness for the risen Christ by proclaiming God's word and live the radically new risen life, we defeat Satan and bear witness with power to Jesus' resurrection (Acts 4:33).
Jesus has risen from the dead, but are we still buried in our tomb of fear, selfishness, and sin? If we repent, roll away the stone of sin, and rise to tell the world the good news of the risen Christ, then we defeat Satan and have reason to expect our bodies will rise with Jesus on the last day. If we won't let Satan stop our resurrection witness, we won't let him stop our resurrection.
Prayer: Father, may I not let the good news of Jesus' resurrection be put under the bushel of sinful silence (see Lk 8:16).
Promise: "You will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will You suffer Your faithful one to undergo corruption." —Acts 2:27-28
Praise: Margaret returned to the Church on Easter Vigil and, by the grace of God, her husband and children entered in with her.
Reference: (Be a resurrection witness to others by using the Bible. For encouragement, order our series on Biblical Counseling on audio AV 13A-1, AV 13A-3, AV 13B-1 or video starting with V-13A.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 14, 2007
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