Easter Meditations and What Resurrection Day Means to Me

I love this time of year! Spring is my favorite season, and Easter is my favorite holiday. I like it even more so than Christmas. Yes, I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it is a wondrous thing. But, for me, Easter, or Resurrection Day, means more to me, personally. Easter is such an inspiring holiday, because it signals the time for regrowth, new life, and new beginnings. Here are some Bible verses that have brought me peace, that have inspired me.

1Peter1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...
This one, in particular, carried me through a tough time in my life. A few years ago, my mother was diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimers. I was her sole caregiver for years, until her death two years ago. During our time together, we grew very close, closer than we were before. I, literally, fell in love with my mother, as I watched her struggle with the disease. When she died, I lost it. I didn't handle her death very well, and I couldn't understand why. After much meditating, I picked up the Bible and read that verse. I must have read it over and over again, several times. FInally, a world of pain was lifted from me. My mother lives in my heart, in my memories, and she was reborn. When I went outside and saw the roses blooming, I saw my mother. The verse gave me a different way of looking at her death.

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
My mother was a firm believer in Jesus Christ. I used to hear her talking to him, as she rocked in her chair. This verse is very comforting. I smile whenever I read it, because I know that my mother is alive, even though she died.

Romans 1:4-5
And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
I am not one to force my beliefs on others, but this verse inspires me to be a messenger for God by example. I don't have to say anything, but I have people approach me and tell me how wonderful they feel around me. All I do is smile. Many times I esteem others by giving them compliments. There is always something beautiful I find, in each and every individual that I come across.

Mark 16 1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

This tells me that the dead are alive in other forms. That's one of the reasons that when I see roses, I see my mother. She loved roses, and I always kept fresh ones in her room for her. In this verse, the young man in the white robe is jesus Christ, but Mary Magdalene doesn't see him as she remembers him. He has taken a different form. How wonderful!!! Our loved ones never die.

Matthew 27:50-53
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people
I used to feel sad when I thought about my father-in-law, and how I'd never see him again, about my nephew, who at the age of nineteen died in a tragic accident. But once I understood that with Jesus's death, and subsequent resurrection, that all of my loved ones are still alive, it comforted me greatly. They all loved the Lord and believed. I take comfort knowing that I can see them anytime I want, that to live in my heart, is not to die.