Maybe you woke up this morning feeling less than. Well, are you ready to be lifted up on this Monday morning? Are you ready to receive life today, direction for today, and energy to do exactly what needs to be done today? God is here to meet you, to revive and restore you. Where have you been running ragged? Where have you been defeated? Where are you weary from the fight? Come receive from the Father and be resurrected.

Jesus is the resurrected King and he is here to resurrect you. He died on the cross, he was buried in the tomb for 3 days, then he was resurrected, meaning he was revived, restored and lifted up. And all of this was for you. Yes, for your ticket to Heaven, but also for this exact day in your life. Today. What Jesus did for you was for TODAY.

One of my favorite songs is called “Resurrecting” by Elevation Worship. It says:

By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By his spirit you will rise from the ashes of defeat. We don’t have to live defeated. We don’t have to stay stuck. He endured death for us so that we could experience life, true life. Are you experiencing the life he died to give you, or have you been saving up your glorious days for when you get old? Why would we ever hold back? Why would we settle for days half-lived and dreams unpursued when the price has already been paid? That’s craziness. God has given you victory. Yes, victory in eternity, but victory here too. Defeat was not his plan when he imagined your life. Defeat is not his will. However, he will use a few losses along the way to create a champion. He will use those valuable experiences of learning exactly what you DON’T WANT in your life to show you what you do want. He will allow you to walk the wrong path for a season and see for yourself what DOESN’T WORK, so you know first had what not to do again. You will get knocked down in this life, but his intention is never for you to stay down. His spirit is here today to lift you up. To resurrect you. The resurrected King is resurrecting you, reviving, restoring, and lifting you up again.

As a 15 year old girl, I accepted Jesus on an Easter Sunday morning in a little country church in Ava, Missouri. A few weeks later I was baptized. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. A pastor dunks you in water, you come up looking all surprised and slighty bewildered, then walk away dripping wet. Why do some religions do this? It’s a sign of the resurrected king resurrecting us.

Romans 6:3-5 in The MSG translation says – “When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going.”
We no longer live in darkness. We have been raised into a light-filled world where we now know where we’re going. We are guided and directed by the almighty. I find it not only comforting, but inspiring to know that God has a plan for me and he’s guiding my every step to help me step into his good plan. He’s lighting my way. He’s lifting me up. He’s continually resurrecting me.

You don’t have to live like you used to live. You don’t have to continue to struggle. You don’t have to be the same if you want to change, and here’s why, because the resurrected King is resurrecting you. The benefits of Jesus aren’t just for taking you to Heaven. Sure that’s fantastic, but the benefits of Jesus are here for you today. His offer to raise you into a light-filled world where there was once darkness is available to you right now, in this very moment.

Won’t you let him lift you up today? It is not God’s will for his girl to be depressed today. Nor is it his will for you to struggle to get out of bed and dread the day. This day, today, Monday November 25th, 2019 is part of his great plan and he has some living for you to do. Living as a lifted up, restored, renewed, revived, thriving life reaping the benefits of a resurrected King who loves you dearly.

Decide now this is how you will live this day. The price has already been paid for you to THRIVE in this life. Restoration and renewal is available for you. There’s nothing you could do that would disqualify you from what Jesus is offering you. Nothing. Your sin is no bigger than mine. The only problem is if we continue to roll around in that sin and refuse God’s help to climb up out of it. How foolish would that be? God is offering us a great big, beautiful, overflowing life of freedom and we’re like “nah, I like this mess I’ve created. I prefer to sit in my struggle and pick at my scabs. I’ll just stay in darkness.” That’s just stupid. Plain ol’ stupid. Let’s not do that today.

The resurrected king wants to know if you would like to be lifted up today. What’s your answer?

He wants to know if you want help making those changes. What’s your answer?

He wants to know if you would like a little help in knowing what to do next. What’s your answer?

He wants to know if you want to be fully restored and revived today. What’s your answer?

He wants to know if you would like to trade your defeat for victory. What’s your answer?

How often we forget our ashes don’t define us. All the big plans that went up in smoke – all the failures of our past, those are the ashes that God exchanges for beauty. Yes, beauty for ashes. Victory for defeat. Light where there was once darkness. Clarity anywhere there is confusion. Renewal where we are ready to quit. What a bargain he is offering to you today. Don’t miss it.

Be renewed today. Be restored today. Be lifted up. Come alive, fully alive, in the name of Jesus, and step into your destiny. Begin living the life you were created to live as the person you were created to be. This is what resurrection looks like, and it’s all yours, paid for by a creator and his son who love you wildly, relentlessly, and RIGHT NOW!