A Glorious SONrise

I can see the evidence of Easter and spring all around me.  Daffodils, caladiums and petunias are bursting open all around my yard with radiant colors of pinks, yellows and lavenders. It’s a beautiful experience watching the green earth erupt with new life, feeling the warmth of the sun and smelling the fragrances of aromatic flowers. The death of winter has once again given way to the new life of spring, just as a spectacular sunrise pierces through the darkness of night to bring forth the radiance of the morning. I love to watch the dazzling show of radiant colors of a sunrise just as it begins to break through the horizon. Think for a moment of the most spectacular sun rise you have ever laid your eyes upon. For me, the most memorable sunrise that stands out in my mind came, like all sunrises, after a period of darkness in my life.  No, it wasn’t while I was vacationing abroad, at the beach or in the mountains but rather in a cold dark hospital room in Baltimore MD. It was during an intense 5 week battle against a life threatening infection, that I undeniably felt God walk through those days with me and reveal Himself to me like never before.  The following is an excerpt from my journal during the period after my kidney/pancreas transplant from the day things first began to turn around for my health:


“This morning I was awakened as usual at 5:30am for my daily lab work. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to open the curtain and look at the skyline. At that moment, I witnessed one of the most spectacular sunrises I have ever seen in my life. The Sun was barely in the horizon and was emitting just enough light for me to be able to see the beautiful morning sky bursting with streaks of lavender, amber and burgundy. I had traveled to many places, the mountains, the country side, the beach but who would have ever believed the most beautiful sunrise I could remember was in downtown Baltimore, a city filled with crime and poverty made up of nothing but concrete and tall buildings. It is a scene that will be forever etched in my memory, a scene that could only be created by God. These past few weeks have served as a turning point in my life. A time that has taught me to appreciate things that for so many years I have taken for granted. As the glare of the sun burst into my room, the light was almost blinding but I distinctly remember how it warmed my entire body. I haven’t been outside in weeks and the warmth was a welcome reminder to life outside the 4 walls of a cold hospital. As I basked in the light, I pictured myself standing in the presence of Jesus with the brilliance of His Glory reflecting and filling me with the warmth of His peace and comfort.  I believe it was God’s reminder to me that He has “RISEN” to give me a new life both physically and spiritually. It was a reminder of His promise that the worst part of the transplant was over with and although the five weeks may have seemed like the darkness of night, to remember Joy always comes in the morning. This was my morning to begin my Joy...”


Perhaps that particular sunrise is so memorable to me is because although it may have been the fall of the year, it was springtime in my life both physically and spiritually. Perhaps it was because it was the first time I truly felt what it was like to have the Risen Son rise up in my heart! The only way I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of the message God gave me that morning through an ordinary, everyday sunrise in Baltimore MD was by first experiencing a period of darkness that had left me desperate for some little glimpse of light.

 Easter is the day we celebrate the most Glorious SONrise in history; the day Our Lord, the SON of God arose from the darkness of death. The Risen Son is the most spectacular gift we have ever been given. But to fully appreciate the beauty of the brilliance of The Risen SON, we have to remember the period of darkness that led up to such a Spectacular SONrise. Spring only comes after winter; sunrises only come after darkness and the resurrection can only come after death. I often speak the phrase “Jesus died on the Cross for our sins”, but this week I have made a conscious effort to sit down and actually reflect on what that dark death entailed. After doing so, I am saddened that I have ever used such an meaningful phrase so loosely. You see the death of our innocent Savior did not involve a lethal injection leading to a humane and quick death. Crucifixion was the most humiliating death sentence during Jesus’ time consisting of hours of torture, suffering and finally being physically nailed to a cross. I would prefer to think Jesus bypassed that part and went straight into eternal life but that is not how it happens; not even for God. Having faith does not equal an avoidance of pain but rather a demonstration that somewhere, somehow and in some unexpected way, the darkness of pain fades into the light of God’s grace and love.

As I reflect on the Passion and Resurrection of Christ I wonder if I will ever fully grasp the significance of what really took place on that day, what it actually means, why it had to happen and how it changed the course of our eternal destiny? The hours before Jesus’ Resurrection were terribly dark not only physically but spiritually. Yes, He could see ahead the suffering He was about to endure and literally began to sweat drops of blood. The Son of God could have easily saved Himself but as He looked ahead He also saw you and me loss in our sin with no way out. He knew He could not save Himself and save us too so He moved forward with His Father’s plan. During the hours leading up to His death, He was betrayed and denied by His disciples whom He loved deeply; by Judas for 30 pieces of silver and the others out of fear.  The Son of God who only spoke the truth was put on trial and falsely accused of blasphemy. The Roman Guards then mocked and beat Him without mercy and beyond recognition with a barbed whip at the pleasure of the boisterous crowd who were crying "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” They shoved a crown of sharp spiked thorns upon His head then repeatedly drove it into His head by striking it over and over again; piercing it deeper and deeper into his flesh.  Weak from the brutal beatings, frail from the loss of blood and dehydration, all bruised black and blue; Jesus started his long trek up Calvary Hill where he was forced to carry a heavy cross while again being whipped, ridiculed, and spat upon. He was later nailed to that same cross with 7 inch iron spikes that were driven though his wrists and feet. While He hung on the cross, the torture and ridicule continued by the Roman Guards, Religious Leaders and unruly crowd who never once realized the reason Jesus  was up there dying was for them.

But despite all of this torture, pain and humiliation Our Savior was experiencing, He still showed compassion and love for others. He had compassion for His followers as they wept for Him. He comforted and warned them saying “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves, and for your children.” His first words from the cross were, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He saw His mother standing by the cross weeping, and asked His disciple John to take care of her. There were two thieves executed on each side of Jesus and when one of them accepted Him as Lord, Jesus had mercy on him saying, "Today you shall be with me in paradise." That day, the Son of God took the weight of the whole world’s sin; past, present and future upon Him. I can imagine that must have felt like the equivalent of the world’s largest tidal wave surging down on one small human being.  And because of this, for the first time in time in all of eternity, Jesus felt what it was like to be separated from His Father as God had to look away from the sin Jesus had took upon Himself. Darkness came over the land from noon until 3:00pm and at the end of that period, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli Eli lema sabachthani?” (Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Finally, Jesus expressed his complete surrender to the will of God as He said, "It is finished;"  "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."  THAT... is what it means when we say “Jesus died on the cross for our sins.”

 Yes, that was a very dark period but if that was the end of the story, if Jesus’ life ended there on the cross, then that would have meant our lives would have ended there as well. We would remain dead in our sins with no hope of eternal peace and stand before God condemned to eternal darkness. No, Jesus dying on the cross was not the end of the story. No, the climax of the greatest story in HIS-story was still yet to come… For very early on Sunday morning, after three days and just as Jesus foretold, there burst forth a brilliant and intense crimson light as red as His blood that was shed for all humanity on the cross. The light pierced through the darkness of death that overshadowed the horizon and the SON began to rise. Inch by glorious inch…the SON victoriously rose that first Easter morning, overcoming darkness and forever removing the sting of death.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees that all of God’s promises are true. Our sins have been forgiven; we have been set free from the fear of death and the impossible burden of pleasing God by our own works and good deeds. On that morning; night gave way to the day, darkness gave way to the light, and death gave way to life.  “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Matthew 4:16.

That glorious morning the Son came out to stand atop an empty tomb; and has claimed  victory over death. God’s brilliant light has come to give hope for all people. Yes, Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him on the cross, but because of His great love for mankind, He willingly stretched out His arms to die just as if He was demonstrating to us how far He has removed from us our sins; as far as the east is from the west; all sins past, present and future. He paid a tremendous debt owed by each and every sinner who has lived yesterday, today and tomorrow in order to offer us hope of eternal peace and life. Our debt cost Jesus the ultimate price; it cost Him His life and it was paid in full. The cost for us to enjoy the hope of eternal life is extremely small in comparison.He has given us free will and we must choose to accept His gift of salvation. We must realize we are all sinners and our sins separate us from God.  We must then repent and turn away from those sins. We have to believe that Jesus died for our sins and that his cross is the one and only bridge that connects us back to God. We have to invite Him into our hearts and lives and we have to live for Him alone. That may seem like a high price for some people but just look at what it buys you – a glorious SONrise in your heart that can never set or fade away and the right to live eternally with Jesus and Our Father in paradise.

 The rising of God’s SON marked the start of something new for us all…a chance to be a new creation through the blood of Christ. There may have been a great darkness during the night but there was an even greater joy that came on Sunday morning!  So this beautiful Easter morning, and every morning yet to come for that matter, as we look to the eastern sky to watch for the SON rise in the horizon, let it be a reminder of the most glorious SONrise in history given by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that not only brought forth to us a new day, but a new ETERNITY!

Bless the Lord o my soul, may I never forget all your promises. You forgive me of all my sins, you heal my diseases and you have placed your Glorious SONrise forever in my heart!

All That I’m Cracked Up to Be

               ^"Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 GNT

            “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Corinthians 2: 8-9 NIV

            The Apostle Paul considers us as fragile pots of clay; ordinary, run of the mill, weak pieces of earthenware susceptible to being chipped, cracked and even shattered at times. If you are living and breathing right now, chances are the sting of adversity has at some point left you feeling like a broken and useless pot of clay.  Perhaps your clay pot came crashing down by the death of a precious loved one or maybe it began during the difficult time of caring for them as they battled a horrible illness.  It could have been when you yourself were diagnosed with a debilitating disease (or maybe even 2 or 3) and realized how many limitations you would endure. Perhaps it was when you lost your job which you were good at, loved and thought you would have forever; taking along with it, your sense of financial security and self worth. Maybe there was a crack that started from a broken relationship, a troubled child, an addiction, a financial hardship, a never ending battle with weight, or even on the day you stepped back to examine your life and realized it looks nothing like the one you had so carefully planned out.

             Dealing with trials, disappointments and challenges sometimes make us feel as if we are simultaneously watching all of our hopes, plans and dreams go crashing onto the floor. The mayhem left behind barely resembles the pot we once envisioned ourselves to be; worthless at best.  A vessel unfit to hold worthless items of a lowly peasant and certainly not the treasure of the Most High King, yet the Bible tells us the opposite.  God chooses to place His most valuable Precious Treasure in a clay pot…hard to comprehend, but the very Presence of the Almighty God is placed inside of US! The King of all Kings is surely worthy of a flawless vessel of gold and silver to hold His Divine treasure yet He chooses us instead; feeble pots of clay that easily crack during the tribulations of life. Why in the world would He do such a thing?  So that He and He alone will receive the glory by making it evident the work being done is by the Power of God and not by the power of the vessel. He wants us to know our container is only made valuable by what it contains.

            You see, when a clay pot gets cracked they begin to pour out their contents. Likewise, when a weak human filled with the light of Christ, is hard pressed; perplexed; persecuted or struck down, they begin to pour out Christ.  On the other hand, if the vessel is never disturbed, the contents inside will just sit there. So that being said, if you have the light of Christ inside of you, being called a “CRACKED POT” is not a bad thing after all. Having cracks doesn’t mean God has forsaken us at all. Rather, it means that has trusted us to pour out His Treasure so that others may experience Him. God used Gideon; the least member of the least tribe of Israel to lead 300 men to triumph over 135,000 Midanites so there would be absolutely no doubt that the victory was God’s alone. However, the victory came to God’s people only after Gideon and his 300 men broke their clay pots allowing the lights held inside to brightly shine forth.  (Judges 7:20)

             As Christians, we shouldn’t be ashamed of our cracks or try to cover them up because doing so, could likewise cover up a ministry that God has planned for our lives. God’s glory is not revealed in spite of our human weaknesses but rather through them! As I live in a culture that is driven by high self esteem that was a hard concept for me to grasp and to be honest, something I still easily seem to forget.  I spent many years of my life trying to hide my illness from people because I didn’t want my weakness to automatically be equated with being damaged, useless or my all time favorite…“a high risk”.  I spent an endless amount of energy trying to prove that I was strong and “had it all together” but the truth is, the charade sucked up every last bit of energy I had; multiplying my cracks and thus making me sicker.  Eventually, my charade came to a screeching halt the day I was found unconscious on the floor at work and woke up in a hospital emergency room. My secret was out but to my surprise, as more people learned of my weaknesses; struggles and challenges they would come to me, not to pity or to belittle me but rather to find hope, support and encouragement with their own illness.

           The day my patch of pride was ripped off was the day that God initiated a new ministry for my life.  Through my exposed cracks, the hope and the light of Jesus was able to shine through on to other people who really needed a testimony that God will strengthen the weak, comfort the brokenhearted and heal the sick; a testimony that human weakness is opportunity for God’s Divine strength. Oh how it saddens me to think of the missed opportunities to be used by God to minister to others because my pride filled patch prevented me from doing so. Now there are people of this world who still look at me and see nothing but my weakness and brokenness but that’s only because they are choosing to look at me and well, if you choose to only look at my vessel, then I can guarantee you will be disappointed.  If you choose however to look beyond my cracks to see what is seeping out, you will understand that everything that I am able to do in this life is by the undeniable Power of Christ and not my own.

             As I watch my uncle battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease struggle and fight for His life, I see a clay pot  with more cracks right now than I can ever begin to count.  Yet God is showing me that every single leaking crack in His vessel has a purpose. They are watering seeds with Living Water and fertilizing them with the light of Christ; glorifying Him in ways we may never know of on this earth. In order to know this, you only have to speak to the people who surround him every day and stay at his bedside every night. The light shining forth from my uncle’s cracks are reflecting off of his family and I see them growing spiritually in a way that only comes from being exposed to the light of Christ.  

            Each of us has our own unique flaws so that God can use us to minister to each other. I need yours and you need mine. We are all “CRACKED POTS” but if we allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to bring Him glory and honor. I am not saying in any way that is an easy thing to do, but I have to believe that God has a purpose and plan for everything; often far beyond what I can see.  I have to believe that in God’s economy, nothing goes to waste as long as we depend on Him and not on ourselves. Not one single tear, not one ounce of pain, not one minute of suffering – NOTHING IS WASTED – that is what helps me plow through. You may look at your life today and say, “I am a ruined mess with too many flaws, too many hurts and way too many cracks.” You must remember that “cracked pots” become great weapons in the hands of God! I want to encourage you to not stay in pieces on the floor.  Allow the God of All Comfort to pick you up, mend you and use you as a portal for light that reveals His power at work to others.

            I pray I can boldly live my life knowing that no matter how severe my cracks may be that God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)  I want God to use my imperfect, flawed, “cracked pot“ to become a beacon for His light so that other broken people will see and be drawn to Him.

 …I want to be all that I have been cracked up to be!