I took a ride Friday morning down to my parent's lake house on Oconee, for a home-cooked lunch from my mom, and a little moto-maintenance help from my dad. The ride down was, well, as close to heaven as I've felt in some time. Perfect riding conditions- cool temps, warm sun, gentle breeze, the world in full bloom, wide-open roads. The kind of morning that you want to freeze in time, and linger therein. In all, almost 2 hours of biker bliss!

Often as I ride, I worship and pray. I'm totally focused- on the road ahead, the bike beneath me, the world around me, and my Lord over me. I prayed for family & friends, I worshiped & praised for all the beauty in His world surrounding me, and I asked that He speak into my heart whatever He wanted to say to me. At one point, between Bostwick and Madison, I prayed, "Father, do I bring You pleasure? I want You to be proud of me." I felt His voice speak into my heart, "I am greatly pleased with you. I take great delight in you." It thrilled my heart, and I quickly replied, "Show me how I can bring You greater pleasure!" No sooner had those words crossed my mind, when He pretty much cut off my thought process with this truth- "You can't bring me anymore pleasure than you already do. I am fully pleased with you. I delight in you, not because of anything you do, but because you are Mine." I let the weight of that truth sink in, but still I responded, "Even with my faults and shortcomings? I struggle with my thought life, my tongue, my distractedness, my feelings of failure at home...I sometimes don't feel like I bring You much pleasure." To which He stated, "It doesn't matter. My pleasure in you is not based on what you do. Its based on My love for you. I delight in you."

I rode on the rest of the way, just letting that simple but profound truth settle into my heart. I knew it I think, I just needed Him to remind of me of it again. We let so many of the world's cares, fears, and sins burden us down, that we forget the great love of God for us, which we cannot earn, nor can we lose. Sometimes, we just need to unplug from the world and pull aside for a time, and let Him begin to speak again. I'll live for Him, not because I need to bring Him pleasure, but because He already is pleased with me.

Its Monday morning after Easter Sunday, and I'm reflecting on the weekend. On Good Friday, I spent some time sitting at our dining room table reading God's Word, the sun beaming in on my back through our bay windows. I was reading over the accounts in the Gospels about the day of Jesus' torture and execution, letting His incredible sacrifice for our sins really sink into my heart again. Jesus had endured a mock trial the night before, the treacherous Pharisees shuttling Jesus back and forth between Herod, Caiaphas and Pilate, trying any way they could to get a conviction on their trumped up charges against Him. I read again how Pilate finally granted their wishes, and turned Jesus over to be brutally tortured and crucified. Jesus hung on the cross for about 3 hours, between 12- 3pm most believe. I took a motorcycle ride with my daughter Ansley, and we reflected on awful events of that day. The incredible love of the Father and the Son, all for us, overwhelmed me with humble gratitude and praise.

Sunday morning was beautiful. I got up around 6:30am, and enjoyed my prayer time thanking God for that beautiful morning over 2000 years ago, when Jesus conquered sin and death and walked out of the tomb. That was the subject of our Bible story time in RockiTown. Imagine the broken hearts and shattered dreams of Jesus' followers, after watching their Savior brutalized, executed, then buried on Friday. "What do we do now?" I imagine them saying. Like Peter once told Jesus, "Who else could we could turn to? Only You have the words of eternal life." And now that all seemed lost. Since we know how the story goes, we forget that Jesus' followers didn't have that luxury. As the women arrived that morning at dawn, they only hoped to be able to get inside the tomb, to finish the job of preparing Jesus' body for permanent burial. As far as they knew, it was all over. But in fact, it had only just begun...

I imagine the shock, fear, confusion, then clarity and exhilaration at the news that Jesus was not in the grave, He was alive! And like John said at the beginning of his first letter, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life." This is no fairy tale, no myth or legend, no figment of someones overactive imagination. He was alive, and is today. That truth gives me hope, meaning, purpose, and the assurance that one day, I will rise again as well, to spend eternity with Him forever. That is the living hope for all who follow Jesus.

"I have overcome the world..." -Jesus