Today the world celebrated Easter.  Have you ever looked up the origin of the Easter bunny?  Yahoo news said it’s a pagan celebration of a false goddess, Eostre, the goddess of dawn, and the hare and egg were signs of fertility.  Then Christian missionaries began teaching about Jesus and His resurrection and the pagan holiday somehow got combined with the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, so today we take our kids to Easter egg hunts and hide resurrection eggs to teach them about Jesus Christ and His resurrection.  We are all products of lost, confused souls, and somehow some of us are drawn to our Lord (by God Himself) and then we actually begin reading God’s Word and see how we’ve been led astray all our lives, and wish we had known back then what we do now, so we wouldn’t have made so many wrong decisions.  But you know what?  God accepts us where we are in our lives, and begins changing us from glory to glory.  All we have to do is seek Him through Jesus Christ and His holy Word.

This Easter morning God touched Lawrence and I, and awoke us so we could worship with other believers at the Son Rise Easter Service at Yett Park at 6:30 am.  We were blessed in many ways, and reunited with prayer partners we hadn’t seen for several years.  We were also blessed to meet a rising young preacher named Joshua who loves God’s Word evidently as much as we do.  Pastor Link gave a very educational sermon with lots of Scripture references (which I like) and we all prayed for rain!  The Lord has brought some to us this week, praise Him!  But Texas needs more!  Dr. Trotter shared Governor Rick Perry’s proclamation asking all Texans to pray for rain!  You see?  God is listening to us when we pray that our leaders in government turn to Him and lead our country according to His Word!  Thank You Father God, for blessing Governor Perry, and thank You for the rain you send on the just and the unjust.  Thank You for giving us life, and for our renewed, eternal life with You through Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We stand ready for service.  We’ve been drawn to You, by You.  Did you realize you must be drawn by God?

John 6:41-71 “41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Turn Away

60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”

Well, the Lord drew five more people to Him today!  After the sunrise service we went to our home church, Mt. Horeb Baptist Church, and after our renewing worship and service we caravanned to the Blanco River where Pastor Wade baptized five people!  It was great!  Spiritually rejuvenating!