He Lives!

As most of you may know, I have struggled over the past few years with the celebration of such holidays as Easter and Christmas....

Halloween was an easy one to give up even with the children.  It more obviously has Pagaen roots and does not give glory to our God in anyway.

However you can go round about on Easter and Christmas and justify our celebration.

This year was the first year we did not have a basket or egg hunt at all.  We only celebrated our Christ's resurrection.  As my husband would say, Happy Resurrection Day!

So I am lead to share a story about St. Patrick.  We know of St. Patrick's Day and wearing our Irish green, but do we really know who St. Patrick was as a person?

Patrick was the son of a deacon  in Wales, in the United Kingdom, his grandfather was a priest.  Patrick wanted nothing to do with his father's faith as he believed to follow Christ was to give up his dreams.  Around 400 A.D. at sixteen, Patrick was captured and sent on a slave ship to Ireland.  Patrick decided that this was judgement from God for the way he was behaving.

His years in slavery led him to a closer relationship to God.  Patrick escaped after six years and started studying for the ministry.  He had a dream that a man holding  a stack of letters begging him to come back to Ireland.  How could he take God's love message to those who enslaved him?

He asked God what to do.  In a dream he saw himself praying to the Lord for guidance.  From that day forward, taking the good news to the people of Ireland was the only thing he had any heart to do.

In those days, Ireland was a land of violence and death.  They worshiped a multitude of gods.  The Druid priests and the tribal leaders had a showdown with Patrick on his first Easter in Ireland as a free man.  It was their tradition to light a fire on the hillside on that Easter Saturday night.  There was to be no light burning but theirs.

In direct defiance of the pagan tradition, Patrick lit a fire to the Lord.  As a punishment he was ordered to appear before the king of Ireland..  He told him he was no threat as he came with the Good News of Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

Patrick stopped running from the God he thought was ruining his life and fell in love with a God that gave him a life worth living.  Patrick went on to serve the Lord and the Irish people baptizing more than 120,000 Irish men and women and planting three hundred churches.

You see, brothers and sisters, we are all saints.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, God sets us aside as His children called to His purpose to serve Him.  That is what a saint is.  We do not have to do anything extreme but we are called to share His Good News and worship Him.  Bless Him.  Grow in Him.

Thank the Lord, that Jesus Christ lives and reigns forever and ever as we are promised that we shall enter into His kingdom through Him that died for us.



How awesome He is! All glory and honor be yours Almighty Father! Have a great and blessed day my brothers and sisters! Love, Mary Don't forget to post testimonies, encouragement stories, prayer request.......we are all family. Not a believer or follower. Read more about Jesus. Allow His amazing gift to free you in your life today! Not a believer or follower.  Read more about Jesus.  Allow His amazing gift to free you in your life today!