A FALLEN, A RISEN...RESURRECTION DAY 2024

Mary Magdalene in us all

• THE FALLEN,

  THE RISEN

  RESURRECTION DAY, 2024

  Mary Magdalene and us all...

  Jesus Christ died for the fallen, the lessers, the brokenhearted, as well as the high and mighty. He did not require an entrance fee, an haute couture suit or $100 bills hanging from our pockets. No, He asked for humility and repentance and your heart of love. He did not choose the influencers nor the powerful. He sought out the brokenhearted, over and over and over again. 

  In accord with the Gospels, Mary Magdalene, likely considered a "fallen woman" through the sobering Jewish culture of the time, was the first of Jesus' followers to discover, at dawn on that morning,  the enormous stone moved away and the tomb empty. Why would this "fallen woman" have this incredible privilege??? She was not a "major donor" to His ministry for the three years, she had multiple devils cast out of her and even in her deep sorrow and soul-sickness, she saw and felt the overwhelming loving power of God flow through her and COMMAND the demons who tormented and enslaved her, to LEAVE. Only God can have that power to command the darkness to go...and He first chose Mary Magdalene for that privilege of seeing Him in person after He rose from the dea. Perhaps it was the rawness and realness of her heart and spirit, coming from such sorrowful torment and then being delivered by this incredible Man. She had no power and was nothing if not authentic.

  How many of us who love God and His Son, even after all the years of loving Them and following Them, still sometimes struggle with feelings of shame for our sinful pasts?

  I certainly do and it is a slow and tedious process to fully leave that behind...and yet, as I nightly "flop on the couch with Papa" with my notebook and pen and Bible and  simply fellowship with God, His Son and Holy Spirit in winsome communion and powerful teaching, I slowly see the light boring through my defenses and blasting the darkness with so much illumination, I cannot stay in the dark any longer. 

  Admittedly, I am a stubborn girl and still, sometimes perversely, cling to my stupidity in giving myself dark names ( “I am not enough, sorrowful, loner, outcast”). Battling the cynical self is difficult, some of it sheer cussed habit.  I can imagine  Mary Magdalene had some battles with this, as the structure of the society Mary lived in was not always kind to women in general and certainly women who had suffered as she had, tormented and driven in darkness. Rome did not help, on top of it all. 

  In the middle of all this mess, strides Jesus, blazing with such Light and Love, He cannot be ignored. The darkness flees her and flees from Him in terror. What a great idea, COMMAND those evil forces to...LEAVE and LEAVE NOW. The demons are terrified of Christ! They KNOW Who He is!

  On that terrible cross of Calvary, the sinless Son of God suffered terribly and died with all our sins on Him. That idiot devil who thought he had conquered God and all the Light when Jesus said "it is finished", must have had a shock. Other ministers have considered the same idea and I agree: I can see the devil and all the demons of hell were having a big party, gloating and celebrating their supposed victory over light and good...when suddenly, they hear a forceful knock at the door. Someone stumbles over to pull open the huge door...and there, with a forceful and yet solemn smile on His face, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He likely says, "Hand over the keys of hell and of death, Satan, they are now MINE.  I have come to set the captives free!"  Stunned would hardly be the word.  Gathering the souls right under the devil’s nose, taking both the keys to hell and death from that fallen angel  and departing with his precious prizes, the demons were left in the gap, with the Master Poker and Chess Player outfoxing all of them, again. 

  Note to self: NEVER gamble with the Son of God or His Papa!!!

  I am one of those rescued from myself and from my sinful past. Just last night, as I enjoyed fellowship with Papa God, He said to me, "Beloved daughter, time to put the grave clothes aside and embrace your Light!" I have long battled with discouragement and depression and labored in poverty and lack for many long years, convinced I am not worthy to have "more than enough to spare and to share."  I do not seek "stuff", I seek a lifting of financial lack burdens so I can more effectively labor in blessed partnership with God and His Son, to bind up the brokenhearted, especially the sorrowful poor, as in some of my pieces on my own Substack, a blunt Oregon girl.

   

  Papa is nothing if not blunt, even in the gentle way He speaks to me. I get it, Papa. Time to exit on all four stages and come into the remainder of my life as a conduit for Your immense love for all those who will receive it and step away from endlessly trying and trying and trying to...fight your own battles in your own strength. Take it from this blunt Oregon girl ( who lives in California), put down your useless self-battles, take one single day and one single step of faith just like a little kid, and ACCEPT the love God gives. Yes, there will still be good days and not so good days...but the core of it all, the Savior died on that tree and He conquered hell and death on your behalf. Partner with Him and see where the blocks and pits can be removed, one at a time and in so doing, you bless others.

  It is worth the effort. In persistence, it works!

  WW   3-30-2024

  Scriptures to consider: especially John chapter 20, where Mary Magdalene meets Christ outside the tomb

  Romans 12:2: "and be not conformed to this world but  be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

  and Romans 5:6: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly."

  Wendy Williams