A Resurrection Story

Kneeling in Prayer

photo source

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
And You are exalted as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.

- 1 Chronicles 29:11, 12

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

- John 7:24

This year I have deliberately refrained from greeting anyone a "Happy Easter." I have used instead a phrase more meaningful to me, "Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday."

The past years I have become aware of the need to set the record straight in matters of prime importance in my Christian faith.

Resurrection Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead, is a foundational truth. This event has sadly been called Easter by Christians around the world, and is celebrated with painted eggs and Easter bunnies.

It is never my purpose to dampen the spirits of anyone who celebrates this day in earnest and with honest intentions. However, the truth does need to be emphasized that the rising of Jesus from the dead has really no connection with Oestre, the Saxon goddess of the dawn and spring, or with Ishtar, the goddess of fertility and romance in ancient Babylon, names from which the Christian feast called Easter is taken.

For those interested, there are numerous helpful sites on the web that explain how this pagan feast, which is celebrated after the spring equinox, has come to be associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


I realize the importance of cleansing and separating the truth about Jesus' resurrection from its pagan associations.

The Resurrection of Jesus must be given the honor and the dignity that it deserves.

The empty tomb of Jesus Christ is an important cornerstone in my faith. I want to honor what my Lord and Savior has gone through to purchase my redemption. That He is risen from the dead is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions of this world.

Because Jesus is alive, it means that there is life after death, the full provision for our redemption has been made, the just requirement for the forgiveness of our sins has been paid in full, and hope has once again entered this dark world.

How thankful I am for the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an event that we commemorated last Sunday.


And to bring this all down to the personal level, God did something very special in my life this Resurrection week.

Yesterday I was scheduled to go to Manila, My plane ticket was purchased about three weeks ago. But as I packed my bags Tuesday night there was a sense of uncertainty brewing in my heart. Something was telling me I was not to go on this trip.


Many things are going on in my life. As the spiritual watchman over my family, I am aware of my responsibility to bring many concerns before God. However, I realize that I have been complacent, choosing instead to remain within the safety of my comfort zone.

I know God has been calling me to take charge... to contend for the destiny of my family.

For the past few weeks, I have had a number of dreams alerting me that God was calling me to pay attention to what He was saying. Many of my dreams had a spiritual significance.

In one dream I was carrying a white cat whose back had been hacked open and the internal organs exposed. There was no blood, but I could see the insides of the cat. I sensed that God was exposing something that I needed to deal with.

In another dream, I was in an old house and the floor was infested with large scorpions. I sensed that God wanted me to be aware of demonic schemes trying to attack me and my family.

I had many other dreams, all of them having indirect spiritual implications.


God has spoken often to me in my dreams.

These past months, however, I'm aware that God is calling me to attention. He wanted me to be alert, to stay awake at my post, like a watchman on the wall.

More than anything else, I sensed that God was pointing at the matter of spiritual pride in my life.

Pride is the one thing I hate most in my life.

It is the excess baggage that I have often put down, only to realize later that I had unknowingly picked it up again.

Often I am not aware that it has happened - but the one thing that guarantees pride creeping back into my life is if I shift my gaze from Him to my self, or to my circumstances.

And because the enemy knows just how to do this, the shift takes place in such a subtle manner.

The wonderful thing about God is that when He begins to shed His light on something in my life, He does it without condemnation. He makes provision for a godly response from me. He causes hope to rise up. There is a remedy, there is a way out.

A few months ago, as I was reading Joshua 6 during one devotional time, God spoke to me saying that as the Commander of the Lord's army He was speaking, giving me directions, and that I was to kneel before Him as a sign of my submission and obedience.

My initial response was to dismiss this... because the truth is, I have not been in the habit of kneeling before God to pray. I can count on my fingers the very few times in my life that I have knelt before the Lord.

Always, it was during a time of desperation...

Honestly, I am not a kneeling Christian. I have often believed that it is the heart that needs to kneel before the King. Through the years, God has taught me many valuable lessons in humility... and I have never doubted that my heart is truly humble before Him.

I did not see the need for the physical act of kneeling.

But as the days and weeks of 2011 went by, I sensed a growing distance between me and the Lord... there was no joy in my relationship with Him.

Even though I still did my personal devotions regularly, was actively involved in the ministry that I am a part of, and led my weekly devotional groups, I seemed to be facing a blank wall.

I missed the fire, the passion in my heart.

I sought the Lord, but He seemed far. It seemed that my relationship with him was becoming more cerebral than heart-felt.

My heart longed for the reality of His presence.

I sensed God saying to me, "Kneel before Me when you come into my presence. Kneeling is a posture of submission and humility. I am bringing you to a higher level... there are new assignments I am giving only to the man and woman whose hearts are truly humble before me. I am looking for people whose hearts are pure, and emptied of personal agenda... for the outpouring of my presence."

And finally, on Monday night, a day after Resurrection Sunday... I knelt down before the Lord.

I humbled myself before Him... asked Him to forgive me for the many sins of spiritual pride that I had unknowingly committed the past months.

Kneeling is indeed a posture of humility and dependence.

It is my season of coming back before the Lord... in humility, in helplessness, and complete dependence on Him alone.

I am letting go of negative judgments, subtle self-righteousness, false humility, and self-focus.


There was no peace in my heart yesterday as I was about to leave for the airport to take my dawn flight to Manila.

I knelt down before the Lord and asked Him to enable me to understand what was going on.

The word presumptuousness came to my mind. Immediately I understood where I had gone wrong.

I asked God to forgive me. Forgive me Lord for not paying attention. For substituting presumptuousness for faith. I know I have grieved Your heart.


When I decided to stay, peace flooded my heart.

And so, here I am... waiting for the next step.

Asking the Son to raise from the dead whatever it is that has died in my heart. It is part of my Resurrection prayer.

Father, I don't want this to be just another Resurrection Sunday that has gone by. I want it to bring me deeper, closer to where You want me to be... having a heart that is truly humble like Your Son Jesus... In this spring season, bring back to life whatever it is in my heart that has died.



The song below written by Steve McEwan is at the very top of my favorite Christian songs. It is an old song, but one I'm singing for this stage of my sacred journey.

Without going into so many details, I have openly shared my heart on this post, because this blog is a record of my life story... the making of a woman of faith.

Let nothing in my life be hidden or sugar coated... let the story be written in such a way that God alone is given the glory and the honor.



Great is the Lord
by Steve McEwan

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise
The city of our God the holy place
The joy of the whole earth

Great is the Lord in Whom we have the victory
He aids us against the enemy
We bow down on our knees

And Lord we want to lift Your name on high
And Lord we want to thank
For the work You've done in our lives

And Lord we trust in Your unfailing love
For You alone are God eternal
Throughout earth and heaven above