Ascending

"One Year Bible" New Testament Passage John 20:1-31 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” John 20:17 (NKJV) As Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Jesus on Easter morning she did not at first recognize Him. In similar fashion, we often do not recognize RESURRECTION LIFE when it comes to us. Too often we dwell in the death of yesterday and do not yet have eyes to see the LIFE of today and tomorrow. Jesus makes an incredible statement to Mary Magdalene. He says, "Don't stop Me. Don't hold Me. Don't retain Me in past stories and memories (good as they might be)." There is such a tendency in all of us to hold on to the past. There is such a tendency to feel that the best is behind us and all we have is fragments of past possibilities. Jesus also said, "I am ascending!" "I am on my way to My Father - My destiny." There was a trajectory to Jesus in His resurrection. There is also a trajectory to your life in God as you walk in resurrection power. Paul wrote about this in Philippians 3 when he said, "I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call (resurrection power) of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14) "Don't stop me...I'm ascending!"