On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.  Luke 24:1-8

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.   1 Corinthians 15:21-22 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.   John 14:19-20

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews,  Jesus came and stood among them and said, ”Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  

Again Jesus said, ”Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, ”Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them,“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ”Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, ”Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”   John 20:19-29 

(Paul writes) Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.   1 Corinthians 15:1-8

But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.   Romans 10:8-10

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.   Romans 5:1-2   AMEN!!!

For more “Wisdom” go to nuggetsofwisdom.us

“Except by the grace of God, go I.”

Many of you have probably heard similar phrases to that before. In the past I’ve heard different preachers talk about it from time to time and I’ve asked a couple friends what that phrase meant to them, and almost every one of them had same kind of response.  They mostly consisted of “If I didn’t have God in my life, I might have (this) problem”, or “Without God in my life, I may have never changed”, and other similar comments.  I think we all acknowledge that it’s talking about what the condition of our own lives would be like without the presence of God within us. But how far do you take it ? To what extent do you credit the grace of God for where you are in your life?  And how does it impact your personal Christian life?  To me, I think the earlier comments just touch on the basic concept of the phrase.  I think that even as simple as the phrase sounds, it can grab hold of someone’s heart and create a new outlook and even fuel a passion to help the “widows and orphans” and the “poor and needy” as the Bible calls us to do.

I know I personally struggle with giving God the credit that is rightfully His.   When I see someone less fortunate, I’m usually pretty good about thanking Him for giving me grace and a better life than I deserve.  Or so I often think. But even then, many times it’s just a fleeting thought of “Thank you Lord for helping me have a better life than that.”  Sometimes I’m even a little cocky about it and give more credit to myself than I do God, like “Thank you Lord that I’m not like them.”  So yes, I thought about it enough to thank Him, but I hardly spent long enough to ponder the vastness of his grace!  And even worse, when I’m not faced with a sad or difficult situation, I rarely even think about it enough to give him the credit.  I for some reason have a completely different attitude like I actually believe that I got myself to where I am in life today.  Sure, I’m a good person and have always worked hard to have what I have, but so many things are out of my control- or any human being’s control for that matter.  What if my apartment burned down with everything I owned inside and left me homeless and near penniless?  Would I personally have the strength to pick myself back up?  What if I lost my good health and could no longer work and provide?  Or what if I was orphaned as a young child and left without any kind of promising future?  Hmm, thought provoking.  So far I’ve noted these bigger life-changing events, but let’s venture further to imagine a sequence of small ones.  Say someone lost their job, which led to them losing their home, then their car broke down and was too expensive to repair, then they and their children are starting to go hungry because they have no money to buy food, and tomorrow their rent is due but they only have $2 left in their bank account- are you feeling their hurt yet?  They were hard workers just like you and me.  If you would put yourself in “those people’s” shoes, you may feel that true gratitude that we should be giving our Lord instead of the short, easy, and canned “thank yous”.  Of course we could spend all day coming up with “what ifs”, but to me the crux of the matter is that one little turn of events in my blessed life could essentially place me right into the shoes of the person that I just looked at and said, “Except by the grace of God, go I”.

Now it’s a little bit harder for me to say those nonchalant “thank yous” because I feel the emotion of true gratitude and also compassion.  Before, I probably looked at that person and automatically assumed that they are where they are because of something they did or didn’t do- when it may have been out of their control!  I many times forget that it is not up to me to judge someone else.  So not only does that phrase cause me to thank the Lord for his grace in my own life, it causes me to have compassion for those who are less fortunate.

Do I give God nearly enough credit??  No, sadly I do not.  I don’t know if I ever will- He is such a gracious and powerful God!  Do I always show a Christ-like compassion?  Once again, no, I don’t.  But I believe I can continually grow in my relationship with my savior which will help fuel my compassion.  Do I honestly think that from now on, I’ll always think so deeply about every less fortunate person that crossed my path? Absolutely not.  I’m only human.  But I do believe its something I’ll continually remind myself of for the rest of my life.

Maybe I’m overzealous… What do you think??

Was it a dream or a nightmare?  Was it a vision of some sort? Did it really happen?  I do not know.  I only know that the event and all the things that I am about to describe to you seem as real to me now in the day light as they did in the darkness.  I imagine it was all a dream, but I feel the reality of it in the deepest crevices of my heart and soul.

It began in a large white area that reminded me of a hospital.  It was immaculately clean and more tranquil than any hospital I had ever been in or visited.   I peered inside through a large gate with intricate and ornately designed carvings and emblems.  I saw a very tall man.  I don’t really think it was a man.  It was a very tall and broad creature with masculine features and a beauty that is not usually found in men.  He sort of floated or glided to the gate and opened it to let me in. He went back to where he had been and motioned for me to follow.  I did, with shaking knees and goose bumps on my arms. It was a strange eerie feeling that I felt in this place.  As I got closer to where to man stopped, I noticed that the entire area was filled with little clear cases or cube like carriages.   Each case had a teeny tiny little being inside.  Some were too small and fragile to even be seen with the human eye.  For each of them there was one or more attendants or care givers.  These care givers smiled as they saw me and smiled at the little beings as they handled them and cared for them and I could tell that the attendants shared special strength and a wonderful love with the little ones in the cases.  I could feel that the little beings were weak and that the smiling care givers helped them and gave them continual strength and that strength seemed to compound and accumulate the longer I stood there nearby watching.  The tiny beings looked almost identical to infant children.  They varied in size and shape and there were so many.  There were billions upon billions, at the very least.  For as far as I could see, this area was filled with the small clear cases and the little, innocent beings inside.

The man that had let me spoke to me with out opening his mouth.  He asked me to follow him and to take still a closer look.  I was led quickly on the man’s heels by my growing curiosity.  As we approached the first row of clear cases I saw that each little one had a name written beautifully on their case.  Each one had jewels and intricate designs upon it.  The cases were bright and shiny and they shimmered and so did the little ones inside.  They glowed! How beautiful, I thought.  The man spoke again.  This time he spoke aloud.  “Gently touch your fingers to this case”, he said, pointing with one long finger to a nearby case.  I did, and as my fingers touched a story began to unfold to me.  It was the story of the one inside.  It was a male child.  He was to become a medical scientist and discover the cure for cancer.  He was also to be a big brother, husband and father.  He would have been loved by many and he would have made a difference in the lives of others.

I touched many cases at the man’s command.  Each one told another story. I heard stories of love and purpose and stories of things that should have been and never were.  I heard stories of the one’s who would have saved people from burning buildings, traveled and made great discoveries, invented interesting and invaluable creations.  I learned of loving relationships that never formed and miraculous deeds of bravery and thoughtfulness that would never get to be done.  I even saw great triumphs for both humanity and in the kingdom of God and in heaven.

“Why”, I asked? “Why can’t these little babies do all of those great things?”  My heart was heavy and tears overflowed like a waterfall from deep within me.
The man did not answer me.  Instead he said, “Now, take my hand.”  When my hand went into his I saw the most terrible thing yet.  I saw one of those sweet, innocent babies growing comfortably within their Mother’s womb.  I could feel everything that the little baby felt.  I felt its tiny heart beat, small and low.  I felt the growth of strength in its little body.  I felt the safety and security of being there.  It was so warm.  It was so restful.  It was so very peaceful.  Then without warning I felt the Mother’s heart beat escalating and I heard loud but muffled voices.  It was all happening so fast.  The baby was startled awake from a wonderful dream.  Then some kind of machine came into the darkness.   The loud device entered the secret places inside the womb and began to devour the little baby.  I felt the baby’s pain.  Terrible, it was just awful.  It was too terrible to describe with words.  I felt a great pressure and an inner pain that surpassed that of the physical pain.  I felt the little baby’s sadness and all the hurt from of betrayal.  I felt the life being jolted away from the baby!   The baby’s life was stolen!
The baby was snatched!  It was too painful!

I pleaded with the man.  “Please make it stop!”  I tried to wrench my hand out of his hand but the man did not let go.  The terrible thing was still happening.  The little baby was so sweet and although the thoughts were not in words like our thoughts come to us, the baby had thoughts.  It wanted to say something, but there were no words or any way for the baby to speak.  It wanted to cry out for help, and for comfort but it could not cry.  The baby was so helpless to save itself and I found myself wishing and praying that there was something-anything I could do.  I watched helplessly as the hopes, dreams and opportunities to live and achieve and love and laugh were stolen too. Now the little baby had no more thoughts.  There were no more sweet dreams or hopes.  There were no tears and there was no more life in that womb. There was nothing more than emptiness and darkness, and the little baby was destroyed and discarded as nothing.

“What can I do’, I cried?  “Please just tell me!   What can I do?”  I heard no answer and I felt my hand being released.  I unclenched my eyes and slowly opened them. I was back in the area where all the little cases or baby carriages were at.  I don’t know why I had not noticed it before.  It was so quiet.  Not one baby whimpered or cried.  Other than my own, not one cry came from this place.   I now saw many attendants coming and going with many more aborted children, ministering to them, loving them and caring for them.  I now recognized them to be angels of God.  I was in heaven!  I looked for the angel that had let me in and could not find him anywhere.  Then, I looked and saw Jesus.  I saw the scars that the nails had left in His hands.  I saw the love in His eyes as He looked at me.  I heard love in His voice as He spoke, “You must be a voice for the unheard cries.”

The writing above is fiction and did not actually happen.  I just wanted to bring important attention to a very important issue. It is terrible to know how many children are aborted.  The reality is far worse than any nightmare.  The facts are startling!  According to bound4life an estimated 46 million abortions happen every year all over the world, (1 baby is killed every 2 seconds) and approximately 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States since 1973. There are many other numbers and statistics but one of the most upsetting is that the reason for 98% of all abortions is reportedly personal choice or inconvenience.

Scriptures that support the fact that unborn babies or fetuses are living children:

Psalm 139:14 (New International Version)

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Genesis 25:23 (Amplified Bible)

23The Lord said to her, [The founders of] two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

Job 31:15 (Amplified Bible)

15Did not He Who made me in the womb make [my servant]? And did not One fashion us both in the womb?

Jeremiah 1:5 (Amplified Bible)

5Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Psalm 139:13 (Amplified Bible)

13For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.

God creates us very carefully and with great thought and love for us.  We are made special by God’s own design. Even before we are born, God has created us for a purpose.  God knows our future even while we are still inside the womb.  God fashions us all from within the womb.  God forms us and knows us and approves of us before we are born.  God has great plans for us even before we are born. God creates us both inside and out and we are alive at the time of conception.  From the moment we are conceived God is at work creating us according to His plan for us.

If you are pregnant or know someone that is pregnant and considering having an abortion, please seek help in making a good decision before aborting your unborn child.  Please know that the child you carry inside of you may be small but that child is alive and God has plans for every child before they are even conceived in the womb and born into this world.   God loves you and that little unborn baby very much.  There is nothing too difficult for God.  He will help you and see you through.

Please pray for the unborn children.  Please join me and be a voice for the unheard cries.

May your life be blessed and a blessing in Christ Jesus.

Easter as we know it consists of several things.  One, the honor to the Lord for giving up His son for our sins.  Two, the selflessness of Jesus as He gave up His own life and returned to sit at the right hand of the Father.  Three, family gathering.  Four, commercialism:  Easter candy, baskets, presents, decorations.  Five, fun for children:  hunting eggs, the Easter bunny, special (and sometimes elaborate) feasts, Easter programs in which to participate at church.

This year my kids are too old for the egg hunts, Easter basket surprises, and sitting on the Easter bunny’s lap for a holiday photo.  What they aren’t too old for is church.  One of my gifts this Easter is that my children are in church.  My son and his wife are with the in-laws.  My daughter is with the boyfriend, whose father is a pastor of a church nearby.  It’s not that I’m surprised that they are in church, but my son works out of town and sometimes out of state.  He doesn’t always make it to church services.  In my opinion, he especially needed the service this morning to renew his closeness to God.

My husband is recovering from dental surgery, so I’m home in case he needs me.  My decision was to watch church on television.  Yes, I have scoffed at such activity in the past.  But since I didn’t make it to church in person, I am grateful that there is indeed church on television.

One reason I’m grateful this Easter is because of an unexpected gift.  God spoke to me during the service I had waited several hours to hear.  There is a favorite pastor I like to listen to and watch.  I forgot what time his service appeared, so I went through two services waiting on his broadcast.  I was about to give up when I noticed that he was up next.

My unexpected gift was a release of tears, always a relief.   The pastor spoke of pain as a way for the Lord to reach us.  I have often reached out to others who were suffering in pain, hoping to reach them, hoping to relieve their burdens in whatever way I was capable.  I wanted them to know that the Lord is here through our pain.   But, of course, when it came to my own pain, even though I knew better…….I had begun to wonder if the Lord was here for me during my pain.  He assured me, through His wondrous ability to speak through another person, that He is indeed here for me through my pain.  It touched me.  I cried.  I recognized the unexpected Easter gift God sent to me.  Thank you, God, for touching me with your unexpected gift.  I should know better than to wonder, but it sure is nice to be reminded when I need that special touch to keep me going.

To non-Christians, it may seem odd to worship a man on a cross.  That’s because they only look at the outside.  Following the lies of the world, they don’t realize the incredible price that had to be paid for sin.  And, they don’t realize there are many confessions that Jesus is the Christ – the Son of the living God.

Does the cross seem gross?  If you saw “The Passion of the Christ,” you’d know. Indeed, to paraphrase part of Isaiah 53, He was without any real beauty that we should treasure Him when we saw Him.  He is a man of sorrows, well-acquainted with grief.  He was despised and rejected while here on Earth, and just as then, even now, people turn their faces at Him. (Isaiah 52:2-3)  God understands that to look just at the outside, it seems very bloody.  But, just as much in life, the outside is not the whole story.

See, it’s not just about a man on a cross.  There were other men hung on crosses; that was the traditional Roman form of execution.  Jesus Christ was crucified with 2 of them, in fact.  One on the left cursed and reviled Him.  However, the one on the right realized the truth.

The penalty for sin

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)  What that means is that we earn death for our sin.  It’s not just physical death, it’s spiritual death.

Think of how horrible spiritual death is.  It’s torment forever in a place call hell. God never wants anyone to go there.  But, that spiritual death is what we earn because of sin.

You may ask, “What is sin?”  Sin falling short of the mark of perfection.  It’s anything we say, think or do that displeases God.

That may sound harsh, until you realize that God, in His perfect love, has a place for all those who choose to receive Him, called heaven.  It’s a place of perfect goodness and love.  There can be no suffering there, no tears, no pain, no heartache, no death.  Nobody can imagine the wonders that await us there.  It’s so much better than this wicked world.  Heaven is where God wants you to be.

But, because he wants us to be there, he had to do something to take away our sin.  That’s because there can be no sin in that perfect Heaven.

If we have all earned that spiritual death, though, God had to do something so we didn’t have to suffer spiritual death.  So, why the cross?  That brings us back to that thief on the right, the one who realized the truth, and asked Jesus to remember him when he came into His kingdom.

The gift of God

The thief on the cross told his fellow criminal that they were there because they deserved to be punished for their wrongdoing.  Then, he said that Jesus was there and had done nothing wrong.  He realized the truth.

Jesus wasn’t just a man.  If He had been only a man, he would have had to pay for His own sin, because all people are sinners.  He wasn’t just a man, though.

Jesus Christ was God in flesh.  He never did anything wrong.  This thief realized that.  He realized that Jesus Christ was God in flesh.  He didn’t have to suffer for His own sin, because he was without sin. Yet, He became sin, for us.  He was suffering for that thief’s sin, for the crowd’s sin, for my sin, your sin, everyone’s sin who ever lived.

Think about that.  All the people who have ever said something mean, hurt others, lied, cheated, stolen, been cruel and thoughtless, and many other things.  He was suffering for every single sin that was ever committed.

That’s a lot of sin.  That’s why He suffered so much.  He was god in flesh.  By Him were all things created, and without Him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:3)  God made this world perfect, but people brought sin into it, because God gave them free choice, whether to follow Him or not.  He knew everything, and He had every person ever – yes, you – on His mind on that cross.

The world tries to deny it, but Jesus was God.  This is shown throughout Scripture.

1. He Himself proclaimed He was God. When the Pharisees would ask, He’d always respond with something like our phrase, “You said it!’ or “You’ve got that right!”  Or, He’d give an I AM statement, using the same term God used in the Old Testament, a word so holy, they would never use it themselves, because only God could.  He said He was the Messiah to the woman at the well, also.

2. His miracles proved it.  He did things only God could do.

3. The Old Testament proclaimed it.  All the law and the prophets pointed to the many things He would do in His worldly ministry, that it would be God Himself.

4. God the Father proclaimed it, after Jesus’ baptism, and again on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus is the Son of God – the way that phrase was used, it means of the same substance.  He was, is, and always will be God.  Think of how H2O is the same, whether it’s water, ice, or water vapor.

5. His followers proclaimed it, over and over in the New Testament and afterward.

Think about it.  All any one of His disciples had to do to escape punishment was deny His resurrection.  They kept proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he rose from the dead, because they saw it with their own eyes.  For nearly 2,000 years, believers have been willing to suffer horribly because they know in their hearts the same things the apostles saw with their own eyes.  They knew that Jesus Christ had suffered horribly for the sins of mankind, died on that cross, and risen from the dead.

That’s what it’s all about. He took the penalty for your sins, and for mine. And, there is nothing we have to do – nothing we could do – to save ourselves.  It must be completely by faith that we are saved.  Faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and then rose victoriously the third day.

Jesus was 100% man.  He had to be, to die on the cross.  However, Jesus was also 100% God.  He had to be, to rise from the dead.  He did.  And because of that, we can celebrate.

Yes, it looks like a bloody mess when we consider how Jesus suffered.  But, we must never forget that sin is so awful, and must be kept out of His perfect heaven.  And, that because of that, Jesus had to suffer, and die, for the sins of the world.

Because when He hung there on that cross, suspended between Earth and Heaven, He had the sins of all the world on His shoulders.  He literally bridged the gap between man and God; he reconciled man to Himself through His death.  Then, He rose victoriously back to life!  Hence the words of that great hymn – “My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!”

I pray you have received Him as your personal Savior, by simple faith that He did that for you; so you don’t have to bear your sin anymore.

This morning, as my husband and I were heading to the car we heard the beautiful music of a song bird.  The sun was not yet on the horizon and the morning was still cloaked in darkness.  The moon, still mostly full, was shining as brightly as it could fully prepared to give way to brighter light of sunrise.  There were many birds chirping and singing. It was a symphony of music that uplifted me and took away my dread of going into work.  Although I am grateful to have a paying job, I admit I do not exactly like the job that I have.  The beautiful songs of the birds made me smile unexpectedly.  There was one bird that was very close right in the middle of our street in front of our house.  It was as if God had sent that bird to sing the song it was created to sing just for us.

I marveled at that little bird and this Friday which is Good Friday.  Are you wondering what is so good about Good Friday?  I wonder about many things that happened on that day.

Had Jesus even slept the night before? What was that morning like for Him.  Was He filled with the dread and fear of a man or did He carry the peace and courage of the Father and as The Son of God, God among us?  Did He hear the songs of birds? Did He see any beauty around Him?

What is so good about Good Friday?
We know that Jesus had already been beaten, flogged, and treated with dis-contempt and hatred.  We know that Jesus had already suffered.  He was probably hurting awful physically and extremely sore.  He must have felt each movement of each of His muscles.  He must have hurt way down deep in His soul as the ridicule, mocking, and terrible slanderous slurs assaulted Him and rang in His mind.  To hear the people shouting, “Crucify him!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”  They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”  ²³ Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?”  But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”  Matthew 27:22 & 23

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

What is so good about Good Friday?

Jesus went through the most awful inhumane treatment I have ever heard of. He was mistreated worse than any criminal!  What Jesus experienced that day is unimaginable.  What was He thinking about as He struggled to carry the cross up the hill to Calvary?  What did he notice? What was He feeling in His heart?   What was Jesus really thinking and feeling as they drove those long nail spikes into His hands and feet?  What would that feel like?  How did Jesus cope with that pain?  How did Jesus feel as they cast lots for His clothes?  Did Jesus find any comfort at all in His last moments on Earth?

³⁵ Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

“ They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”

Matthew 27:35

Jesus did not do anything in His whole life to deserve what happened to Him. He was pure in mind and spirit. He was without a single sin. He was innocent of all crimes.  Yet He is the one that paid the ultimate price for all crimes and for all sin. Jesus gave His life for us on the cross. He gave everything He had for us. He loved us so much that the thought of us being separated from Him and the Father was worse than the punishment He now endured. He loved us so much that He took all sin upon Himself and all the consequences of sin upon Himself. He died in sin so that we can live in righteousness. I don’t know what He was thinking or feeling inside but I know that He was brave, full of love and blessings, and that actions speak more highly than words. He is the good of Good Friday.

Just like that little bird that was singing so beautifully this morning, Jesus did what He was born to do. Jesus fulfilled His life’s work and accomplished that which He had been born to do. He was born to be our Savior, and to save us from our sins. He accomplished this with great strength, unsurpassed courage and all encompassing love.

“[Jesus Again Predicts His Death] Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”- Matthew 20: 17-19

Jesus did not remain dead. He rose from the dead on the third day. He is Alive! There is life and victory in Jesus.

The victory of the cross and our salvation was what was good about Good Friday for Jesus. This victory through trials and persecutions and terrible brutality stands as the hope and promise for each of us even unto this day and for all time. What Jesus accomplished was more than anyone else could possibly bear. Only Jesus could do what needed to be done, and He did so willingly and with honor.  Jesus wasn’t interested in what was in it for Him.  Jesus wasn’t considering Himself, His desires, or His needs.  Jesus was more concerned with pleasing the Father.  Jesus was most concerned about us.  As He gave His life that day on the cross He was thinking about the man or woman in-prisoned for crimes, or on death row convicted of murder.  He was thinking about that young lady or young man that comes to the alter for the first time.  He was thinking about me and you and our salvation.  I bet He smiled inside knowing that any one who would believe in Him and all that He had done would be saved.   What He did for us is proof that He loves us just the way we are…sin and all.

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?  Do you believe He died on the cross for you and to save you from your sins?  Today is Good Friday, and it is a great day to get to know Jesus better and to accept Him as LORD of lords and KING of all kings.  It is a great day to find salvation in Jesus Christ.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 (New King James Version)

May your life be blessed and a blessing in Christ Jesus.