Holy Week: Jesus Did It For You!

Think on this...

And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. Matthew 27:29-50


Jesus did that for you!

It's Holy Week: Obedient Unto Death

Today, let's look at what happened when the men came to arrest Jesus.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.

And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place:

for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.

Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,

cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him,

went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?

They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he.

And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.

 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye?

And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he:

 if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:

That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake,

Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it,

and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.

The servant's name was Malchus.

Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath:

the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,

And led him away...

John 18:1-13a

Jesus remained obedient in what the Lord had ordained for Him to do. Just moments before this passage happened, Jesus had been praying asking God if it was really His will for Jesus to die. When Jesus knew that there was no other way, He chose to be obedient to the Lord's will.

He went forward and asked the crowd who they were looking for. Jesus did not try to hide or be deceitful. He boldly went forward in the path God had laid out for Him. Even when Peter tried to fight back, Jesus chose to willingly give Himself up in order to obey the Father.

What has God asked you to do that you are struggling with? Remembering Jesus' great sacrifice, is what God asking you really too much for you? Jesus was obedient to lay down His life, and He was blessed to be exalted higher than all. What blessings are you holding back because of your disobedience?

It's Holy Week!

Yesterday was the beginning of Holy Week in the body of Christ. We are now remembering week leading up to Christ's death on the cross. It is a time for us to remember His great sacrifice. It's a time to remember the great love that purchased our salvation.

So, this week, I want to focus on God's Word concerning Christ's sacrifice. Today, let's look at Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem:

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the king of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.” 

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign,

went out to meet him.

John 12:12-18

I am always amazed at how from Jesus' birth to His death, His life consistently fulfilled the prophecies in the scriptures. Even a verse speaking of the Messiah arriving on a colt - not a noble steed - came to pass. Here, Jesus is greeted by the people as a king. He is praised and exalted as the king of Israel.   I also find it interesting that those who witnessed Lazarus' resurrection were the ones passing the word that Jesus was in town. Imagine them saying, "The one who can even overcome death is coming into town!"   Not many days later, Jesus would show what overcoming death really looked like.

Your All

This morning I've been thinking about people who have given their all for the Kingdom of God.

The widow woman was willing to give her and her son's last meal up to God's prophet, Elijah. (1 Kings 17)

When the tabernacle was built, the Israelites were so willing to give of their riches that the leaders had to turn their gifts away! (Exodus 36)

The little boy with two fish and five loaves of bread was willing to give up his small lunch for Jesus to use. (John 6)

A woman was willing to give up her expensive perfume - and, more importantly, her own pride - in order to anoint the feet of Jesus. (Luke 7)

Early Christians were willing to sell everything they had and share it with others in order to help build up the church.

All of these people were willing to give their all for the Lord. They didn't care about their own welfare, but trusted that the Lord would take care of them. As a result they all were blessed.

The widow woman was the recipient of a miracle that allowed her and her son to live through a famine. The little boy was blessed to see a miracle firsthand with the food he gave to Jesus. The woman who anointed Jesus was able to receive forgiveness from her many sins. The church was able to see miraculous growth, signs and wonders because of their wholehearted openness to sharing Christ.

Is your everything available for the Lord to use? Are you willing to give what you think you need and what you treasure if the Lord asks for it instead?

Today, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Allow Him to show you places where you may be holding on a bit too tightly. Our everything should be available for the Lord to use. Nothing should be off limits to Him.

When we allow Him to have full access to everything we have - He is free to do wonders in our lives.

Verse of the Day: I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Philippians 3:7-9

Afternoon Ti: Inconvenience Yourself Today

Today, I'm going true devotional style and opening with our verses to meditate on:

...Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven... Nehemiah 1:2-4

And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. Nehemiah 2:5  
This passage of scripture relays Nehemiah's response to hearing of the physical and emotional brokenness of the city of Jerusalem. This man was so moved that he asked to leave his place of palatial comfort and peace to go back to Jerusalem, a place of conflict and sacrifice, in order to restore it to as safe haven for his people.

How many times do we hear of different churches, Christians or cities that have fallen? It may be a scandal, sin, tragedy, or some other affliction that rocks them to pieces. Yet, how often do we hear the news, shake our heads, mourn the downfall of society, and then just go about our day?

To bring it even closer to home, how often do we hear of our own friends, co-workers, family members, and other people we are close to who fall prey to difficulties? And what do we do in response? More often than not, we probably shake our heads and go on with our own agendas.

Yet, as believers, hearing of another person's struggle should move us into action. Our hearts should be sensitive to the needs and hurts of those around. We are to be the shining lights of Jesus' love, hope, help, and peace in the midst of a storm.

Whenever Jesus encountered people in need, He reached out and did what He could to help. Even when He was tired and hungry, Jesus allowed Himself to be inconvenienced to minister to those who were hurting, in the midst of scandal, and facing tragedy.

Don't be so wrapped up in your own story, that you miss out on influencing the lives of those around you. Don't allow your heart to become callous to the cries of a world that is in pain. You may not have the money, knowledge, or means to fix every problem you hear of, but you do have the ability to pray. You have the ability to give your time. You have the Holy Spirit inside Who can help you to bring comfort and peace to any situation.

Today, allow yourself to be inconvenienced in order to bless someone who is in need of God's love.

Living Sacrifice

In Romans, the Apostle Paul asks believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God. To Him, it is our "reasonable service" to live upright and holy before the Lord because of His mercies toward us. (Romans 12:1) In other words, through His matchless mercies, God chose to redeem us and cleanse us from sin through His Son's sacrifice. Now that we are upright before Him, the least we can do is live a life that reflects our inward change.

It's that living sacrifice part that's the kicker. Something that's living is growing, changing, experiencing new things, waking up each day to something new.

Every day we wake up we have to choose to live holy. There is always some new adversity, some new attitude, some new heartache just waiting to knock us off our holiness lifestyle. If we're really honest, there's some old stuff that we come across every day that challenges us as well.

Living a holy life takes work. Pleasing God in all we do is a sacrifice. Our natures want to act nasty, we want to respond in anger, we want to be selfish...

But a life that's been transformed can't live that way. A life that's been renewed by Jesus' love can't live in anger. A life that's been given so much, can't bear being selfish.

We've been blessed to be made righteous and holy in the eyes of God. It's only reasonable that we sacrifice our wants and desires to match the wants and desires of the Lord. Our outer actions should match the inner change that salvation has brought to us.

Are you living holy? Are you reasonably living out your life according to God's mercies toward you? Or, do you need to make some adjustments to your behavior?

Every day we awaken, we have the choice to live holy. Each moment we live is a chance to offer ourselves as willing vessels to our King. Let's make sure that we are not misusing God's mercy towards us. Let's choose to take on God's will of holiness for ourselves today.

Verse of the Day: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

Thank You, Jesus!

I can't keep going forward without acknowledging one of the biggest events in the Christian experience. This past weekend people around the globe stopped to remember the great sacrifice that Jesus made when He died on the cross for our sins. Reflecting on Jesus' great sacrifice, agony on the cross, and glorious resurrection helps all believers to cherish our salvation even more.

What I enjoy about this time is knowing that Jesus did all of this for us. He could easily have had angels rescue him the first moment the soldiers placed Him under arrest. Jesus could have called forth angels to stop the whip that tore into His flesh. Jesus could have stopped the hands of those that place the crown of thorns on His head.

But, He allowed it all to happen... just for us.

Jesus said Himself that no one could take His life. (John 10:17, 18) He had to literally lay His own life down in order to die. And He chose to lay it down for us.

Jesus knew sickness, He knew pain, He knew abandonment and betrayal, and He knew what it was to be apart from God in those moments when the Father turned away. Jesus subjected Himself to these things to free us from their grasp. Because He suffered, we don't have to. Because He was sick, we can be healed. Since the Father turned His back while Jesus languished on the cross, we can go boldly to the throne of grace.

And because Jesus rose up from the grave... we can experience eternal life!

Thank you, Jesus, for the sacrifice you made for us! Let our lives be pleasing in Your sight as we live in gratefulness for Your great work.

Verse of the Day: For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:21-24

Total Surrender

I'm back! I apologize for yesterday. Now, for some Morning Ti...

When Jesus called the disciples to follow Him, they gave up their entire lives to be with Him. They left family, friends, jobs, hometowns... Everything was dropped with no questions asked in order to follow the Savior. As a result of their surrender, they went on to lead lives that witness the miraculous work of the Messiah, they were able to work miracles themselves, and they turned the entire world upside down with their evangelism.

We too are disciples of Jesus. Yet many of us answered His call only to hold on to everything we liked and selfishly wanted. Jesus may not be calling for us to give up families and jobs now, but He does want us to give up our will for His.

Many of us selfishly choose to still participate in sinful behavior after we've accepted Jesus as our Lord. We choose to ignore the wants of the Father deeming them 'unattainable' or something that we'll work on later. We continue to turn a blind eye to the Bible's commands self-righteously claiming that we're doing the best we can or even pulling God into it saying that He knows our hearts.

We cannot just accept Jesus as our Savior, stay the same, and expect God to be pleased. Jesus Himself said that you can't serve to masters. And when you refuse to give up your will, when you continue to allow sin to remain in your life... you're trying to serve two masters.

As Christians, we are no longer the masters of our fate. We no longer have control over our lives. When we commit to Christ, we place our lives in His hands and give Him permission to do what He wants.

Today let's remember that we've given our lives to Jesus. He's the Captain of our ship. He's the Master of our domain. He's the Conductor of our symphony. Our will has to die. Our desires have to take a back seat. It's His way.

As we allow Him to lead, guide, and direct us, He will take us places that we could never even imagine. Too many of us are still stuck in the ordinary because we refuse to let Jesus take us to His extraordinary. Let's stop thinking we know what's best and allow God to take us to the miraculous.

Verse of the Day: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24

Great Sacrifice

I've been studying Christ for my Theology class, and it is truly amazing what He did for us.

Jesus was GOD, living in heaven's splendor, enjoying the benefits of being omnipotent and omniscient. He did not know what it meant to want for anything. He had legions of angels singing His praises and ready at His disposal. He had never experienced temptation, hunger, thirst or pain. He was surrounded by riches. He was immortal, and could have rested in glory unfazed by what was going on with that tiny little planet called Earth.

Yet He chose to come down out of His splendor... for you.

Jesus could have chosen to be born to a queen living in some semblance of splendor (what splendor really compares to heaven?). But He chose to come the humblest route, born in a manger because his parents couldn't find room in a hotel. He grew up the son of a lowly carpenter, doing work with His hands, sweating over sawdust and wood.

The Son of God - who spoke and things were made - chose to live a life full of hard work... for you.

Jesus submitted Himself to be tempted by the devil - His nemesis, the very creature that had single-handedly started the destruction of the world Jesus had helped create. Jesus withstood the devil's daggers, doubts, and temptations because He had a bigger goal in mind.

This was all before Jesus got to the cross! Would you have given up heaven, the very things that made you God just for some folks who turned their back on you at their first chance? Would you have gotten off your throne knowing more than half the people you were giving up your glory for would question every facet of your existence?

Thinking on the great sacrifice Jesus gave for us, even before He reached the cross, let's make sure we live our lives showing proper gratitude and love. It's the least we can do.

Verse of the Day: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:1-5

Real Sacrifice

In life we often face the choice to sacrifice. More times than not, we choose to take that loss. We give up comfort for family. We rearrange things for friends. Our desires and wants get pushed to the side, so someone else's desires can be fulfilled.

Sometimes those sacrifices are huge, and we may feel the sting for days. Yet no sacrifice is greater than the one Jesus endured for us when He came to earth and died on the cross. He was sitting in the heavens, enjoying the splendor of His Kingdom when the Father turned and asked Jesus to give up His position to go down to earth to save us.

Can you imagine?

You are the holy SON OF GOD, and you get asked to leave your prime position to go down to a sin-filled world in the form of a mere fleshly human being with no status or prestige. On top of that, you have to die a painful, humiliating death for those creatures many of whom will reject you, doubt you, or mock you down the line.

Would you say yes?

Jesus did.

He performed the greatest sacrifice. As a result, He receives the greatest glory. We have a chance to experience eternal life, grace, and fellowship with the Father because of Jesus' love.

Amazing.

Take some time to give Jesus thanks for His great sacrifice today. And when you face those times where you have to sacrifice your will, and it seems so hard... remember Jesus' journey here and what He endured.

Verse of the Day: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8