Mt28

If you will listen, you can hear the voice of Jesus saying "Good Morning" to you.  It was the first words He spoke after He was resurrected and it should be the first voice we hear each morning when we get up.

I have never thought about this fact, nor had I ever noticed the response of both Marys when they heard and saw Jesus after He was resurrected.  They came up to him, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him.  This should be every believer's response every morning.

Hear Jesus say, "Good Morning" to you today and begin your day worshiping Him.

Mt27

Jesus cried out to His Father as God so we could cry out to God as Father! Jesus referred to God as God only once…when He was dying on the cross!  He cried out, "My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?"

Have you ever felt like you have been abandoned by God?  Have you ever prayed and felt as though God was not hearing your prayers?  Have there been times of extended silence between you and God?  I know I have had times like that.  For me, it always has something to do with my sin or my inconsistency to seek God.

But Jesus never sinned!  He never had a moment in which He strayed from the Father's path.  Even in His death on the cross, He was walking in complete obedience.  Yet, He cried out this desperate prayer!  For the first time, His Father had literally turned His back on HIm to look away from the sin that was being placed on Jesus.  Jesus felt in that moment a brokenness He had never felt from all eternity.  His prayer was a desperate cry!

I believe it was this moment that Jesus dreaded more than anything.  He was separated from God for a moment, in order to bring us to God permanently.  He cried out to His Father as God so we could cry out to God as Father.

Be grateful today.

Jn21

The thing about following Jesus is that you actually have to FOLLOW Him.  He is not willing to follow you wherever you want to go.

It is crazy how helpless the disciples seemed to be without Jesus.  In fact, Peter took some of the disciples and went right back to his old way of living…fishing.  He met Jesus when he was fishing and left his business to follow Jesus.  I suppose he thought his life as a disciple was over, so he went right back to fishing.

If I were Jesus, I would have taken the moment to rebuke all of these disciples!  What were they thinking?  Hadn't they just seen the risen Savior?  Didn't they remember what Jesus had told them to do?  But Jesus just calmly instructed and challenged them again.  He knew these men would, after being filled with His Spirit, soon change the world.

He challenged them again, "Follow Me."  That challenge is for all of us today.  The christian life is not about knowing what to do or where to go.  It is not about having a set agenda to live for and a goal to pursue.  It is about following Jesus every day.

Get following today.

Jn20

What is your lame excuse for NOT believing in Jesus! Don't be a fool...believe. The tomb is empty and the living Savior continues to change lives. Don't let a foolish excuse keep you from trusting in Jesus.

Thomas must have been from Missouri. He said he would not believe unless he had a personal viewing of Jesus post resurrection. He stated almost with boldness, "Unless I touch his nail pierced hands and feet and put my hand into His side, I will never believe!" What a foolish statement! Had He already forgotten all Jesus had done? It was only because of God's kindness that Thomas got a personal appearance of the resurrected Lord.

Are you like Thomas? What is your lame excuse? Why would anyone still refuse to believe after so much evidence has come forward. Jesus has changed and continues to change lives daily. Because of His resurrection, His life has been multiplied millions of times through confessing believers. Don't let your excuse and fear keep you from placing your faith in Jesus today. He will change your life.

Listen to these words of Jesus spoken to Thomas. "Don't be an unbeliever, but a believer." John wrote his entire gospel for this purpose, "that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name."

Jn19

The fear of man will bring about personal compromise!  Live one life.  Live to please God.

Pilate found no fault in Jesus, but because of his fear of man he handed Jesus over to be crucified!  The text even says that he was suspicious that Jesus actually was who he claimed to be and that he was afraid even of Jesus.  Yet his fear of others caused him to act according to their desires.

Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, acted primarily out of fear of man.  It says, he kept his loyalty to Jesus a secret because he "feared the Jews".  He was unwilling to go public with his faith because he didn't want it to effect his status before his countrymen.

Fear of man causes us to do many things!  Generally it encourages us to disobey God.  Jesus taught us to fear God and to live according to His commands.  It is a difficult challenge, but it is worth it.

Live in the fear of God…not man.

Jn18

Do you know these relatively unknown biblical names, with two fantastic stories!?  Malchus & Barabbas.  Malchus was the slave of the high priest who had his ear cut off by Peter and replaced by Jesus in the midst of Jesus' betrayal.  Barabbas was a criminal condemned to die that was released instead of Jesus the morning before Jesus was crucified.  What were they thinking?

We don't have much biblical writings on these two men, but I can't help but think they were two of the final stories Jesus wanted to write before He was crucified.  Imagine the pain of a severed ear only to have it totally replaced and healed in a moment by Jesus.  What would that have been like?  In a moment you barely escape death and lose an ear.  In the next moment you are touched by the King of the universe!  Did he believe?

And what about Barabbas?  He was a violent criminal condemned to die by crucifixion.  Instead of dying, he was set free because of Jesus.  One moment he was on death row, and the next he was totally free.  All because of Jesus.  What was he thinking?  Did he believe?

And what about us?  In a sense aren't we just like these men?  Haven't we been touched and set free by Jesus?  I think we have.  We should celebrate this reality today.

Jn17

Jesus did not define "eternal life" as living forever.  He defined it as "knowing God through Him".  Do you have eternal life?

Rarely will you find anyone who will define eternal life outside of the context of "living forever", but Jesus defined it quite differently.  Think about it.  He knew that everyone will live forever; either with Him or without Him.  God created man to be an eternal being.  We tend to put the emphasis on the "eternal" part of the equation and Jesus definitely was interested in the "life" part of the equation.

Maybe a better question would be, "Do you have life?"  When Jesus saw men without forgiveness, He saw walking "dead men".  Even though they had physical life they did not have "eternal life".  In fact, they were doomed to "eternal death".

Jesus came so that we could have life.  True life.  Eternal LIFE!  Eternal life begins when we place our faith in Jesus.  It begins with birth.  Remember Jesus said, "you must be born again."  This is life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

LIve strong today.