The gruesomeness of what Jesus went through should grip us.  This was going to be an ugly, horrific scene that should rightly furrow our brows, sicken our stomachs, and stab our hearts because it was our sin that caused this sacrifice to be needed.  The graciousness of what Jesus went through should also grip us.  This was going to be a beautiful, wonderful act of love that should make our eyes dance, make our faces smile, and make our hearts leap with joy because He was willing to do this for us. Hallelujah! No one goes to heaven except through Him.  And no one would go through Him unless He went to the cross.

Jesus knew what awaited in Jerusalem.  Unimaginable torment.  Unthinkable anguish.  Unspeakable evil.  Unwarranted brutality. Unprecedented suffering.  No one would ever face anything like what Jesus set His face to go to.  He would absorb the wrath of God for our sins to secure the grace of God for our salvation so we could become the people of God for all eternity. He knew the horror of what was coming, but He lovingly and unflinchingly set his face towards it, locked eyeballs with it, and did not back away, back off or back down from it.  The spotless Lamb of God headed for the place of His slaughter for us.

Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose victoriously from the grave.  He did not live, die and rise so we could remain stuck in our sin and struggles as if He did nothing at all.  He came to forgive us and free us from: bitterness, selfishness, laziness, unkindness, purposelessness, sadness, fearfulness and all ungodliness so we might walk in newness of life.  Sin-defeating, life-enabling, heart-transforming, joy-securing resurrection power is ours!  May we have a confidence in and dependance on the power and presence of Jesus today.  We aren’t who we used to be, and we don’t have to live like we are.

The gospel is not a self-help plan; it is a rescue plan.  God does not ask us to fix ourselves in five simple steps, but rather to trust in the one stunning step He took in sending Jesus to fix all that is broken in us. His generosity is breathtaking, His goodness is jaw-dropping and His grace is amazing, for He treated His Son like a sinner on the cross so sinners like you and me could be treated like a son.  The more we are aware of the depths of our sin, the more we will appreciate the depths of His salvation. So… let us marvel at and rejoice in this today: Jesus paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

I wish I could say that my batteries are always charged, my tank is always full, and my engine is always revved up so I can handle well anything that comes my way.  But I cannot.  I often find myself depleted and run down on the inside.  And so do you. When we wonder how we can continue, we don’t need to look to our own inner strength, or our own resources, or our own usual escape.  Instead, we need to look to Jesus and lean on Jesus, because He will recharge our batteries, refill our tanks, and rev up our engines.  Remember… God doesn’t help those who help themselves.  He helps those who cannot help themselves.

Let’s be honest… Loving others isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Some of the people where we live, work and play are know-it-alls, gossips, selfish, cry-babies, back-stabbers, unforgivers, lazy, troublemakers, judgmental, self-righteous, unkind, power-hungry, cheaters, entitled, drama queens, hypocrites, snobs, braggarts, and downright unlikeable.  Who would love people like them?  Jesus.  Jesus would love people like them.  Jesus loves people like you and me, who are just like them.  We may sin differently than others we know, but we are sinners just the same.  And Jesus loves us anyway.  So we love others in His way.

Every person in your life is there for this reason: for you to love on them. God put you where you are, and brought people into your life where you are, so you could demonstrate His love for them, to them. These aren’t just neighbors, co-workers, and teammates; they are intended recipients of God’s affection to be administered through you. Every meeting, conversation and encounter is a wonderful occasion to bless and brighten someone else’s life to the glory of God.   Remember today…The intersections where your life meets someone else’s life hold a beautiful, God-given opportunity and responsibility to love like Jesus.

It’s easy to be mistaken about this, assume this, believe this, want this and live like this: that your life is all about you. But the Bible teaches that your life is all about Jesus.  Let us daily be reminded that you and I are to exalt, proclaim, model, know, serve, praise, believe, seek, adore, please, magnify, worship, defend, treasure, follow, trust, enjoy, obey and love Jesus. We do so to bring glory to the One who was slain for us, conquered sin and death for us, offers forgiveness and life to us, and has become a treasure and joy to us! Because here’s the thing… A life that is full of personal honor for Jesus is also full of personal happiness.

The world often portrays being blessed as the measure of how good we are or how good we have it.  We are blessed because of what we do, what we get to do and what we get from our doing.  But being blessed in the Kingdom of God is more than that. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well on the outside, but that all is well on the inside.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well in the everyday matters of life, but that all is well in what matters most. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well now, but that all will be well forever.  Know this: Real blessing comes in things that can never be taken from us.

If you are trusting Jesus, you are blessed whether you feel like it or not. The Bible doesn’t say you possibly are blessed, probably are blessed or periodically are blessed; it says you ARE blessed.  This is a continual certainty for those who follow Jesus in faith.  There is… No reason to feel shame for your yesterday because you are blessed with His pardon.  No reason to feel discontent with your today because you are blessed with His presence. No reason to feel afraid of your tomorrow because you are blessed with His promises.   His mercy is yours.  His satisfaction is yours.  His kingdom is yours.  All because you are His.

It is wonderful to love.  One of the greatest gifts that God gives us as humans is the capacity to care for things and care about things.  From pizza to people, fireworks to friendships, Chick-Fil-A to conservation, jobs to justice, adventures to Apple, and countless other things, it’s good to give affection and attention to the good things God puts in our lives.  But… Only one love can be supreme.  Only one love can be primary. Only one love can be central.  The love we have for Jesus should be greatest of all.  Let us stir our affections for Him, knowing this:   We will love other things best when we love Jesus most.

We don’t pretend it never happened.  We don’t stay there for long.  We don’t give up because of it.   As we experience godly sorrow in honest ownership of our sin, it should lead to rejoicing in Jesus.  Rejoicing over His forgiving grace.  Rejoicing over His transforming grace.  Rejoicing over His empowering grace.  Yes, we feel genuine regret over our sin because it breaks God’s heart and breaks our lives.  But we quickly remember that the finished work of Jesus makes it possible for us to finish well in our fight against sin.  It’s not that the standard has been lowered for us; it’s that the standard has been met for us.

Don’t waste it.  Don’t misuse it.  Don’t underestimate it.  God has graciously given you a life that is rich with meaning and purpose in this world, at this time, for His kingdom.  Your home life, work life and play life are all a part of His divine plan to make a difference in the lives of the people He has connected you with and entrusted you with.  You were made to shine His light!  The ordinary things of your everyday routine can be done in a way that counts forever.  Today, prayerfully consider what steps of faith He wants you to take in living and loving like Jesus, remembering this:  He can do great things through you.

God has committed Himself to the long-term transformation of making us more like Jesus.  He is acting as both demolition crew and construction crew in us, tearing down those things that don’t belong and building us up in ways that better mirror His image.   He will not stop until the good work in us is done, loving us just as we are, but never content to leave us that way.  We are His beloved unfinished masterpieces, treasured works-in-progress that are always under the skilled brush of God Who graciously and patiently adds His loving strokes to who we are so we can become who we were made to be.

Every single day we are forced to choose sides.  We will either serve Jesus or something else.  We will either prefer Jesus or something else.  We will either trust Jesus or something else.  The enemy of our souls wants us to look away from Jesus, look at substitutes for Jesus, and look for life apart from Jesus.  So, he calls out to us over and over again… Look. Over. Here.  He offers distractions to divide our attention and divide our loyalty so he can divide and conquer us.  Therefore, let us pray every day that God would get our focus where it needs to be so we look past the distractions to Jesus for help on how best to live.

Our happiness does not depend upon us getting something we want or getting rid of something we don’t want.The secret to contentment, regardless of what we have and don’t have, what we get to do and don’t get to do, who we are and who we are not, is to expect Jesus to fulfil the longings of our hearts.   When we look to Him for hope, peace, rest, comfort, courage, security, strength, and provision, and trust that He will sustain us and satisfy us in all circumstances, God is honored in us, and we are happy in Him. We can be joyfully content whether we have little or much because we have it all in Jesus.

An ongoing battle that every Christian faces is the one between the person you were before you met Jesus and the one you are now that you have met Him.  Old temptations beckon.  Old habits resurface.  Old desires rekindle.  Old loyalties divide.  Old beliefs hinder. Old memories haunt.  When you feel this tension, remember that you have a new identity, a new life and a new you because you believe in and belong to Jesus! You have been changed, are being changed and will be changed by His transforming grace.  So fight the good fight of faith against sin as you rejoice in this today:  that’s not you anymore.

God is actively working behind-the-scenes for you right now to meet your needs in ways that you don’t see.  You don’t have the answers; God does.  You don’t know the next move; God does.  You can’t see how it will work out; God does.  Everything you really need will really be supplied.  Not maybe.  Not probably.  Definitely. God will provide for every need.   Not some of them.  Not most of them.  All of them, without exception.  Right when you need it, not a second too late. You can be sure of this! Today, do the work that God has said is for you to do, and believe that He is doing the work that is not for you to do.

Is your prayer life more about getting God to do your will or you to do His?   I’ll be the first to admit that it’s much easier for me to pray about my preferences, priorities and plans than it is to say to my Heavenly Father, “nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”   Yet, there is nothing so freeing and fulfilling than to be right where God means for me to be doing right what God means for me to do.   Prayer involves many things, but the most important thing is to request what we need to live for His Kingdom, not to secure what we need to build our own. Today, ask God to give what you need, to do what He wants.