Remember Me~

Greetings,

Luke 23 in the Bible details the crucifixion of Jesus, and we learn in verse 32 that two other men, convicted criminals, were also crucified – one on each side of Christ. Verse 39 says one of them "hurled insults at Jesus." Verses 42, however, paints a different picture of the other criminal: “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

How did Jesus respond?

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”

No harsh words about a crime-filled life. No judgment, no condemnation, no criticism. The criminal wanted forgiveness, and Jesus gave it.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, today we unite our voice with the forgiven criminal who realized his need for Jesus and say, "Remember us!"  We look forward to being with You in Paradise. In the meantime, thank You that You are with us each step of the way on planet earth. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

He Chose Love

Matthew 26:53 "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?"

Greetings,

Think about your greatest struggle right now.  If you could call on God to send thousands and thousands of angels to your rescue, knowing He would do it at once, would you?  I WOULD...IN A HEARTBEAT!!!  Jesus could have done it as well, but He did not.  Instead, He chose His love for us over His own life. 

Christ spoke the words in the verse above as Judas betrayed Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was arrested and would soon face a horrifying crucifixion.  He could have avoided it all; the angels were one brief request away. But He willingly chose to go through with it to give you and me eternal life. This profoundly blesses me.

He is worthy of our love, our trust, and our faith.

He is worthy to be praised and worshipped.

He gave His all for us; let's give Him our all.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, As we prepare to celebrate Your resurrection this Sunday, we are humbled and grateful.  Your willingness to save us is the most amazing sacrifice ever.  We offer up to You our fractured, frail, fickle souls because You are the only One Who thought we were worth dying for. It does not seem fair that we get You and Your blessings, and all You get is us in return.  But love is a mighty thing; thank You for loving us.  We desperately need You.  In Your name, AMEN.

Our Lord Responded~

In Tuesday's DEVO we learned that Jesus forgave the criminal who was crucified next to Him. 

I want to go back and take another look at this passage because we need to remember that the whole exchange between Christ and the criminal took place while Jesus Himself was nailed to a cross.

In the midst of His suffering He takes a moment to reassure the poor lost soul next to Him.  It would be hard to blame Jesus if He would have kept to Himself. But He didn't. A saved criminal is in Heaven today because our Lord responded.

I don't know about you, but I feel as though I have no excuses.  It doesn't matter if I am having a bad day, if I have a flat tire, if Hershey Pie dug a trench in my newly-planted grass, if my bank took it upon itself to send me a new credit card because they suspected a breach, and I spent a very frustrating hour entering in the new info for all the folks I have on auto-pay...

If someone reaches out to you or me, let's view it as a Divine assignment and respond.  Amazing things will happen when we do!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the example of Christ.  If He can respond, then so can we.  And thank You that You always hear our prayers! In Jesus' name, AMEN. 

No Questions Asked~

Luke 23 contains the details of Jesus' crucifixion, and we learn in verse 32 that two other men, who were criminals, were also going to be crucified. Verse 39 says one of the them "hurled insults at Jesus." Verses 40-42, however, paint a different picture of the other criminal.

He says, "We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But Jesus has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

These two men represent the two types of people in our world today - those who want nothing to do with Christ and those who realize their great need for Him. (I have something in common with the criminal who needed Jesus, and I hope you do too.)

Nevertheless, verse 43 is what makes Christ so awesome, so great, so wonderful, so selfless..."Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise."

So simple, really. No harsh words about a crime-filled life. No judgment, no condemnation, no criticism. The criminal genuinely wanted to be forgiven, and Jesus gave it. No questions asked.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Today we unite our voice with that forgiven criminal and say, "Remember us!" We look forward to being with You in Paradise. In the meantime, thank You that You are with us each step of the way on planet earth. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

You Are Like Barabbas~

Mark 15:15 “Pilate set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.”

This past Sunday night the National Geographic Channel played Killing Jesus, and it was the highest rated show in their network’s history.  It is such a compelling, life-changing, life-giving story, and I am happy that over three million people saw it.  This particular production was of the highest quality, and those crucifixion scenes were particularly realistic.  It was hard to watch the thorn of crowns being placed on Christ’s head and watch Him carry His own cross.  And it always reminds me of Barabbas.

In Bible days it was a custom during the time of Passover to release a prisoner.  Seems kind of dangerous, but nonetheless, when it was time to pick the lucky fellow who would be absolved, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Jerusalem who had all the decision-making authority, skipped right over the innocent Jesus and set Barabbas – a convicted murderer –  free. 

Jesus never did one thing wrong, but Barabbas? He should have paid for his crimes.  He deserved it, right?

And then I was reminded of a little conversation that God and I had last year.

“Yenisita, You are like Barabbas.”

“Say what? I have never killed anybody.”

“No, my precious girl, you haven’t. There’s a bunch of stuff you haven’t done and never will. But are you perfect? You still need forgiveness, don’t you? You still need Jesus, don’t you?”

“Yes I do – a lot – every second of every day I need Him.”

“Jesus took Barabbas’ place and yours. You are free.”

“Thank You, my Lord, I love You.”

“And I love you, Yenisita.”

When we do something wrong there’s a price to pay. But we don’t have to pay for our sins; Jesus did that already.  All we have to do is accept His gift of forgiveness.  As we gather this weekend with family and friends to celebrate what my mom used to call, “Resurrection Sunday,” let us count our blessings and remember that Jesus took Barabbas’ place and ours!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the forgiveness we have in Jesus.  We have been set free to love this life and live it to the full. We have been set free to love others and help them understand their freedom as well. Most importantly, we have been given eternal life. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Just Like Barabbas~

A post-Easter greeting to all ~

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, and I am not talking about the weather! It was beautiful because we celebrated the resurrection of Christ, and it was a time of getting together, counting blessings, and remembering His sacrifice.

Mark 15:15 “Pilate set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.”

By the time we get to this verse, Jesus has already been arrested. We also learn that it was a custom during the Passover season to release any prisoner for any reason. Weird tradition, but nonetheless, instead of releasing our innocent Christ, Barabbas – a murderer –was set free.

Anyone who has seen a passion play or movie can hardly stand to witness the whipping and crucifixion of Christ. Yesterday in church they put on a play where an actor was literally put on a cross, and it was tough. But what really got to me was when Joseph of Arimathea tenderly took Jesus’ body off the cross to provide a proper burial. My whole family and I were seated a few rows back of this simple presentation, but it was impactful. I could scarcely breathe, if I am being honest. Jesus should have never been up there to begin with. He didn’t do anything wrong. Barabbas, on the other hand, he should have died. I wouldn’t have felt so bad either. Barabbas was a murderer, so he deserved it, right?

And then God spoke to my heart: “Yenisita, You are like Barabbas.”

“Say what? I ain’t never killed no body.”

“No, my precious girl, you haven’t. There’s a bunch of stuff you haven’t done and never will. But are you perfect? You still need forgiveness, don’t you? You still need Jesus, don’t you?”

“Yes I do – a lot – every second of every day I need Him.”

“Jesus took Barabbas’ place and yours. You are free.”

“Thank You, my Lord, I love You.”

“And I love you, Yenisita.”

When we do something wrong there’s a price to pay. But we don’t have to pay for our sins; Jesus did. All we have to do is live our life with the freedom we have been given.

How do we do that? (Mañana).

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for speaking into our hearts. We have been set free to love this life and live it to the full. We have been set free to love others and help them understand their freedom as well. Show us how. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Remember Us~

TGFGF-Thank God For Good Friday~

Today we will look at one final example about coming alongside someone, and Jesus once again is the Hero of the story.

Luke 23 contains the details of Jesus' crucifixion. We learn in verse 32 that two other men who were criminals were also going to be crucified. Verse 39 says one of the criminals "hurled insults at Jesus." But verses 40-42 paint a different picture of the other criminal.

“Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

These two men represent the world today. There are two categories of people--those who want nothing to do with Christ, and those who realize their great need for Him. Has anyone ever told you you had something in common with a criminal? Well, I just did:)

But what I really really love about this passage is what Jesus answers him in verse 43: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

So simple, really. No harsh words about a crime-filled life. No judgment, no condemnation, no criticism. The criminal genuinely wanted to be forgiven, and Jesus gave it. No questions asked.

Let's not gloss over this. Jesus was Himself in agony having just been nailed to that cross--depths of pain we will never comprehend, and yet, even in the midst of His suffering He takes a moment to reassure one of the poor lost souls next to Him.

Would anyone have blamed Him if He would have said, "I've got my own problems; I am busy saving the world?"

No, I wouldn't have.

This is such an inspiring story because it shows that even when we're going through a personal crisis, we can still come alongside others and offer words of encouragement. 

And when we do, amazing things happen.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Today we unite our voice with that forgiven criminal and say, "Remember us!" We look forward to being with You in Paradise. In the meantime, thank You that You are with us each step of the way on planet earth. In Jesus' name, AMEN~