Good Friday

I've often wondered why today is referred to as 'Good Friday.' There really seems to be no good thing that happened on this day, after all, this is a day of agony and suffering and death and despair and abandonment and darkness and loss.
Christ is taken to Calvary and after He had been beaten and mocked and ridiculed, He is crucified.
According to the ESV Study Bible; crucifixion was widely believed to be the worst form of execution, due to the excruciating pain and public shame. Hanging suspended by one's arms eventually caused great difficulty in breathing, which could be alleviated only by pushing up with one's feet to take the weight off the arms. But that motion itself would cause severe pain in the feet, arms, legs and back, causing the exhausted victim to slump down again, only to be nearly unable to breathe once more. Eventually, the victim would succumb to suffocation, if he had not already died as a result of the cumulative effect of the physical trauma inflicted on him.
Jesus suffered all that for you and for me, and although we understand the physical pain and cause of death by crucifixion, I believe that the true cause of death for Christ was the weight of our sin. Think about it for a moment...Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us. He took upon Himself all the sin of mankind from the fall to the last day of existence on planet earth. Hanging there suspended between heaven and earth Jesus bore the weight of my sin and your sin and every person that has ever lived and will ever live on this earth.
As we reflect on the Savior death today, here are some questions...Have you accepted His sacrifice for you? Have you received His sacrifice for your sin? Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and become your Lord, receiving the gift of eternal life that He died to give?
Till Tomorrow...Bro. Alan

Maundy Thursday

This is 'Maundy Thursday,' now as Baptist we normally don't observe much of Holy Week, so when someone hears that today is 'Maundy Thursday' they usually say, "What? We're having Monday on Thursday?"
Maundy is Latin for 'mandated'. What was to occur on this day was mandatory for Christ to go to the cross and pay the ultimate price so that we could receive salvation.
This is the night that Jesus washes His disciples feet in the upper room and demonstrates for us how to truly live as a servant and how we need to love and serve one another. This is also the night that Jesus initiated the Lord's Supper, giving new meaning to the passover. Showing us that He was God's Passover Lamb and instructing us to observe the Lord's Supper in remembrance of His death for us.
This is also the night that Judas betrays the Lord and the night that Jesus goes to the garden to pray and then arrested and tried.

So much happened on this night during Holy Week. There was so much significance in every act of love that Christ did for us. So much that He taught and so much that He showed us about how we are to live.

So, today here are some things to think and pray about:
How are we serving one another? As Jesus washed the feet of His disciples He was showing us how to serve.

Do we remember that it was His body broken for us and His blood spilled for us? How much do we thank God daily for the sacrifice of His Son?

Jesus prayed for us, do we pray for others? Take some time to read "the Lord's Prayer" in John 17. This is what is commonly called the "High Priestly Prayer of Jesus" Read it today and reflect on what Christ did for us and how He prayed for you during that stressful hour of His life.

Remember today that Jesus died for you because He loves you. Out of obedience to the Father Jesus goes to the cross to bear the weight of the sins of the world for you and for me...

Allow the Father to let this be a Holy Thursday for you...Till tomorrow...Bro. Alan

Silent Wednesday

In the gospels Wednesday is not recorded. Not one event is told of that happened on this day, therefore it is known as Silent Wednesday.

In the Psalms we find the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God." Take time today to pause, reflect and spend some time in silence before the Father.

Till Tomorrow...Bro. Alan

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK

As we continue to observe Holy Week, or Passion Week, together we come to toady and see that Jesus used this day as one for teaching in the Temple. Yesterday He cleared out the Temple and cleansed it from the corruption that had settled in through the money changers and sacrifice sellers.
Today, He enters the Temple and begins to teach in the Temple courts. You can find these teachings in Matthew 21:23-23:39; Mark 11:27-12:44 and Luke 20:1-21:4. In these teachings Jesus presents three extended parables showing God's judgment on the religious leaders for their failure in not encouraging the people to accept Jesus' invitation to the kingdom of heaven. The religious leaders retaliate by trying to trap Jesus in an argument. Jesus then reveals His true identity as the Son of God.
The day closes with Jesus teaching His disciples on the return trip to Bethany in what has become known as the 'Olivet Discourse.' It is found in Matthew 24:1-25:46, Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36.

Can I encourage you to spend some time in study today? I know, you didn't or don't like studying while in school, so why would you do it in your free time...Well, this is just isn't studying for study sake, this is time with the Father, intimate time with Dad. Would you just take a few moments and pick a passage and read it and pray over it and ask the Father to speak to your heart today. I know that it will be worth your time and effort.

Passages to read...just pick one or two to read

Matthew 21:23-23:39 or Matthew 24:1-25:46

Mark 11:27-12:44 or Mark 13:1-37

Luke 20:1-21:4 or Luke 21:5-36

Till Tomorrow...Bro. Alan

HOLY MONDAY

Today, as we observe holy week together, is 'holy Monday.' After Jesus spent the night in Bethany after the Triumphal Entry yesterday, he and his disciples walk back to Jerusalem. As they approach the Holy City Jesus sees a fig tree that looks like it should have figs on it because of the leaves that are present. But, as He nears the tree He noticed that although it had many leaves and appeared to be a healthy tree it had no fruit. So, Jesus cursed the fig tree. This was symbolic in the sense that Jesus was stating that although Israel and it's religious leaders looked good on the outside, they had no dedication to the LORD on the inside, in other words it was all talk and no walk.
As Jesus and His disciples continue to make their way to Jerusalem, Jesus enters the Temple. He notices that the Temple has become a place of corruption and greed. Money changers are at their tables charging ridiculous rates to convert money into the currency required for sacrificial animals that were sold at unfair prices.
So, in anger, Jesus drove these corrupt men from the Temple, God's house. When the religious leaders witnessed this they became indignant toward Jesus. "How dare He come into their place and disrupt their business!"
Jesus told them, "It is written, My house will be a house of prayer for the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers."
Today, on Holy Monday, Jesus cleared and purified the Temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Paul tells us that we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. In essence we are to be a house dedicated to the Father and to prayer. When was the last time you allowed Jesus to clean your temple? When was the last time you spent some time in prayer?
Today, allow Jesus to clean house, maybe we need to confess to Him today the things that we have been struggling with, maybe today we need some serious 'spring cleaning.' Take time today to spend in prayer on this Holy Monday.
Till Tomorrow...Bro. Alan

Lamb Selection Day

Today is 'Palm Sunday,' some refer to today as the Triumphal Entry, but actually today is "Lamb Selection Day."

In Exodus 12, God gives Moses instructions for the people..."This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household....The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the houses where they eat the lambs...Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover..." (Exodus 12:1-11 selected portions)

As Jesus entered Jerusalem on this day, it was the time that the people were selecting the lamb that would serve as their sacrifice for the coming Friday. I find it amazing that on "Lamb Selection Day" God brought His perfect, spotless Lamb before all of Jerusalem and in essence said, "Here is the Lamb that I have selected for you."

Is He the Lamb that you have selected?

This week we will walk together as we journey with Christ to the cross. Please join us as we observe Holy Week Together...
Till Tomorrow...Bro. Alan