The greatest
man to ever live was Jesus. His plan
given to Him by His father was to let the entire world know of His love. God’s plan is clear and is for us. What we understand this week, the week before
Easter, is how important this story really is.
When a person gets it, the story gets them and radically changes us.
2 Peter 3:9 NASB
The Lord is
not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing for any to perish
but for all to come to repentance.
John 3:17 NASB
For God did
not send the Son into the world to judge
the world, but that the world might be saved
through Him.
1 Corinthians 1:21 NASB
For since in
the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
God chose
Jesus to be the sacrifice for sin and the savior of the world, but God chose
our sharing of His story to be the way that people come to know Him. Those two things, Jesus’ sacrifice and our
sharing, are eternally linked to the life change that continues to happen in
this world.
Not everyone
gets this story. It really is useless or
foolish if a person doesn’t see their need for Jesus. That is why I pray God reveals Himself to the
people we come in contact with. Easter
is a revealing time.
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the
very power of God.
It is the
power of God, yet life isn’t easy. We
have found that to be true. We read the
stories of others throughout history who have found that knowing God and following
Jesus is the most difficult thing in the world.
Get some
perspective. Eternity is a really long
time. Our short life on earth and all
the suffering cannot compare to the time we will spend in Heaven and with
God. Jesus lived that truth and was
living proof for all to see. He keeps on
living that truth.
Romans 8:18 NASB
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
The enemy is
real. His way is to distract us and to
shade the truth. If Satan can get our
mind off of God and change our direction from following Him, we will miss the
purpose God has for us and the abundance He wants to bless us with. Who are we allowing to fill our lives?
John
10:10 NLT
The
thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in
all its fullness.
I close
today’s thoughts with a verse that continues to baffle me. I shared it Sunday with our church. It is strong.
Strong because the good news is that Jesus is our life. It is strong.
Strong because Jesus and others have become living proof that Jesus is
what life is all about.
For when we brought you
the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy
Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know that the way we lived among you
was further proof of the truth of our message.
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