Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  It is Good Friday of Easter week.  It is the day where the full meaning of God sending His son, and it is the peak of the efforts of those who were set to remove Jesus from this world.  This day is the highest point of the purpose Jesus was sent.   He is the Christ, the sacrifice, and without the cross there would not be a resurrection.  Remember that without Jesus' death, and His life before death, there would be no life after death.    1 Corinthians 1:18  NASB For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.   The cross is the place where we fall apart or where our sin falls away.  The cross was harsh and cruel because sin deserves punishment.  Even Jesus’ beatings leading up to the cross would leave him close to the point of death.  Yet on the cross is where He died.   Why do they call this day “Good Friday” because it seems any thing but good?...

  Thursday of holy week.  Some refer to this day as Maundy Thursday, and it is one of the biggest, most important and memorable days of the Easter season. It really is holy Thursday that inaugurated the Lord’s Supper.  Jesus shared with His closest followers the meaning of his body and blood in the foreshadowing of His death that was only hours away. In that prepared room, where the passover was celebrated, several acts and parts of the conversation left marks on all who heard. First is the meal itself.  No more is the remembering of former times, but now it is what Jesus did. 1 Corinthians 11:25-26  NLT   In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. Second is the act of hu...

  Mid week of one of the most important weeks of the year.  Here we are, and how we think of the week, the influence of Jesus and what is to come does make a difference. One of the most troubling parts of the easter story is the fact that one of the closest people to Jesus gave Him up for a little bit of money.  We don’t know all that was in Judas’ mind at the time, but do know that he struggled with the money around the ministry of Jesus. Most likely Judas was stealing from the money box.  He was often stirred up about the way money was used or the way people were acting around Jesus. The only person that really knew Judas’ motives was Jesus.  The religious leaders used Judas. Like Judas our outlook on Jesus does make a difference.  None of us want to be equated to Judas or like him, yet the truth is we have all acted the way he did or thought what Judas had going through his mind. My point is that the best thing we can do is to have a proper view of Jesus...

  Tuesday of Holy Week … Jesus taught, warned of the delusion of the Pharisees and talked about the future.  The future was directly about how His life after death would change things.   In this shorter than normal e-devotion I will give you some verses to think about.  What Jesus said about Himself and about faith.  Dig a little deeper.  Ask God to give you insight. Matthew 4:17 NLT   From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” John 11:25-26  NLT   Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” John 1:10-12  NLT   He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, h...

Isaiah 53:5-6  NLT   But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed. 6  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Before us are 7 days changed the world. These 7 days have been the topic of a millions of conversations and even controversies.  These 7 days have inspired artists, architects, and even Gospel writers and preachers.  For a few minutes try to calculate the impact of these 7 days.  It is almost impossible.  Harder still count the lives of men and women who have been transformed by Jesus and these 7 days.  These 7 days played out all and around Jerusalem.   What happened on those 7 days?  The first day, Palm Sunday that was observed yesterday, it is the first of the seven days, where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the shout...

  One of my favorite Old Testament passages that points us to Jesus and the happenings of the first Easter come from Isaiah 52 and 53.  As we close out this week and we are one week from Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus’ death on the cross, I ask you to spend a few minutes looking through this passage and ask God to let you see the beauty of what Jesus did for you and for others. Isaiah 52:13-53:12  NLT   See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. 14 But many were amazed when they saw him.  His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. 15 And he will startle many nations.  Kings will stand speechless in his presence.  For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about. 1  Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a t...