“The Hope of the Resurrection”

Wednesday, April 24.

“He which raised him up shall also raise you up in Christ’s Jesus…” 2 Corinthians 4:14.

The resurrection makes a difference. The resurrection enables Christians and all who believed to have eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will all have immortality. The day will come when this mortal body will no more be mortal. We will have a new body.

Hopelessness and despair is everywhere. We need hope. The resurrection gives us hope. The body uses oxygen. We need oxygen to survive. This is how we need hope for the future. Peter pointed out that our hope comes through the resurrection.

There is hope that we can have joy, peace, security and assurance. There is hope that will come day a new heaven and a new earth. All the old things will pass away. God will make all things new, Let us put our trust in the resurrection of Jesus.

Memory verse: Revelation 21:3

“He is Risen” (Matthew 29:7

he next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

It is a very difficult thing to believe that Jesus would remove the heavy stone placed at the entrance of the tomb. But the reality is that the stone was removed. Jesus Christ is no longer in the tomb. This is an important thing for our Christian faith.

It is the power of his resurrection that gives meaning to Christianity. It is the power of his resurrection that makes us receiver of eternal life. It is the power of his resurrection that makes us the children of God. It is important for us to stand on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As we commemorate the death of Jesus, let us continue in the act of worship.

Memory verse: James 1:21

“At the heart of the Christian faith is Jesus’ death and resurrection.” John Ortberg

“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garment and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand why I have done to you?” You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for I am so. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

This passage begins by showing the divine nature of love. The washing of the disciples feet shows that Jesus himself is love. It teaches all of us to demonstrate love in the same way.

When we look at Christ’s actions in this passage, we see the beauty of freedom in serving others. Putting others first in our lives is a beautiful thing to do. It is so because Christ’s demonstration of love here exceed any service a person can render to others.

Philippians 2:6-7 informs us that Christ made himself into a servant and assumed the very nature of God. Jesus was able to serve others because he knew God loves us beyond measure. Let us love one another in the same fashion.

Memory verse: Philippians 2:6

“The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your own room here on earth.” Mohammed Ali

“When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered to be crucified.”

During the end of Jesus’ life, he remained calm. Jesus knew that he would died. When the high priest and all these people plotted to arrest and murdered him, Jesus Christ was aware. Jesus even knew one of his trusted apostles would betrayed him. One would agree Judas must have felt uneasy knowing that Jesus knew all about his wicked plans. Through our schemes and plans, God knows everything.

Nothing was most central to God than the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is important for us to know that Jesus’ death signifies the new Passover. The Passover marks a time in Israel’s history when they were deliver from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Jesus’ death marks the new Passover for us Christian.

Those who trust in him will enjoy the ultimate Passover, the delivery and redemption from sin. This will result in them living in freedom of his love forever.

Memory verse: John 15:12

“God is the source of life, wealth, and honor. Live life for his glory.” Labah Gifty Akua

“The Cleansing”

“And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple…..”

The Passover feast is very important in the Jewish culture. Every year Jews comes from all walks of life to pay their respect and celebrate this all important time. They traveled long distances. They are often tire, and so they come and purchased their animals for sacrifice. As a means for convenience, the people would sell animals in the Courts of the Gentiles, a place where non-Jewish worshipers would gathered to worship.

Jesus was not happy. Many would wonder why? Weren’t these merchants just trying to make the celebration easier? Jesus felt that they were doing it at the expense of non Jewish worshipers. It was a hindrance to their worshiping and seeking God.

The Scripture tells us of Jesus’ authority. Jesus reminded everyone that if the temple which was his body was destroyed in three days, he would built it again. When Jesus died, the entire temple system, that is the priesthood, the sacrifice, the glory died with him. He was the Passover Lamb, the priesthood and the Shekinah glory. When Jesus died, the veil of the temple split (Mark 15:38) so that we all can have direct access to God. Jesus became the prayer house of all nations. Worship now is not about a place, but it is where we meet Jesus.

Memory verse: Luke 19:37

“The glory of God is humankind fully alive.” Ignatius of Loyola

https://firstchurchnewton.org/daily-devotions/1999/

“A Call to Follow”

Wednesday, April 10.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

At least one other religion refer to Jesus as a prophet. Jesus is not consider the Son of God. This is because many people are not resolute in their faith. They questioned Jesus being the Son of God because they do not know him that well. Peter, Jesus’ disciple knew him well and called him Christ. Peter had been around Jesus many times. Peter knew the wonders our Lord worked. After Peter confessed Jesus, Jesus tried to explain the kind of mission he was involved in.

Jesus was clear about the mission he was involved with because Jesus told them that anyone who followed him must denied himself. He must take up the cross and follow him. We lived in a culture where we love comfort to pursue comfort, satisfaction of our desires above all else. To deny oneself and follow Christ feels like death and rejection. Is that what we want to do? This is what Christ calls us to do. Are we ready today?

Memory verse: Luke 9:18.

“If God is all you have, then God is all you need” (John 4:8).

“Meditate on his Word”

Tuesday, April 9.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  Matthew 4

The passage in Matthew 4 explains how Satan had cone to Jesus to steal what rightfully belong to us. He had come to tempt Jesus so as to prove that Jesus could disobey God. If Jesus had done what Satan asked him, there would be no redemption for us. The third time the devil tempted Jesus was for Jesus to worship him. The devil wanted Jesus to bypass the cross and find an easy way out. But Jesus refused.

Each time the devil came to Jesus, Jesus quoted Scripture. Jesus used the Word of God, Paul called it the “Sword of the Spirit.”It is important for us to used the word of God as our defense against the attacks of Satan. Let us meditate day in and day out on the word of God.

Memory verse: Ephesians 6:17

“The word of God is limitless and infinite.” H. G. Bishop Youannes

“The Sacrificial Lamb”

Monday, April 8.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

Genesis 22 provides a picture of how Jesus give his life for our redemption from sin. In the Genesis narrative, Abraham took his only son Isaac to Mount Moriah after God told him to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac asked his father about the lamb to be sacrificed. Abraham told his son that God would provide the lamb.

God provided Jesus Christ to be crucified for our sins and our redemption. Abraham did not have to sacrifice his son. God provided Jesus Christ for this purpose. God sees each of us as his child. God loves us and wants us to live a life freed of sins. Let us allow Jesus Christ to take control of our lives.

Memory verse: John 3:16

“As the Father has love me, so have i loved you.” Jesus Christ

“The Suffering Servant”

Monday, April 1.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned — every one — to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 55:3

The man Jesus Christ was extraordinary. But if we look at his life very keenly, we would conclude that it was a life of suffering. For a man who had so much attributes, he lived a poor life. He was rejected. He died a shameful death.

When we examined his life outwardly, it was nothing compare to the royal home he came from above. He could not afford a Lexus or any luxurious cars. He did not live in a mansion. He was despised and rejected. He was a man of sorrow to a point that people turned their faces away from him even though he was the very source of all beauty.

Jesus went through these things so that you and myself would never have to. He experienced grief so that you and myself could not endured. He did for our sins so we can be redeemed and enjoy eternal life. Let us hail Jesus today.

Memory verse> Psalm 1:1

“Sin is a stone which does not float.” Unknown.

Friday, March 28.

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know to sustain with a word him who is weary. Isaiah 50:4

The verses in Isaiah 50 brings to the fold the contrast between the obedient servant of the Lord and those who persecute him. The bad thing is that it is the obedient servant who is to suffer for the disobedient people. The obedient servant will be spat on, struck and mock. In Marl 15:19-20, we recognized that this obedient servant is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He suffered not for his sins but because of our sins. He knew no sin. His life was marked by perfect obedience.

Jesus knew that his suffering would not be in vain. Jesus remained sinless. It is written that for “the joy set before him, he endured the cross.” It that joy that motivated him. It was the fact that his suffering would bring redemption to his people.

Memory verse: Hebrew 12:2

“It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing. Jose Marti/futurequote.com