Devotion
He Gave Us What We Did not Deserve
Chipo Biti
If you take a look at the world back then, and even at the world now, you would probably think otherwise. Mankind has been riddled with evil since the Fall of Man at the beginning of time. Human beings have turned on God many times. They have hurled curses at Him, doubted His existence, and accused Him of many things. But God never shook in His love for us.
After the Fall of Man, mankind became quite a terrible sight. Sin abounded in so many ways and there was no way of stopping it. People were murdering one another, stealing from one another, committing strange acts with one another, and worshipping strange gods. The children of Israel abandoned God many times, choosing to worship idols instead. Not once did they think of the great amount of pain they were causing God.
If you were asked to die for such people, would you? Probably not. You would probably give all the reasons in the world as to why these people deserved to suffer for their actions - and you wouldn't have been wrong for it. Human beings were terrible. We still see that terrible nature in many of them in the world today. The most heinous acts have occurred in history and there are new ones that we see as each day passes. Murder. Sexual violence. War. Hatred.
But none of this deterred God from giving His son up to save us from ourselves. He carried on with His plans, even when mankind had turn their backs on Him. He refused to let His love be based on our love for Him. If He had done that, we would have died a very long time ago.
There is no greater love than the love that Jesus Christ has for us. Jesus laid down his life for every single person in the world, regardless of who they are or what they have done in their lives. It was not a simple decision for him. The thought of suffering the consequences for the sins of the world was not an easy thought to bear.
In the days leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus was troubled by what was to come but this did not stop Him from following through. He wept about it. He wasn't celebrating at the fact that He was about to endure so much pain. But He still chose to go through with it because He believed that we were all worth it.
Prayer
It's not much of a task for us when you compare it to what Jesus had to go through. We won't find such love anywhere else but in Him. He loves us completely and there is nothing that will ever make Him change His mind about us. He is for us, now and forever.
Devotion
Passover
Frances Taylor
And so still today, the Jewish people celebrate Passover and one of the traditions is for someone to ask why we celebrate this feast, and the youngest child answers with the story of the Passover. Jesus was celebrating Passover with his friends on the night before he died. I know this reading comes up during the summer, so it's not the time for Passover, or the Passion of Jesus, but I have a question. What are our traditions surrounding the passion and death and resurrection of Jesus? Do we celebrate the end of Lent on Holy Thursday? Do we spend time with Jesus on Good Friday remembering his sacrifice? Is Easter all about candy and the Easter bunny? Today, many of our churches are practically empty on Easter Sunday and the children think more about an Easter egg hunt than God. Would the youngest member of the family be able to tell the story of why we celebrate? God brought the Israelites from slavery to freedom at the original Passover, but Jesus brought ...
Morning Prayer
Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
Inspiration
Through God, all things are possible, and all things may be made a new. Dwell not on the past, of what was or could have been, but rather look forward to what through God's grace, may unfold within his divine plan. Being a Christian is constantly about a state of becoming, of a movement towards the Light of perfection shown to us by Christ. A part of this is to always remain open to Gods' works and feats, emerging all around us. God's will to create and recreate the world is his right as our Heavenly father, and it is not for us to mourn what may pass, but rather to seek to adapt our faith in ...
Night Prayer
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Inspiration
God is our portion, our ultimate source of peace and happiness. We do not need to understand His ways or timing; we only need to know that He is always with us. God is our safety net, and He guides us through each struggle or hardship. We know terrible occurrences are bound to happen as we live in this imperfect world, but we have hope because God is with us every moment. His love will never fail.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we depend on You for peace and happiness all the days of our life. We are blessed because we can face any obstacle with You by our side. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
