This week’s devotions are based on this week’s message: Shadows: A Glimpse of a Savior! (WATCH HERE)
Zechariah 9:9-10 See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
It’s easy in our world to look at what is happening around us and what is happening to us and want to get away from it all. If you look at the headlines of any major news site, you see challenges in foreign affairs, you hear politicians bickering with one another, you see senseless tragedies and accidents. It’s rare that the news chooses to report good news and one may think every aspect of the world is coming crashing down.
If God would just do something about it.
No one would argue that it would be nice to change the narrative of news organizations to not just spin stories to lead to fear and unrest, but rather to communicate the positive and uplifting too. We want to believe, but don’t always see, that the world can be a better place.
I wonder what people thought when Jesus was done teaching the Tuesday of Holy Week? Was their impression of the man who rode into Jerusalem on Sunday changing when they heard him teach on Tuesday?
What would you think of Jesus’ message and purpose when you heard him say:
Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved
Or perhaps when you heard him say:
Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
As Jesus taught about the end times and his second coming, it may not have been the battle plan some were wanting to hear. But it was the message they needed. Jesus was a king who would bring salvation, Zecharaiah said. But the salvation Jesus brought would be the deliverance we all need, not from the problems of this world, but from the problems of personal sin. His mission was to ensure as many people as possible will hear him say, Matthew 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
Jesus came to provide deliverance from sin. Even in his last teaching moments, he didn’t proclaim world peace or the end to every problem. Instead he came to orchestrate and communicate the deliverance we really need…the forgiveness of our sins. Only with this gift of grace will we be ready for his return. Even though our earthly challenges may not disappear, our heavenly home will be ready because Jesus came to bring YOU salvation!
Prayer: Thank you Jesus for being the Savior I really need! AMEN!
PS _ This may be a bit longer, but for all who prayed for our Easter event…here’s how God has and is answering those prayers…
To all our devotion readers,
THANK YOU to all who prayed for our Easter Eggstravaganza Event. The prayers of God’s people are heard and answered by our gracious God. After the dust has settled on a very busy week, let me share with you how the Lord chose to answer these prayers so that you too may give thanks!
As you may remember, last Friday we were making final preparations for our annual outreach event, Easter Eggstravaganza. The Lord blessed the event with 814 guests that registered…perhaps a few more that didn’t! Below are the prayers you prayed for us last Friday with the ways God has chosen at this point to answer them…
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- Ask the Lord for his Spirit to work conversations and connections at the event for the advancement of the Gospel in the hearts of people.
- In ways we will have to wait on these conversation. Personally I spoke with a woman from Iran of the Bahai faith and a person of the Seventh Day Adventist. These gave opportunity to share the focus of grace we are privileged to preach.
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- Ask the Lord to move individuals to seek deeper connection with him through the Gospel ministry of Crosspoint.
- 44 families indicated a desire for more information about the ministry of Crosspoint.
- 23 families indicated they were actively looking for a church home.
- 37 families are interested in receiving a daily devotional email
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- Protect all participants from any harm or danger.
- While we had a brief scare when a parent couldn’t find her son, he was safely enjoying the bounce house without telling his mom. God kept all safe.
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- Give strength and health to all who are volunteering.
- Everyone slept well Saturday night, but with one exception, all who volunteered were able to come and serve.
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- Curtail any evil or anyone wishing evil at or on the event.
- No one of evil intent was among the group.
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- That people would find more than eggs, but find a connection to their Savior.
- We had a booth where people could ask faith questions and post a prayer on a cross. 62 people posted a prayer.
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- That the hundreds of invitations to Easter would be received and individuals attend worship on Easter Sunday.
- Easter Sunday is a few days away, but we had three families visit yesterday as a result of the event and fliers the mission team distributed around us. Please pray they will return on Easter! We had 77 in worship for Palm Sunday – almost double our usual Sunday of around 40!
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- Gratitude for the many dollars that have been contributed
- I’m not sure the amount, but close to $2000 above regular offerings.
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- Gratefulness for dedicated volunteers and willingness to serve.
- We had 55 volunteers total serve on Saturday. Each one was and is a gift from God!
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- Thankfulness for our four mission team members from Wisconsin who came to serve the Lord on their spring break.
- Ally, Ian, Josh & Dylan – a great team, strong in their faith and dedicated to their Lord. They enjoyed a week of service, fun and lots of food! They arrived back on campus early Monday morning, greeted by a snow storm after leaving 75 degrees here in Texas.
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- Ask the Lord to bless the event as he sees fit…opening doors he wants open and closing the ones he wants closed.
- We yet to see all the blessings God provided through this event.
- Any other prayer the Lord prompts you to pray!
Would you be so bold as to pray…
- Prayer of thanks for all the blessings listed above.
- For continued connection with the people who came on Easter and beyond.
- New guests on Easter to hear the glorious Easter message again or for the first time!
Lord, thank you for all your faithful people who prayed for our outreach efforts. We thank you for blessing them in your way. Hear our prayers as ones redeemed by Christ and purified by your Spirit. We anticipate your blessing in many ways, ones maybe we expect and ones we didn’t. For each, we are grateful! AMEN.