IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT... MY HEAVENLY FATHER WATCHES OVER ME

MY HEAVENLY FATHER WATCHES ME

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YOU TUBE CHANNEL - TWO MINUTE MESSAGES & IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT MUSIC

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STAND FOR THE NAME

RESURRECTION SUNDAY, Daily Devotional, March 31, 2013

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THIS WILL BE OUR LAST IN THE DAILY DEVOTIONALS LEADING TO RESURRECTION SUNDAY.

SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Mark 16:7 “…and Peter…”

SCRIPTURE READING: MARK 16:1-10

¹And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

 ²And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

 ³And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

 ⁴And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

 ⁵And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.

 ⁶And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

 ⁷But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

 ⁸And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

 ⁹Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

 ¹⁰And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

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REFLECTION: 

This is our 47^th and final LENTEN DAILY DEVOTIONAL.  Thank you for reading. We pray that all who have followed along with us have been encouraged to a deeper walk with Christ.

All of the Gospels recount the resurrection of Jesus.  Mark tells that the angel who announced Christ’s resurrection to the women who were first to the tomb, instructed them specifically, “Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter, that He is going into Galilee…”

I love those two words, “and Peter.”  Obviously Jesus loved Peter too.  He loved him in spite of the fact that he had run away with the rest of the disciples when the Jews came after Christ.  He loved him  even though he had denied the Lord three times. He loved Peter, and He loves us “unto the end.” 

1700 years later the Lord called for a slave trader named John Newton to meet Him.  Through a number of “coincidences,” the last being a great storm that nearly took his life, Newton accepted the Lord’s invitation.  We conclude with his touching testimony:

In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,ui
And stopp’d my wild career:

I saw One hanging on a Tree
In agonies and blood,
Who fix’d His languid eyes on me.
As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look:
It seem’d to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke:

My conscience felt and own’d the guilt,
And plunged me in despair:
I saw my sins His Blood had spilt,
And help’d to nail Him there.

Alas! I knew not what I did!
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain!

—A second look He gave, which said,
“I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou may’st live.”

Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy,

My spirit now is fill’d
That I should such a life destroy,

Yet live by Him I kill’d! –

John Newton, 1725-1807

PRAYER: Our Father, We praise Thee for the Son of thy Love, For Jesus who died, and is now gone above! Hallelujah Thine the Glory, Hallelujah Amen!  What a joy it is to know that we “Serve a Risen Savior, He’s in the World today!”  We pray that as we rejoice in the risen Savior we would never forget the price of our redemption, the power of the resurrection, and promise of everlasting life.  May we always reflect the glory of thy presence in a world that needs to see Christ in us.  We anticipate with great joy that day when we, like Thomas, will touch the hand of our Savior and discover the print of a nail.  Oh what a day that will be! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.  “Our Father, &c.”

AND NICODEMUS, Daily Devotion, Saturday, March 30, 2013

SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2013

John 19:39  “And there came also Nicodemus…”

SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 19:31-42

³¹The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

 ³²Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

 ³³But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

 ³⁴But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

 ³⁵And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

 ³⁶For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

 ³⁷And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

 ³⁸And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

 ³⁹And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

 ⁴⁰Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

 ⁴¹Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

 ⁴²There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

REFLECTION: 

A few years earlier he came to Jesus “by night.”  “Master we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles except God be with Him,” Nicodemus confessed. Jesus didn’t reprove his secret inquirer, He taught him, “Verily verily I say unto thee, ye must be born again!”

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, that great day of the Feast when Jesus proclaimed, “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink,” opinions in Jerusalem were sharply divided.  Some believed Jesus was the long anticipated Messiah.  The Jewish Sanhedrin was sure He was an imposter. 

Nicodemus emerged from the shadows, not yet ready to openly proclaim Christ as His Lord, but anxious to hear more, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he does?”  His authority and influence were sufficient to pause the Sanhedrin’s rush to judgment.

John tells us that Joseph of Arimethaea begged Pilate for the body of Jesus. But there was another who helped him take our Lord from the cross to the tomb. See Nicodemus. Together they did what they could to prepare Christ’s body for burial.  They wrapped Him in linen clothes.  Then they gently laid him in Joseph’s new made tomb. Though Nicodemus knew that his faith in Christ would earn him the scorn of the Jerusalem elite, his admiration for Christ could not longer be secret, his confidence in Christ would not longer be ambiguous. 

He remembered and now believed what Christ had said to him on that first night they talked. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

As the cold, lifeless body of Jesus lay in state on that final Sabbath before the resurrection, there were no crowds of mourners, nor were there mounds of floral offerings. The disciples were in hiding.  Shrouded in linen, entombed in stone, guarded by Rome’s best soldiers, our Lord’s next move would not come until the break of dawn the next day, the first day of the week. On that day, The Lord of the Sabbath would rise to inaugurate the first LORD'S DAY. 

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, We bow before you, grateful that you so loved the world, that you so loved us.  We marvel at your patience with Nicodemus, and then we are even more amazed at your patience with us. As we look at the cross we are struck not only by your love, but by the horror of the sin that separates us from you, and distance you travelled to save us.  Hallelujah.  Thine be the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever!  In Jesus’ strong name, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”

GOOD FRIDAY, Daily Devotion, March 29, 2013

GOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013

John 19:22 “What I have written I have written…King of the Jews.”

SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 19:19-22

¹⁹And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 ²⁰This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

 ²¹Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

 ²²Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

REFLECTION: 

Ignoring his own considered opinion, “I find no fault in Him,” disregarding the advice of his wife, “Have nothing to do with this just man,” and discounting the lack of criminal evidence, “for envy the Jews had delivered Him,” Pontius Pilate yielded to the Chief Priest and ordered our Lord’s execution

Customarily the convicted would be preceded to his execution by man carrying a sign inscribed with the condemned man’s indictment.  When crucified, the sign would be nailed above his head. Pilate ordered Christ’s indictment to be written in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek.

When the Chief Priest saw Christ’s indictment, “The King of the Jews,” they protested to Pilate. They urged him to write, “He Said I Am King of the Jews.”  This time the Roman prefect refused to oblige the self-righteous. Pilate declared, “What I have written, I have written.”

Pilate’s assertion meant more to the Jews than meets the eye.  They knew that he not only meant that “what is done is done,” but “what is done shall continue.”  Christ Jesus was, is, and always will be “The King of Jews!”  And what is more, He was, is, and always will be my King.

We call today, the day our Lord was crucified, “Good Friday.” It was not “good” because there was no suffering, it was “good” because provision was made to avert an eternity of suffering.  It was not “good” because sin was invisible, it was “good” because Christ proved invincible.  It was not “good” because hate was not on display, it was “good” because the love of God was demonstrated.

PRAYER: (Today’s Prayer is adapted from John Wesley’s Daily Prayer Book.)

Almighty and Everlasting God, We praise your Holy Name for so loving this sin cursed world that you gave your only Begotten Son. 

+O Jesus, poor and abject, unknown and despised, have mercy upon me and let me not be ashamed to follow Thee.

+O Jesus, hated, calumniated, and persecuted, have mercy upon me and let me not be afraid to come after Thee.

+O Jesus, betrayed and sold at a vile price, have mercy upon me and make me content to be as my Master.

+O Jesus, blasphemed, accused and wrongfully condemned, have mercy upon me, and teach me to endure the contradiction of sinners.

+O Jesus, clothed with a habit of reproach and shame, have mercy upon me, and let me not seek my own glory.

+O Jesus, insulted, mocked, and spit upon, have mercy upon me, and let me run with patience the race that is set before me.

+O Jesus, dragged to the pillar, scourged, and bathed in blood, have mercy upon me and let me not faint in the fiery trial.

+O Jesus, crowned with thorns and hailed in derision;

+O Jesus, burdened with our sins, and the cures of the people,

+O Jesus, affronted, ouraged, buffeted, overwhelmed with injuries, griefs, and humiliations;

+O Jesus, hanging upon the accursed tree, bowing the head, giving up the ghost,

Have mercy upon me, and conform my whole soul to thy Holy, humble, suffering Spirit. 

O Thou who for the love of me hath undergone such an infinity of sufferings and humiliations, let me too be wholly emptied of myself, that I may rejoice to take up my cross daily and follow Thee.  Enable me too to endure the pain and despise the shame, and if it be thy Will to resist even unto blood.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”

How can I make a lesser sacrifice? When Jesus gave His all?