Daily Devotional For Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Today is Wednesday and we are getting closer to Easter. I am so excited and hope you are as well. As we make our way to Easter, let’s look again at this last week of Jesus. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins. How rich is God’s grace” (NCV). Wow, what statements are in this passage. We all know there is life in blood as well as death.
The American Red Cross collects blood to give to patients in hospitals and soldiers in battle to save lives. At the same time, due to illnesses such as HIV, Hepatitis and Sickle-Cell Anemia are just a few that bring death through blood. For Christ it was both. His shedding of His own blood brought about His death, but it also brought about our invitation to have eternal life in Him.
John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (NASB). We will never fully comprehend the amount of love Jesus had and has for us today. Easter is about the Resurrection of Jesus, but it is also about the insurrection of us. It was our sins that put Jesus on that cross. Yes, the Resurrection of Jesus is about life, but it also about how much we loathed God’s will and purpose for our lives.
In some churches on Easter, one member will say to another member, “Christ is Risen” and that other member will say, “He is risen indeed!” On Easter we join billions of other Christians in this celebration as well as the many Christians through the last 2,000 years who are now part of that “great crowd of witnesses” as expressed in Hebrews 12:1.
Even though our lives have improved due to technology and medicine in our 21st century, humanity is still struggling with the same sin issues as the people did in that very 1st century. Sin has not gone away. In fact, we just now have more technological ways to commit it. And in our day, with our country’s moral compass swaying more to the “left,” there is hardly anything that is now considered immoral and sin.
In many ways, Christians live and act no differently than non-Christians today. They get drunk. They look at porn. They have sex outside of marriage with anyone. They get abortions. They abuse family members and animals. How in the world can we convince a lost world that Jesus Christ and His Resurrection are legit if we do not live it in our own personal lives?
I wonder, I just wonder, what would our world look like today if Christians had the same love for Jesus that He has for us? I wonder what our world would look like today if Christians had the same love for the lost world as Jesus did? Do you think this world would be better or worse? America’s national motto is: “In God we trust.” To me it is ironic we put this motto on something we trust more – money.
To love the Resurrected Jesus means we love what He loves and what He died for on that cross. That means, His agenda becomes our agenda. Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (NLT). Jesus did not say He came to make us better church members, but to make us disciples, who in turn make disciples. In fact, those were His last words before He ascended back to heaven in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (20) Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NLT).
If you had a loved one who was going away for the rest of your natural life and they wanted to share what was important to you, would you listen intently to soak up every word? I hope so. A church or Christian that celebrates Easter and does not make disciples, has missed the point of Easter as well as they mock it and our Lord. Easter is not just about Jesus being resurrected; it is also about Jesus resurrecting people from their spiritual deadness to spiritual life through our witness and testimony.
Assignment: During Holy Week, take some time to evaluate your own life in terms of your actions and commitment to make disciples for a Lord who made you a disciple. Where is your gratitude expressed in making disciples?
Scripture To Meditate On: 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, “But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. (15) Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. (16) To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume” (NLT).
Prayer to Pray: “Dear Lord, as Easter approaches, I do not want in any way to mock Your sacrifice on the cross nor take advantage of Your Resurrection through any sin or disobedience. Help me to join You where You are already working – wooing the world to Yourself and making disciples. Jesus, this has not been my goal, but is now because it is Your goal. I love You Jesus. In Your name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!- – Pastor Kelly