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www.truthworks.com 14 April 06 devotion archive |
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Walk With Jesus - Day 5 I tell you the Truth, [Friday] We awake Friday morning - our first day without the presence of Jesus. Today is the day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day before the weekly Saturday Sabbath that begins at Sundown Friday, Jewish time. Today is another regular day that happens to be sandwiched between the two Sabbath Feast days in this year's original "Passover" celebration. Therefore with today not being a Sabbath day the usual work including buying and selling can take place. Several people go to purchase spices and ointments [Mark 16:1, Luke 23:56] and mix them together to prepare them in order to further anoint the body of Jesus. [Mark 16:1-2] And when the Sabbath (feast of unleavened bread) was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Early in the day we also find out that the Jewish leaders have just conferred with the Roman leaders [Matthew 27:62-66] to have guards placed at the tomb of Jesus. This is to prevent the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus and then claiming that He rose from the dead. The tomb is now sealed with a Roman "seal" signifying that the body of Jesus is inside and that all is secure in the tomb. The guards stand in front of the sealed tomb and wait for Sunday. The intent is that the tomb will be unlocked and unsealed on Sunday and the body of Jesus will be shown to the Jewish leaders and all will be back to normal in Jerusalem because Jesus said that He would rise on the third day, not the second day or the fourth day. If Jesus remained dead in the tomb on Sunday, it would reveal that He was not a prophet and also that He is not God - able to overcome human death. There is no chance to enter the sealed tomb until the three days are up. None of the soldiers on duty have the authority to remove the seal and open the tomb and only the Roman government has the authority to open the tomb. According to the contract with the Jews, it will be after the third day. The frightened disciples are in no condition to reveal themselves as followers of Jesus. So back to the familiar upper room everyone journeys. In the lonely darkness that comes on with despair the disciples lament that they are not prophets. One proclaims that he is just a herder of flocks from his youth [Zechariah 13:4-6]. Likewise we sit in the dark and also wonder if we have the spiritual stamina that it takes to make it through this "dark night of the soul." We begin to think about Jesus and His ministry here on earth. We think about the parable of the sower [Matthew 13:1-23] and how hard and compacted the soil of our heart is. Emotionally we are against obstacles and unable to push our spiritual roots down any further into fresh new soil. We wonder what has become of Jesus the master Gardener, we need Him. We need the Gardener to pull the weeds of doubt, to break up the shallow rocky soil and to direct His seed into the good soil so it can bring forth much fruit. Oh, it's no use a garden needs a gardener to keep it pleasant. The garden can't maintain itself from the hard soil, shallow rocks and choking weeds. Without a Gardener, the good plants will come to nothing as they are choked out and perish among the weeds and hard soil.
Matthew 27:66 With the death of Jesus comes the Seal of approval from mankind. You can be certain that Jesus died on the cross and you can be just as certain that the dead body of Jesus was in the tomb on this the next day when the tomb was closed and the seal was placed on it. Certain because mankind would have it no other way than that God, would be declared dead, null, and void. Oh, they sealed the right tomb of death alright but they sealed the wrong object. What they should have placed their seal on is on the death of sin, the sin that has separated mankind from the Holy God. It is sin that has been declared dead, null and void - not God. As we reflect on the death of sin, that the penalty for sin has been removed from us by Jesus, do we really understand that the worst that can possibly happen to us is death from sin? Jesus died for us so the worst thing that can happen to us has happened to Jesus as He took our penalty for us. Now with the worst behind us, thanks to Jesus, we now have the best and a new opportunity as a new relationship with God is now before us.
Hebrews 12:2
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Prayer Requests (and Praises!) If you have a prayer request and would like to see it here, please drop me an email so we can share with others. “I HAVE BEEN ENJOYING THE DAILY WALKS WITH JESUS AND ANXIOUSLY AWAITING THE 5TH DAY. I PASS THEM ON TO QUITE A FEW FRIENDS IN N.C., MD., AND N.Y. WITH THE THUNDER AND DARKNESS THIS MORNING, I AM REMINDED OF THE DARKNESS ON THE DAY JESUS DIED FOR US, AND AS A REMINDER I HOPE IT IS DARK ALL DAY. KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK. PLEASE ADD TO YOUR LIST OF PRAYERS FOR SALVATION DEWAYNE AND BOB SHUMATE. (RELATIVES ON THE FARLEY SIDE, GRANDSONS OF VIRGIE AND CLINTON SHUMATE ALSO ARE MY SONS.) GOD BLESS. ELLEN KIDD LOCKLEAR” Please reply if you have prayer requests, comments or simply need an open ear. I always enjoy hearing from you. <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2006 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
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