Day by Day from Lifeword

The Gospel story is not made up of the cross alone, because the full power and authority of Jesus is seen in His resurrection.

When Jesus left His disciples, He gave them and us a reminder of why He was leaving and what He wants us to do in His absence.

The mission Jesus gave to His disciples never changed, and evangelism is still our mission today.

Although Jesus did not force Judas to betray Him or prevent him from repenting, He knew all along that the betrayal would happen.

Jesus is not fooled by the surface level behavior of those who pretend to be believers, because He knows the hearts of His true disciples.

There will be some who will be drawn to the church but will eventually fall away, but Jesus knows who His true followers are.

Jesus does not only speak on behalf of God, but He speaks God’s Word directly to our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

All those who have turned from their sin and been born again are loved and received by Jesus.

Even preoccupied with His upcoming death, Jesus focused on His love for His disciples.

John shows us the way Jesus fully loves His children.

Jesus took on our sin, died, and rose again to dispel the power of Satan and draw mankind to Him.

Because of His perfection, Jesus was uniquely qualified to sacrifice Himself for the sins of man, but He was troubled to take on our sin.

When we follow Jesus, we will inevitably be servants obeying Him, rather than living our lives as we want.

The glory of Jesus was made known through His death because it provided for the salvation of all who believe.

God is sovereign over all things, controlling exactly the time and place that anything happens.

The Messiah was expected to come as a triumphant warrior, but He came humbly to bring peace.

We can make mistakes and misunderstandings that are costly and may result from pride and selfish desires.

When we follow Jesus, we should be careful not to listen to those who try to temper our zeal.

Our testimony and witness for Christ should be powerful enough to make us a danger to the Enemy.

When we worship Jesus, we should not be concerned with how others might look at us, because our focus should be on our Lord.

We are to worship Jesus with a heart of humility and service, recognizing His Lordship over us.

Our worship doesn’t happen by accident, and although it can be spontaneous, we should be prepared for open praise.

Jesus is worth every ounce of worship and sacrifice that we can pour out to Him.

Part of giving our all to Jesus means we must have a servant’s heart and diligently work to serve others.

Jesus is worth everything we can give him and more: our praise, our service, and even our lives.

The work Jesus did on the cross accomplished full redemption to those who would believe in Him.

Although God’s purpose and man’s purpose have wildly different intents, God uses man’s purpose to fulfill His will.

Greed and selfishness led the Pharisees to plot the execution of Jesus, but their actions were moved by God.

The religious leaders wanted to crucify Jesus to prevent Roman domination over the Jews.

God’s invisible hand is always at work in history, maneuvering everything to fulfill His purposes.

Ultimate truth, pure love, and death-defying power of God all reside in Jesus, so we can see God through Him.

Jesus knows and understands the pain we experience, and has deeply felt the same things so He can comfort us.

The resurrection is not some abstract future event, but a fundamental part of who Jesus is.

Many times, Jesus disrupts our plans and allows us to experience despair so He can move in and show us His glory.

As long as we walk in the light of Christ, we will be protected by Him even in times of danger.

With a deep faith, we can rest in the truth that sometimes, Jesus’ love for us means He won’t immediately step in.

Sometimes, God doesn’t give us what we want because He loves us and His plan is much better.

We do not dictate when and where we hear and receive the offer of grace in Jesus Christ that God presents.

Many of the things that happen to us are not about us, but about God revealing His glory in our lives.

Jesus can and will disrupt our plans so He can enter our pain and overcome it permanently.