The Word: 1
Jos 4:20-24
“At Gilgal Joshua set up the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan. He said to the people of Israel, “In the future when children ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ The children should be told that Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. The LORD your God dried up the Jordan ahead of you until you had crossed, as he did to the Red Sea until we had crossed.
The LORD did this so that everyone in the world would know his mighty power…”
When we face a challenge in life, we can have the strength that comes from our faith, knowing the great things the Lord has done for us in previous times of difficulty.
The Word: 2
Rom 8:28
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Isn’t it comforting to know that God is “the Man with the Plan”? No matter what life throws at us, His ultimate plan for us is good.
The Word: 3
Isa 53:5
“He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds.”
When these words were written, they were not “history”—yet. They came 600 years BEFORE the person they describe was born. They were a part of a prophecy (just one of 333 Old Testament prophecies) about the coming savior. Every year in December, the tabloid magazines are full of psychics’ predictions about the coming year. How many of those come true? What would be the odds of just eight Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled by one specific individual? Imagine a stack of quarters two inches thick. Then cover the entire state of Texas with these stacks. One of the quarters has an “X” on it. Finding that exact quarter on your first try has about the same odds! Jesus fulfilled ALL 333 prophecies! Not bad for a humble carpenter. Just another man? Like no other “man” this world has ever known.
The Word: 4
Rev 3:20
“Look, I’m standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I’ll come in and we’ll eat together.”
Joh 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Joh 10:28
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.”
God created all of humanity to be his children. He loves each and every one of us, just as we love our earthly children. He loved us so much that He created us, not as mindless robots, forced to love Him back, but as individuals, with our own minds, and freedom to choose to love Him back. Jesus came for all of us, but He plainly told us that we must choose to open the door to Him, and allow Him to come in. He distinguishes between his sheep, and those that have chosen not to listen to his voice. Still, as much of humanity openly rejects Him, and mocks Him, He’s always standing by, listening for all of us, and He always checks his knee-mail.
The Word: 5
1Cor 2:9
“But as Scripture says: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.’ “
No matter what you’re encountering in life, the best is yet to come!
The Word: 6
Act 1:3
“After his death Jesus showed the apostles a lot of convincing evidence that he was alive. For 40 days he appeared to them and talked with them about the kingdom of God.”
Throughout the world, wherever people claim Christianity as their “religion,” holidays such as Easter and Christmas are times that bring many together, but, also, they have increasingly become times of division. While many Christians celebrate the Risen Christ, and the Virgin Birth, there are many skeptics who look for ways to disprove these fundamental tenets of Christianity. After all, it does seem pretty far-fetched to think anyone could rise from the dead after three days! So, why is it that nearly a billion people on this Earth (many of whom are generally pretty rational, otherwise) cling to this seemingly nonsensical belief? To put things into perspective, how many people believe that JFK was killed? Except, perhaps, for a few paid writers of some weekly tabloids, most people accept JFK’s death as fact, because, if for no other reason, there are still plenty of people alive today who were alive when it happened, and many were eye witnesses! Then what about Lincoln’s assassination? No live witnesses anymore, but plenty of written accounts by eye witnesses or reporters who interviewed the eye witnesses. All these are accepted without much further thought. The credibility of these writers in not questioned. What is the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection based on? EYE WITNESSES! Who wrote about it? Most scholars agree that the man who wrote The Book of Acts was Luke (the same Luke who wrote the Gospel, and a man who is accepted as a very credible historian). How do we know Luke was not just some biased wacko pushing an agenda? Follow this link, and see for yourself.
If you have ever come into the Easter Season questioning, wishing it was all true because you really want to know God, but just can’t trust anything you’ve read or seen, do some more research. Don’t just listen me, or to what others tell you. Find out for yourself. Follow the path of other famous men such as Simon Greenleaf, a one-time Harvard law professor, and a man accepted, still today, as one of the greatest authorities ever on the subject of Evidence. After years of researching the evidence for the Resurrection, Greenleaf concluded that there was no other rational choice but to BELIEVE it! Did Jesus say “I am A Way, A Truth, and A Life,” or “…THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. No one comes to the Father, except through ME.” (John 14:6) If Jesus really did rise from the dead, and He really is who He claimed to be, how do these truths affect that soul that has been searching for God, but wonders if He can ever find Him?
In a nutshell, it all comes down to believing in the validity of The Bible. No other major religion can claim its holy scriptures to accurately fulfill so many prophesies, or to have the originator of their faith openly claim to BE GOD. Try as they may, no skeptical archaeologist or scholar has ever disproven any of the events described in the Bible. To the contrary, numerous events, people and places written about in the Bible, which were once thought to be mythical, have been found to be historically true. Some of the thanks actually goes to those same archaeologists who originally had set out to discredit the Scriptures.
