On the Third Day

On the Third Day

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NIV.

TODAY’S WORD

As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, I think about when they crucified Jesus. On that Friday, it was the darkest, most painful, discouraging day of His life. In fact, it was so bad that He sweat drops of blood. It looked as if His enemies had gotten the best of Him. But God had other plans. They put Him in the grave on Friday, celebrating their victory, but Sunday morning it was a different story. The grave could not hold Him! Death couldn't contain Him! The forces of darkness couldn't stop Him! On the third day, He came out of the grave and said, "I was dead, but now I am alive forevermore!"

One principle that the resurrection teaches us is that God will always finish what He started. No matter how dark it looks, no matter how long it's been, no matter how many people are trying to push you down; if you will stay in faith, God will always take you from Friday to Sunday. He will always complete what He started in you!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father God, thank You for completing what You started in my life. I trust that no matter how dark things may seem, You are my shining light of hope. I thank You for working behind the scenes to carry me through to the place of victory in every area of my life in Jesus' Name. Amen.

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Surrender: the Only Way to Live by Rick Warren Though he was God, did not demand and cling to his rights as God, but laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men.” (Philippians 2:6-7 LB) Everybody surrenders to something or someone in life. If not to God, you’ll surrender to popular opinion, money, resentment, or fear, to your own pride, lust, and ego. We were designed to worship something, and when we fail to worship God, we create gods (idols) to which we surrender ourselves. E. Stanley Jones said, "If you don't surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos." You’re free to choose what you surrender to, but you’re not free from the consequences of that choice: “So give yourselves completely to God” (James 4:7a NCV). Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-destruction. The King James Version of Romans 12:1 calls surrender "your reasonable service." The Contemporary English Version translates it as “the most sensible way to serve God.” Surrendering your life is not a foolish emotional impulse but a rational, intelligent act, the most responsible and sensible thing you can do with your life. Your wisest moments will be those when you say “yes” to God: “So we make it our goal to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9a NIV). Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover the greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not others but yourself — your self will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans. If God is going to do his deepest work in you, it will begin with this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups. Put Christ in the driver’s seat of your life, and take your hands off the steering wheel. Don’t be afraid; nothing under his control can ever be out of control. Mastered by Christ, you can handle anything: “I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency” (Philippians 4:13b AMP). You may worry, "What if I stumble or relapse?" If? You will stumble in pleasing God! No one can live a perfectly surrendered life except Jesus. But God has provided for the inevitability of your sin: “If you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely” (1 John 2:1 LB). Talk About It - In what ways does the world try to keep you from surrendering? - How have you let your pride or ambition keep you from surrendering to God?