Sunday is Coming

Sunday is Coming 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 this Easter season, 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 earlier. 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 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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Why Should I Trust God with My Pain? by Rick Warren “I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” (2 Timothy 1:12 NLT) When you’ve got something that is very precious to you, whether it’s rare, expensive, or an heirloom, and you don’t want it to be stolen, broken, or burned up, you take it to the bank and entrust it to the protection of a safety deposit box. Even more than a locked box in your bank, whatever you entrust to God, he’s going to take care of. You can count on it. He has a track record. Other people may not have a consistent track record of taking care of things for you. But whatever you entrust to God, he will take care of it. So, what do you need to entrust to God today? I’ll tell you what it is — it’s whatever you’re worrying about. Whatever you’re worrying about, you need to entrust it to the safety deposit box of God’s love. Worry is practical atheism, because it’s acting like you don’t have a Father in Heaven who loves you and who can be trusted, like you’re a spiritual orphan. Worry is unbelief; it’s saying you don’t believe the 6,000 promises God made in the Bible. The most difficult time for you to put stuff in God’s safety deposit box is when you’re in pain. When you are suffering, you don’t want to trust even God. You want to pull it back and hold it to yourself. Paul knew this, but he also knew that when you’re in pain, that’s when you need to trust God the most. He said, “I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return” (2 Timothy 1:12 NLT). I talk to people sometimes who say, “I’m afraid to give my life to Jesus Christ because I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep the commitment.” Let me just be honest with you: You can’t keep your commitment. You will mess up! Fortunately your salvation isn’t based on your keeping the commitment. It’s based on Christ keeping his promise and taking care of what you’ve committed to him. Talk It Over What does worry do to your life? Why do you think it’s sometimes easier to hold onto your pain than release it to God?