Sanctuary

DEVOTION – by Sonny Lallerstedt:

If Jesus came to bring life, it must mean that either we don’t have life, or the life we have isn’t what He meant for us to have.

Have you ever heard someone say “there must be more to life than this”?

Many of us don’t even realize that there is a thief, and that he wants to steal, kill, and destroy the opportunity for life that Jesus came to give us.

Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” NKJV.

We can’t see with our physical eyes the true war from which Jesus came to redeem us. We lost our sin free/death free life back in the Garden. The thief, otherwise known as Satan, started long ago to steal, kill, and destroy our lives, to distract us, to redirect us to becoming our own god, and thinking we can manufacture our own life.

Jesus has come that we might have His life, and have it to THE FULL! 2 Corinth 5:21 says, “For He (our Father) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us (our name here) that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Jesus has come to set us free from the law of sin and death! Jesus has come to give us His life. When we receive Jesus into our lives by turning from our ways/our life, thanking Him for His forgiveness of our sin by His sacrifice on the cross, He comes into us by His Holy Spirit,  imparting His life in us!! Praise Him for His lovingkindness towards us that’s better than life… because it’s His Life in us!

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Jesus said, “For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” John 9:39

DEVOTION – by Andrea Cheetham:

Jesus and the disciples were walking along the road. They saw a man who was blind and wondered if he or his parents had sinned.  Jesus told the men, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

Kids love acting out the next part of the story. Jesus spat and made mud. Then He put in on the eyes of the man, and He told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. In faith and obedience, the man went and did as he was told. He went home with sight and a new life in Christ!

The healed man’s confidence in Jesus stands out to me like a bright, neon sign. Every time he was questioned, criticized, or mocked, he exclaimed, I was blind, and now I can see. My favorite of his responses is in verse 33, “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”  What a courageous statement he made in front of the Pharisees. A few verses later, he is meeting with Jesus and proudly proclaims his belief in Him. This man was excited to be given new sight and a new life in Christ.

Like many of you, I have been mocked and criticized for my faith. There have been times when my confidence has waned in sharing my faith. Sometimes we don’t want to face the firing squad of criticism. However, Jesus is bigger than all that noise. He faced far more condemnation that we can imagine. Because of Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection, we can courageously and confidently share His sacrifice and love. He calls us to love Him, love others, and make disciples. Therefore, in preparation for Holy Week, may we be reminded of the blind man’s bold obedience and faith in Christ. God sent His Son so that He would be glorified as each person’s eyes were opened to the Good News. Remember the cross. This sacrifice was crucial to make a way to bring us back to life and relationship with Him. Remember the resurrection. We have the honor of proclaiming His love!

REFLECTION QUESTION:

1. Is Jesus calling you to share your faith? Reflect on the power of the cross and resurrection in your own life. Over the next few weeks, pray for opportunities to share His love and for their eyes to receive new sight in Jesus Christ!

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“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.” John 6:38

DEVOTION – by Troy Gambrell:

Picture a soldier that enters the battlefield at his general’s command. The soldier and the general likely have the same desired outcome, but the soldier on the front lines may have a different strategy. The soldier’s strategy might be one that seems less risky for him, but his commitment to his general and his fellow soldiers might cause him to say “Sir, yes sir”.

When Jesus is speaking to this crowd of people, they are begging Him for miracles and for physical bread, but Jesus is doing everything to get them to see that He came for a different reason than their physical needs. Jesus wouldn’t be sidetracked from the command and desires of His Father. Faith Family, can you see it? The crowd was begging for physical blessing, but God knows the depths of our hearts and the true needs of His children. So what is the Father’s will? If you move down to verse 40, we see that His Father’s will is “that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life.”

There is incredible gravity in what Jesus is saying here. The fact that He would give up His will to do the will of the Father tells us a couple things about His character. Jesus is selfless. Everything about His life was a mirror to reflect the heart of the Father. When we see the actions and attitude of Jesus, we are looking directly at the heart of God. Jesus is committed. He knows the mission and he knows what the Father has called Him to. Jesus is trustworthy. He didn’t waiver from His commitment which tells us that we can trust the plans that He has for us.

I don’t think it is that Jesus wanted to do His own thing, but maybe the way He went about it would have been different. We see this during Holy Week as Jesus is preparing to go to the cross and he prays to His Father “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Jesus prayed for a different way within the same will. Was there a different way that fulfilled the same will? Don’t you think that His Father would have chosen a different way than to give His son to be crucified? God knew the WAY that you and I would be saved and Jesus trusted the WILL of His Father every step of that WAY.

“I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame, and I choose it above all things on Earth or in Heaven.” A.W. Tozer

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“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” 1 Timothy 1:15

DEVOTION – by Matt Morgan:

When we think about why Jesus came, it can be easy to think that other people need Jesus more than we do.  Sure, I have made my mistakes, but I’m certainly not as bad as “that person.” It is interesting that throughout the Apostle Paul’s ministry, his view of his need for Jesus deepened. The more he came to understand who Jesus was and what He came to do, the more Paul realized how desperately he needed a savior.  Before encountering Christ, Paul considered himself blameless (Philippians 3:6). Years later, he’d describe himself as “the least of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9). Some years after that, he’d call himself “the least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8) and “foremost” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). The shift we see in Paul was not out of defeat or shame, but it flowed from a heart of deep gratitude and worship.

As we journey through this Lenton season focusing on why Jesus came, we must start by recognizing that Jesus came to save sinners.  A sinner is someone who has missed the mark and comes up short of the perfection that a holy God requires. Sin seperates us from God and it was the sin problem that Jesus came to fix.  In Romans 3:23 Paul also writes “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  The Greek word here for “all” means “all.” It means me and you. Jesus didn’t come to save “that person,” He came to save me.

In order to be saved, we must come to a place where we repent of living life our way and accept the life that Jesus alone can give.  At its core, sinners are those who have pushed God out of the center and made themselves the center of their worlds. Sinners are centers, and repentance means we turn from our ways and put God back at the center of our lives.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

• How does it encourage you to remember that Jesus came to save sinners?
• In light of this truth, how is God inviting you to repent today?
• Take a moment and pray thanking God that Jesus came to save sinners, like you.

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