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The message of Easter told through four gardens. It's actually the message of the Bible. Take a walk with me through: 1. The Garden of Eden 2. The Garden of Gethsemane 3. The Garden of the Resurrection 4. The Garden of Heaven

What is the meaning of Easter? We have victory because the sting of death, sin, is taken through Christ' payment on the cross. I love 1 Corinthians 15... The end of that chapter on resurrection is victory!

  Jesus' love for us is shown especially on the cross. Not only does He die in our place, He states seven expressions of love, concern, and care for others. Let's examine them and how they apply to you and me.

  What happens to Jesus between the cross and resurrection? That's a question that He answers at the cross. Let's consider the answer and the reason it is so important to you and to me.

The most important word from the cross is really the most important word ever spoken. "It is finished!" Believe it and receive it for yourself!

The Friday Before Easter Sunday Nothing would be good about Good Friday if it were not for the glorious vic- tory on Sunday. Because of Easter, Friday’s cross is actually good. For you and me Friday’s cross is the greatest event of history. Because it was on that cross that the punishment for our sin was paid. The Guilty Set Free the Innocent Slaughtered Reading the events of the Friday of Passion Week brings to light a great diver- sity of characters. Picture each one in your mind. There is Pilate the politician who tries to please both groups, the crucifiers and the crucified, vainly wash - ing his hands. There is Pilate’s wife who warns her husband not to give Jesus up. There is Judas who shows his true colors and dies a violent death. There is Simon who helps bear the cross. There are the Pharisees who are careful not to break their ceremonial laws while murdering the...

  Who is your best friend? The Thursday before Easter Sunday, Jesus spent a bunch of time with His friends. Look at Jesus last day before His trial. His friends forsake Him, betray Him and fall asleep when He asks for help. What does He do for His friends? He prays for them, washes their feet, and gives up His life for them… He is the best friend! And He does that for you too…That night Jesus said: … you are my friends if you do what I command! Find in Christ your closest friend! John 15:13 –14 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you."

  The Thursday Before Easter Sunday In our brief devotional survey of Jesus’ final week we have come to Thurs day. So many of Thursday’s events are recorded in the four Gospels that even a brief survey is beyond our scope. Take the Gospel of John for instance. If you sit down tonight and read from John 13-19, you will read the events that occur Thursday night into Friday morning. Six chapters of John’s 21 chapters record this final day. Our Dearest Friend We can’t highlight everything, so I want to focus in on one devotional thought from all of these precious scenes. I think if we look at the entire body of what happens Thursday there is an interesting contrast between Jesus and the Disciples. The final night’s meal with the Disciples was a meal between close friends. It must have been a difficult meal for our Savior. He gave them some intense training that night and ...

We can piece together which day the significant events of Passion Week oc - ece together which day the significant events of Passion Week oc curred by examining the four different Gospel accounts together. However, the traditional layout of the final week has nothing recorded on Wednesday. Per - haps Jesus spent the day in Bethany with His close friends and disciples. The Wednesday Before Easter Sunday If we look into the homes in the villages surrounding Jerusalem, we know that Wednesday was the final day that a Jewish family would have kept the Pass over Lamb. Perhaps much of this had been commercialized by this point. No doubt people purchased the lamb Thursday morning to slay Thursday after- noon. But other families still had the lamb for some time in and around their home. No doubt families became attached to the lamb, loving it like a pet. But the time had come and the next day the family wou...

  The Tuesday before Easter Sunday Jesus’ final days on earth were packed with teaching. A large chunk of all that we have recorded of Jesus’ teaching on earth is recorded from the final week of His life. Much of that was given on Tuesday. We read some poignant parables directed to the Pharisees which did not miss their mark (ouch!). He calls them hypocrites to their face in front of their home crowd. For many of these sessions, we can picture Jesus in that outer court of the Gentiles (which He brought to order a couple days ago, you will remember) with a large crowd gathered around teaching the common man using pictures they could under- stand (albeit some pictures they could not understand). Two Meetings, Two Motives, One Divine Purpose Books have been written on the teaching recorded on Tuesday of Passion Week, so it is beyond our devotional study to delve into the...

  Jesus uses comedy to confront a practical problem. He says to clean out your life in order to help you clean up others. Luke 6:42 (NLT): How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. Keep a clear heart before the Lord and be so careful to look carefully into the mirror of God’s word before you start to cut into your friend’s little problem.

Jesus’ practice in the first part of the Passion Week was to spend the night in Bethany which was about a two mile walk from Jerusalem. Perhaps He and His disciples spent the nights with His friend Lazarus. Early in the morning Jesus would walk to Jerusalem. The walk was uphill. No doubt the path was busy, well-traveled from other worshipers coming for the Passover festivities. A Curse and A Cleansing On Monday, as Jesus traveled the uphill path, He looked ahead at a fig tree that was unseasonably lush with green leaves. He anticipated a nice snack only to find that the tree was fruitless. Jesus used this to teach a lesson. Matthew expounds on the lesson more Tuesday morning, but it is most likely Monday that the Lord declares that no one will eat fruit from the tree again. A “Curse” This ‘curse’ is not a spontaneous vendetta because of hunger. The Lord is teaching something much more serious. Tuesday morning they find that the tree is dead. No doubt all the travelers took notice at th...

Seven Days Before Easter Sunday Today is Palm Sunday. Each of the Gospels record the event because the Lord wanted us to remember the significance of the event. Brace yourself, it has little to nothing to do with Palm branches. Though they may help us remember the occasion. Do you remember? Let ’ s read Matthew ’ s account to recollect the scene. “ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, ‘ Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD; Hosanna in the high- est! ’ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, say- ing, ‘ Who is this? ’ And the crowds were saying, ‘ This is the prophet Jesus, fro...

The Saturday before Palm Sunday or 8 days before Jesus Resurrection was one of celebration with close family and friends. They met at Mary, Martha and Lazarus house in Bethany.  A Seder meal would be enjoying fellowship songs and great food!  and then Mary comes in and pours out 50,000 worth of ointment on Jesus' feet. Judas confronts her. Jesus honors her - she did this with view of His burial. She appears to know He would die and wanted to publicly portray her deep debt and gratitude to the Lord. So, this 8th day before Easter Sunday, expend your time, your effort and pour out your own self to Jesus as Lord. TODAY'S READING - JOHN 12:1-8 1 Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.   2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.   3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of...

Bridges are beautiful... But the most beautiful bridge by far is the one to Heaven. Where is that? It is found in your Bible - Jesus is that way. WE are separated from God by an eternal chasm. . . but one that can be bridged through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, the Life, no man comes to the Father but by Me."

That’s an interesting question. David says that he took refuge in the shadow of God’s wings. Psalm 91 Shares that we can seek refuge under God’s wings. Of course these are poetic pictures, images, illustrations that teach spiritual truth: The picture is of tiny baby chicks finding refuge, shelter, solace under the warm embrace of their mom or  dad. What a beautiful picture of safety that we have in the Lord today. Find refuge and solace today under the shadow of the LORD. CHRIST IS OUR REFUGE AND Shelter today. Jesus prayed this way for Israel: How often I wanted to shelter you under my wings. The greatest picture of this is the cross. The story is told of a forest fire that engulfed a hillside. Once the fire was extinguished a parent and child walked the hillside to see what survived. Charred trees smoked as the walked carefully along what used to be a path. They saw a large bird scorched by the flames and wondered why it would not have flow away. As they moved the carcass, three ...

Today is the first day of spring. Yay! What does that teach us about God? It teaches me that He keeps His promise to us. He shared this with Noah: As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest,  cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night. (Genesis 8:22). We don’t deserve this… and Yet, HE IS FAITHFUL! We can entrust all things to the One Who keeps His Promises. Let me encourage you today to entrust everything to Him! We can entrust our eternal destiny - and tomorrow’s electric bill. And Mondays, meals. Entrust all things to the hand of Him Who does keeps His promise.

Jesus often used illustrations to teach biblical truths. There's no greater truth than the Gospel. And one beautiful picture of the Gospel sits atop many buildings. Here's a beautiful old iron lightning rod atop the church where we meet.  As the lightning rod absorbs the full heat and fury of a midnight storm, saving the building, so the Lord Jesus, on the cross, absorbed the full wrath of God the Father in our place so we would be safe. Praise God for loving us enough to take our place! Daily Bible Reading Schedule Sunday, March 17th - Numbers 26:1-51; Luke 2:36-52; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 11:15 Monday, March 18th - Numbers 26:52-28:15; Luke 3:1-22; Psalm 61:1-8; Proverbs 11:16-17 Tuesday, March 19th - Numbers 28:16-29:40; Luke 3:23-38; Psalm 62:1-12; Proverbs 11:18-19 Wednesday, March 20th - Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21

What do you do with your stressful days? The Lord gives us a great way to handle them. We come to Christ in prayer and leave them there. Cast your burden and strain on the Lord today. He can carry them!

Can God use you? That's a good question. One that I hope you will consider today. It is a glorious privilege to serve God. And yet, at times, we feel our weaknesses outweigh our usefulness. Or perhaps our strengths are rather small compared with other's strengths.  That's looking at it the wrong way, right? Any time God uses us the strength and usefulness comes from Him, and not from the person He uses. We are simple tools in His hand and even the weakest can do so much more when submitting to Him and walking with Him. Gideon's smallest army, the lad's little lunch, even the rabble of 12 young men called Apostles, all teach the principle that God can use anyone.  Another story that teaches God's use of anything and anyone is when Balaam's donkey has more sense than the prophet. The donkey obeyed the Lord, protected his master, and eventually had to confront him as the Lord enabled the donkey to speak. Yes, if God can use a donkey to speak, He can use anyone....

One of the clearest pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament comes in the form of a snake on a pole! That needs some explaining. As the children of Israel grumbled in sin, God once again sent punishment--serpents. Those who were bit died. And so the people cried out and Moses cried to God for mercy. God gave mercy. He told Moses to put a brass serpent on a pole and all who looked at that serpent lived. And so those who wondered from their sick beds to look at the promised provision of God were spared. Jesus said this pictures His work. We are all bitten by the serpent - sin itself. We have grumbled too... or any number of other sins. As Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He becamse sin in our place. He took on our sin, and was punished in our place. All who believe this promise and wander from their deathbed and look in faith to Him receive eternal life. Look and live today! Jesus said "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so tha...

It's the tiny foxes that spoil the vine. Yes, and the tiny tasks that gum up the well working wheel of life. So, how do we find motivation for these tasks? Let's take a look at a very motivating verse in your Bible. "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" (Colossians 3:23–24).

Even the meekest man gets pushed to his limit. Moses was the meekest man on earth. But when asked to speak to the rock to provide a drink for a complaining people, he struck it . . . out of anger. And that was a major sin. Why? Because it was rebellion against what God asked, fueled by his own anger. And in so doing, he negated what would have been a beautiful type of Christ. 1. What did striking rather than speaking imply? There are many conjectures as to why God wanted Moses to speak to the rock and not hit the rock. I think the best choice is that the rock was a picture of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). The Rock was struck and it provided water. Once the rock is struck though, it must be called upon to provide water. Yes, Jesus was pierced with the rod on the cross so that we might come to Him and call upon Him for water unto eternal life. That is the beautiful picture God intended. 2. What was wrong with Moses' striking? So we know that Moses struck the rock in anger. But that wa...