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Passover, described in Exodus 12, is one of the foundational stories of the Bible. It’s an illustration of human hubris and the power of God, and it has much to teach us about sin and deliverance as Easter approaches.

On one side of the story is Pharaoh, refusing to free the oppressed Hebrew people… even after Egypt is afflicted by horrifying plagues. On the other side is Moses with a divine ultimatum: let God’s people go or face God’s wrath. Can human pride and stubbornness prevail over God’s will?

Ultimately, God’s will is done, but Pharaoh’s continued refusal to listen to God has terrible results for his country and his own household. It isn’t until the tenth plague that Pharaoh relents. It claims the lives of every first-born child in Egypt, including Pharaoh’s own son. Death spreads across all of Egypt, with one important exception: any household whose doorpost is marked with the blood of a lamb is spared.

The story of Passover is closely intertwined with our Easter celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Passover imagery is seen throughout the Easter story, Jesus himself taking on the role of the sacrificed Passover lamb. Pharaoh’s refusal to obey God mirrors our own spiritual lives without Christ: left to our own devices, our recalcitrance leads us to spiritual death. But when we trust in the power of the blood of the Passover Lamb, we find life.

Our stubborn refusal to listen to God may not have the outwardly dramatic results that Pharaoh’s did. But how often has a spiritually hardened heart led to even more heartache in your life?

There’s nothing spiritually magical about the observation of Easter, but it’s a good time to assess ourselves. Is there any part of your heart that you’ve hardened against God? What do you need to do in order to soften your heart?

Does being a Christian mean you’re immune to fear? It’s sometimes assumed that if you believe in Jesus’ resurrection, you shouldn’t be afraid of anything—including death. Can you honestly say that you don’t fear death…and if you are afraid, does that mean you’re a bad Christian?

Not according to this devotional from Our Daily Journey with God, which addresses the tension between faith and fear:

Having faith does not mean that we’re not afraid. It gives us the courage to stand tall and to hang on in the middle of our fears. And the greater our fears, the stronger our faith can become.

We place our faith in Jesus, whose resurrection has defeated death. If we minimize death and claim that it’s no big deal, then we inadvertently also cheapen Christ’s resurrection that conquered it. But if we honestly admit that death is the enemy that terrifies us, then we can begin to appreciate the unparalleled power of the resurrection.

Faith isn’t about suppressing fear and pretending that everything is okay. But it does allow us to swallow hard—with shaky knees and sweaty palms—and cling to God’s promise that we will live again. Death is frightening, and for that reason it provides the ultimate test of our faith.

Read the full devotional at Our Daily Journey with God.

Is fear of death something that troubles you? What other fears and anxieties do you face, and how does your faith help you deal with them?

One of the most memorable church services I’ve ever attended was a Good Friday worship service. The service was held in a large auditorium with a single large wooden cross standing at the front.

The service itself was familiar—we read the Bible account of Christ’s arrest and crucifixion, sang somber Easter hymns, and heard a short sermon. But as the service progressed, the auditorium lights were slowly, almost imperceptibly, turned down. The room slowly grew darker until, at the end of the service, the only source of light was a single pool of illumination around that wooden cross. A simple lighting gimmick eloquently conveyed the twin emotions of Good Friday: spiritual despair at Christ’s brutal death and impossible hope in the promise of resurrection.

Does your church hold a special Good Friday service? What is your Good Friday service like, and how does it differ from a normal worship service?

Share your thoughts!

Humans want to belong; we yearn to be considered a valuable part of something bigger than ourselves. We go to great lengths to find acceptance—sometimes even changing who we are in order to fit in. And even when we’ve been accepted, we still nurse doubts about whether others really want us around. Might they just be tolerating us?

This devotional from Lifetime Guarantee Ministries talks about how Paul—the self-proclaimed worst of sinners—was chosen for Christ’s team. Because of the forgiveness offered to him and everyone in Christ, he found acceptance in a community that once feared him:

Being a member of a winning football team can become so important that anything it takes, ignoring my family, cutting back on my scholastic achievements, getting up early and staying up late building my body through blood, sweat, and tears, that’s okay. I want so desperately to be a part of the team!

Then there’s Paul. Paul knew who he was in Christ; he knew he was totally forgiven; he knew that he was now a righteous, holy, blameless person, all of those beautiful things bestowed on all of us as Believers, but he could never quite get over the incredible fact that God had allowed him to become a part of “His team.” Not that being a part of His team guaranteed status, comfort, plenty, or safety. It was important to Paul because he admired the Master so much and wanted to have his name on the list of apostles.

Because of his violent persecution of the Believers, Paul felt unworthy in his position as an apostle and apparently felt the necessity to defend his position.

For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9). [...]

Paul’s dream came true . . . to be on God’s team and his final words tell us that he accomplished his dream: The glorious fight God gave me, I have fought. The course I was set I have finished, and I have kept the faith (II Timothy 4:7 PHILLIPS).

We’re on His team. He has chosen us. How wonderful! How incredible! And He has assigned us as His apostles to do certain things. Do we consider this awesome tribute the way Paul did?

Read the rest of the devotional at lifetime.org.

Do you consider yourself part of God’s team?

With palm branches waving and people singing, we finally see Jesus granted the welcome he deserves. Passion Week begins and ends in exaltation, yet in between is a cornucopia of other emotions. We see Jesus overturn tables; people hanging on Christ’s every word; cloak-and-dagger deals made to kill the Messiah; proclamations made and prayers offered.

From our perspective today, Palm Sunday is just another milestone on the road to the Resurrection, but think about what it must have been like to be in that moment—the King you have waited and wished for is finally here! Here’s how the Gospel of Luke describes the “triumphal entry”:

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

I have to think that even if the stones were crying out in that moment, they would have gone unheard for the joyful song coming from the crowd.

It’s hard to throw ourselves into the celebratory spirit of Palm Sunday knowing Jesus will be crucified by the same hands that are here waving in adoration. Soon the sea of gratitude will become a a storm of mockery, and even Christ’s disciples will lose faith. But when we gloss over the exaltation of Palm Sunday, we miss a valuable part of the Easter story: the sense of expectation.

Palm Sunday is a vivid example of Jesus giving us not what we want, but what we need. The crowd wanted an earthly king, someone to free them from the oppression of the Romans. But Jesus’ ultimate goal was not freedom from sin, not from earthly governments. He came to bring life where there was none.

Palm Sunday remains a day of expectation, even if our expectations differ from those of the crowd that welcomed Jesus. Today, we are expectant of the glorious event at the end of the week, when Jesus returns as the King of Kings to bring forgiveness to all those who want it.

The image above is from the IMA and is titled Entry of Christ Into Jerusalem.

Last month, a minor controversy erupted over a news report that Ed Young, a well-known pastor and author, was living a life of luxury unbeknownst to his church congregation. Young and his church responded by pointing out numerous inaccuracies in the news story—Young is no pauper, but the news report apparently exaggerated some of the numbers to make him look worse. The controversy faded quickly from headlines, and one imagines that life at Young’s church has returned to normal.

True or not, the news story that sparked the controversy highlighted a point of tension that has plagued Christians from the earliest days of the church: does luxury have a place in the Christian life?

“Luxury” carries with it negative connotations for most Christians, and for good reason: Jesus lived a humble life and frequently warned about the dangers of wealth. The Bible offers no hard-and-fast rule about precisely how much wealth one should have, but clearly promotes the spiritual value of moderation, humility, and self-sacrifice.

In the absence of a strict guideline (“Thou shalt have no more than $2,000 in the bank!”), each of us must prayerfully discern the line between “necessity” (money and possessions that we need to live and help those around us) and “luxury” (money and possessions that we accumulate for their own sake, and for our own enjoyment). I regularly ask myself “Am I living a life of service, or a life of luxury?” But one obvious problem is my sinful heart’s amazing ability to continually redefine “luxury” to refer to people who have more than whatever I have at the moment. If I make $25,000 a year, then surely “luxury” is people who make $30,000. But when I get a new job that pays $35,000, then suddenly “luxury” is $40,000. Or people who own two cars instead of my one. Or people who have a Wii and a Playstation, instead of being content with just one videogame console.

How do you determine, in your personal life, what constitutes a Biblically acceptable level of wealth? Here are a few questions to ponder:

Is there a particular income level that you think is simply unethical to exceed? Have you ever passed on (or given away) a raise or other financial windfall because of this?

How has your understanding of “luxury” and “necessities” changed over the years?

When thinking about buying something new (for example, a car or a video game), how do you determine whether it’s Biblically acceptable, or simply extravagant?

Share your thoughts!

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Jesus reminds us that love is foundational to the law and the prophets. Everything builds upon fully loving God and others. We have opportunities each and every day to love each other, but how many of those opportunities do you actually take? When is the last time you knowingly showed your love to someone else?

Lifetime Guarantee Ministries explores the necessity of love in our daily lives, and encourages us to show love to someone today:

My eldest, Pres, wrote a note to me one Sunday morning in church many years ago with his first wobbly manuscript printing skills: “YOU ARE PRETTY. I LOVE YOU.” I saved that scribbled note, along with others from my little tow-headed boys (who are now grown men) expressing their love. Those notes are some of my most precious possessions.

That’s nothing out of the ordinary. God knew how important love expressed would be. Love was the passion that relentlessly drove Jesus as He carried the cross to a hill called “Calvary.” Love was the passion that would not release God until He gave His only Son: For God so loved . . .(John 3:16). All of that to say when we express our love to others we are fulfilling a very important commandment. It isn’t tithing. It isn’t singing in the choir. It isn’t perfect attendance every time the Church door is open. It isn’t a rote visit on Tuesday night visitation. It is all wrapped up in a package labeled LOVE. And according to I Corinthians 13, there is nothing that we can do (nothing, not even sacrificing our lives) that impresses our Lord if it is done without that same passion, that LOVE….

So what is the most important thing you can do today? Very simply, show love to someone. Have you called your mom recently? Dad, how about taking your son to supper and a movie and then later taking your daughter for breakfast? Perhaps give a prolonged embrace for a woman who has recently become a widow, or jot a note to a person just out of the hospital. Maybe you are being called to reach out to someone who’s having a rough time in her/his marriage, to a young man who just lost his job, to your pastor, to your daughter-in-law, or to a child who is struggling with rebellion. You might give someone a vase of flowers with a note that reads, “Just to let you know that I’m thinking about you and that I love you.” Or visit an invalid who never steps outside the house and leave them softly murmuring, “It is so nice to know someone is thinking about me.”

Read the entire devotional at Lifetime.org.

What can you do today to show love to someone in your life?

Fasting is willfully giving up something for a length of time. For Christians, we fast in order to put ourselves in a spiritually vulnerable state. When we go without, we must find something to fulfill us, and when done in a correct spirit that something we find fulfillment in is God.

People traditionally fast from food and drink, but sometimes people fast from speech, media or certain activities. Personally speaking, I’ve fasted from not only food, but everything to television to hot showers (the latter a good deal more difficult to give up than the former).

What about you? Have you ever fasted?

Why do you do good deeds?

There are many answers to that question: “Because it helps my neighbor.” “Because God commands us to.” “Because it’s an expression of gratitude to Christ.” “Because it’s personally rewarding.” “Because it causes people to like me.” But in this devotional from My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers points out that acting righteously and living a morally pure life have an even more serious purpose: to point people to Jesus Christ.

Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.

Read the full devotional at RBC.org.

Chambers’ point is that good deed and moral purity are not about us, the people doing them. They must be about Jesus—motivated by Jesus’ example, and carried out as an act of service to Him. If our good deeds point to anyone or anything other than Christ, we’ve missed the point of righteous behavior.

Easter is a joyous holiday when we celebrate Christ’s triumph over sin and death… right? Or is it a sad holiday in which we mourn the weight of sin and squint to see Jesus holding a light at the end of a long tunnel?

It seems odd that one holiday would evoke such different emotions, but it’s something we’ve all probably seen. For me, Easter is a time of happy anticipation of freedom from sin. But for one of my close friends, Easter is a sad annual reflection on mortality and the distant-seeming hope of resurrection—the effect of a loved one’s death during the Easter season years ago.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed that each of the major holidays (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving) tends to evoke a particular mood in me. Our experience of each holiday is shaped by the events and emotions that we associate with them—for some people, Christmas is a time of lighthearted joy, while for others it is somber or even depressing, depending on their life circumstances.

Easter is an especially powerful holiday because, more so than Christmas or Thanksgiving or the other events we commemorate throughout the year, its story spans the entire range of human emotion. Reading the Gospel accounts of Easter is a turbulent, almost punishing experience; it shifts from joy and triumph to pain and fear, through despair and doubt, and then finally to victory.

That up-and-down journey is nicely laid out in Back to the Bible’s Twelve Voices of Easter, which I highly recommend as a daily audio devotional during these final days before Easter.

Which of these emotions and voices most embodies Easter for you? Is Easter a somber time in your life? Is it marked by joy and happiness? Are there particular events in your life—the death of a loved one; a marriage; a childbirth—that influence the way you approach Easter?

What are the emotions and voices of Easter for you?

Share your thoughts!