John 11:25  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live."

"Tell me my part again." "Just trust me." It was the summer of 2007. He was rappelling off rocks in northwest Arkansas. Some people love rock rappelling - that is, taking a blind, backward leap off a hundred foot cliff, connected only by a belay harness. Not him. He had traveled to Arkansas to spend time with his son, Jonathan. He didn't come to do a half gainer off a cliff!

There's another cliff. It's called death. Eventually - just like Lazarus in John 11 - our heart will feel a final pulse. Our lungs will empty a final sigh, Our eyes will close for the last time. Barring the return of Christ, I will die, and so will you. In our world, two people die every second; more than six thousand die every hour; 155,000 die every day; and about 57 million people in our world die every year. None of us escapes death.

We can trust Jesus. He is risen to redeem us from sin and to resurrect our bodies. On Easter, the women and the disciples didn't see a phantom or experience a ghost. They saw Jesus in the flesh - with a body!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 10:27  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

An anniversary card depicts a husband and wife in their golden years, sitting on a park bench. The wife snuggles up to her husband and says, "It's so nice to have you near." To which the husband responds, "Why, yes, I'd like another beer!"

Sometimes it's hard to listen - especially to Jesus, especially when you're a sheep. Sheep are easily distracted - especially by nasal flies, botflies, and warble flies. When tormented by these pests, it's impossible for sheep to lie down and rest. Instead, they're up and on their feet, stamping their legs and shaking their heads. Even a jackrabbit, suddenly bounding from behind a bush, can cause an entire flock to stampede.
 

When the Good Shepherd speaks, what do you do? Maybe you don't listen because the TV is on. Or maybe you're distracted by your Facebook account. Then again, maybe all you listen to is your own voice of doom and gloom, chaos and confusion.

On Easter, Mary Magdalene shows a better way. "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned and said to Him in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!' (which means Teacher)" (John 20:16). Mary heard the voice of the Good Shepherd. The voice is unmistakable. No one had ever said her name with such tenderness. "Mary!" She looks up and, in sudden recognition, knows that it's Jesus. It's Jesus! He is not dead. He is risen from the grave. Let's listen to Jesus all our days!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 10:18  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own accord.

John Griffith worked as the controller of a huge railroad drawbridge across the mighty Mississippi River. One summer day in 1937, John brought his eight-year-old-son to work. Suddenly, they heard a train whistle in the distance. It was the 1:07, the Memphis Express, with four hundred passengers. John put his hand on the huge lever that controlled the bridge. Then he looked down, and his heart jumped into his throat. His son had slipped and was stuck in the gearbox that operated the massive bridge. The boy's left leg was caught between two gears. The father knew that if he pushed the lever, his son would be chewed up in eight tons of grinding steel. John Griffith buried his head in his arms and pushed the lever forward. The huge bridge slowly lowered into place just as the Memphis Express roared across the river.

This moving story illustrates God the Father's sacrifice of His Son - but there is one big difference. Good Friday wasn't the Father's knee=jerk reaction to a world plummeting to destruction. Calvary wasn't a sudden decision made in the heat of the moment. Christ controlled the events leading up to His death. Jesus laid down His life of His own accord. There's more.

Along with His Father, Christ not only orchestrates His own death for our salvation, but He also guides and directs our lives with His might and endless mercy. We can rest in His loving arms today and always.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 8:32  You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

The Jews responded to Christ's promise by saying, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone" (John 8:33). Not when they were in Egypt before Moses led them out? Not when the Philistines invaded their land and regulated even the way axes and sickles were sharpened? Not when the Babylonians did the same to those in Judah? Not when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple with an image of Zeus? Not when Pompey and his legion marched into Jerusalem to claim it for Rome?

These descendants of Abraham are living in denial. You've seen the same prisoners. You've even seen yourself - caught in this same denial, this same dream, this same delusion.

None of us can say we "have never been enslaved to anyone." Jesus hammers home this hard reality when He says, "Everyone who practices sin is a salve to sin" (John 8:34). That's us. Locked in habits we can't beat and bound in a bondage we can't break.

Christ's truth, however, sets us free. Our Savior was stretched out on two pieces of wood, and three iron spikes were hammered into His flesh. His shed blood sets us free from the condemnation of our sin, from the pain of our past, and from worry about our future. No one can take this freedom from us. No law can stop it, and no power on earth can destroy it!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 8:12  I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

In Genesis 1:3, Moses writes, "God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light." This is the plan for the rest of the Bible. Wherever there is darkness, God's Word brings light!

Would you like some examples? "Arise, shine, for your light has come" (Isaiah 60:1). "A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel" (Luke 2:32).

Jesus is the light of the world who took on flesh so He can take you into His arms, heal your hurts, and destroy your darkness. Jesus is dazzling light, brilliant light. And eternal light. No wonder the Nicene Creed confesses that Jesus is "God of God, Light of Light."

Yet would Christ's betrayal on Good Friday, His shed blood, and His brutal death extinguish the light? Would Judas, Pilate, Caiaphas, and Herod overcome the light? Not on your life! Christ is risen! And there is more light to come! When Christ returns, He promises to take us to the new Jerusalem. "The Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). When we take our final breath, the night of death will yield to the dawn of an eternal Easter. Then we will forever gleam in divine splendor and bask in God's eternal glory. "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 27:1)/
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 8:11  Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.

John 8:1-11 records the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. In an instant, the woman is yanked from private passion to public spectacle. She's dragged before scribes and Pharisees who overwhelm her with public shame. We know what that feels like. Branded by a divorce. Marked by a handicap. Saddled with alcoholic parents. Crushed because of a child's arrest. We feel stigmatized because we lost our job, we lost our house, we lost our life's savings. Now everyone knows.

There's also private shame. Maybe you've been pushed to the edge by an abusive spouse or molested by a perverted parent. Maybe you were seduced by a sneaky superior or teased without mercy by other children. No one else knows. But we know. It's all enough to bury us in shame.

Jesus takes away sin and shame. To do it, He took the nails. On a God-forsaken cross, Jesus took the nails. Taking the nails, Jesus takes away all our sin and shame, our guilt and regret. He hung there, for us, so we don't have to relive the pain, the horror, and the nightmare.

Read this very carefully. Jesus is still speaking, "Neither do I condemn you." And watch. Watch very carefully. Jesus is writing again. He's leaving a message. In John 8, He writes on the ground. At the cross, He writes with His blood. His message has four words. "I love you. Forever."
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 7:37  Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."

When we don't get enough water, we often confuse thirst for hunger. Then we eat more food. What's that mean? Weight gain! When we don't get enough water, we become tired, dizzy, and anxious; our muscles start to ache. What's that mean? A bad life! We all need water - lots and lots of water!

What's true physically is also true spiritually. That's Jesus' point.

We get burned out far too often. Our fear becomes too deep to manage, loneliness becomes too heavy to bear, and sin becomes too much to carry. Mothers can feel unappreciated. Children sometimes don;t have any friends. Husbands know they're working too much, while grandparents sometimes think that everything in life is as dry as dust. We echo the anguish of David's prayer: "O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1).

Where does God deliver soul-quenching water? At the cross. "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water" (John 19:34). Water flows from Christ, whose lips are cracked and swollen, whose body burned under the hot Palestinian sun. Gushing water flows from the parched mouth of our Savior, who cries out, "I thirst" (John 19:28). Christ's thirst means we need never thirst again!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,