Dear Friends,
I pray you had a blessed weekend! I have had a very hard time finding just the right devot., something that will capture the meaning of this week-Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the brutal abuse leading up to His death, and then His death. I decided that I will include a couple suggestions, and a couple smaller links that I hope will be a good way of walking with Jesus toward Calvary this week in your heart and a short devot. and song link.
1. If you have a chance this week, go to a Passion Play depicting the events of Holy Week, take the family, invite friends. I have a link here of a play, The Living Cross, that you an watch for free online. It is both powerful in walking with Jesus to Calvary and also professional in production: http://livestream.com/opendoorchurchlive/services (This is their production from Sunday night, they may also download the one that is coming later this week.)
As a child and teen, my parents always took us to a Passion Play every year. It really helped the true meaning of the season to hit home for us and instill in me at an early age what Resurrection Week was all about, a love for Jesus and what He personally did for me.
2. Go to a Good Friday service at a church that preaches directly from the Bible and is known for that. One of the most meaningful services in my life is our sister church's Good Friday service.
I walk with Jesus as He is in The Garden, beaten, hung on the tree and risen from the dead. It de-clutters my mind from the business of the week and prepares my heart for Resurrection Sunday.
3. Free Easter booklet from Intouch.org you can get to continue to amazingness of Easter even after it is over: https://www.intouch.org/ (top banner)
4. How to get the kids involved: https://www.intouch.org/read/blog/6-simple-easter-ideas-for-families
5. Devot. http://www.icr.org/article/8053 and Song Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPL-ZBV_CfA
In closing: My pastor gave the story behind the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee." He had us sing it accapella and focus on the words, meaning and then shared that it was written by a boy (12-16 yrs.) upon his receiving Jesus as His Saviour. My pastor than asked us to focus this week on our love for Jesus, how much do we love Him and what He did for us? I offer the same challenge to you.
I would also suggest reading Ps. 51 which is the Old Testament prophecy of Christ's death about 1,000 years before crucifixion was even invented and then searching the Gospels for a New Testament account of the events leading to His resurrection.
I pray the Lord uses this week in our lives in a special way to draw us closer to Him, away from sin in our lives and joy as never before in His selfless love for us! Lord bless you!
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