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When you’re faithfully living for God but still facing hardships, it can be disheartening to see evil people prospering all around you, seemingly untouched by adversity. In those moments, it’s easy to feel forgotten by God. But take heart—God has not abandoned you. Even when it seems like evil is winning, remember that God is always at work behind the scenes. One day, He will bring justice and make all things right. Hold on to that hope, knowing that your faithfulness will not go unrewarded.
It is often hard to see beyond the struggles and heartaches of this life to imagine that anything good could actually be at work in them behind the scenes. Why would God allow these things to happen if I’m honestly trying to follow Him, and how can I find any hope in the midst of such deep sorrow? Take heart, God is in control, and you truly can find hope when life hurts!
Who could ever imagine sending an innocent person to be beaten and put to death in the place of a violent murderer? Nothing about that would be fair! Yet that is exactly what Jesus did. He died on the cross even though He was innocent, and Barabbas was set free even though he was guilty. Barabbas is a picture of us all — guilty before God and facing His judgement. But Jesus stepped in and became our substitute, paying our debt and setting us free!
Jesus enters Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion and examines the spiritual condition of the people. What He finds is a nation bustling with outward displays of religious activity, but beneath the surface, there is nothing but dead religion. He curses a fruitless fig tree as a sign of judgement against them, and then He throws the corrupt money changers out of the Temple for defiling His Father’s house. If Jesus were to examine our lives today, would He see a cold, dead heart beneath the outward religious appearance, or would He find fruit growing for His glory?
If someone bought you a new car, paid for it in full, and gave you the title, would you go to the dealership every month to make payments on it? Of course not! And yet that is exactly what we often do as Christians. Our sin debt has been paid in full and our record has been wiped completely clean, but we continue to live as though we’re guilty in God’s eyes. Once you understand the truth about God’s forgiveness, you will see your standing before Him in a whole new light, and you will be free to live your life for Him without being crippled by the guilt of your past!
America is spiraling out of control morally, financially, politically and spiritually, and we are headed for the judgement of God just like many nations before us. But where can we turn to find hope? Government cannot save us, nor can a better economy or a stronger military. Our only hope can be found in God alone. Today’s message outlines the steps that we must take in order to see the forgiveness of God for our sin, and His healing hand upon our country.
At the very same moment our founding fathers declared our independence from Britain, they were also declaring our absolute dependence upon God. Regardless of what revisionists say, the facts clearly prove that America was founded on the principles of God’s Word. Because of this, America was once a nation blessed and protected by God, but since we have now forced God out of our country, we are in decline like never before and are facing His judgement. This message is a wake-up call for all who will listen!
We’ve all been conned into a bad deal or two in our lifetime. But God comes to us this Easter weekend and offers us a deal that is so amazing, it would make no sense to refuse. He is inviting us to become part of the incredible exchange that took place on the cross and the empty tomb 2,000 years ago. That is when God took all of our sinfulness and placed it on Jesus, and God took all of His sinlessness and placed it on us, and for all who accept this offer, God no longer sees us as rotten sinners, He sees us righteous sons. Have you accepted this offer? It is the greatest deal you will ever make, and it will result in the greatest change you will ever experience!
What do you do when you look in the mirror and see that your hair or makeup is out of place? Do you walk away and forget about it, or do you stop and fix it? When the mirror of God’s Word reveals sin in our life, we have the same choice… we can walk away and ignore it, or we can become broken over it and allow God to cleanse us. Today we look at one person who covered over his sin, and the consequences that followed, and we look at another person who became broken over his sin, and how God’s mercy and healing flowed into his life.
