Today's Good News

Category - Devotionals

APRIL 17 – FEAR

4/17                 Matthew 28:5 

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.

FEAR

All of us are fearful creatures because deep in our heart we know that we have a limited time in this world.  The Angels knowing this told the women “Don’t be afraid.”  Jesus tells us that when we come to Him we no longer have to fear.  Our God and Father is in control. 

APRIL 16 – WRONG

4/16                 Matthew 28:2-4 

Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. 

WRONG

The Jewish leadership and their guards were wrong.  They were fighting against God now and they didn’t realize they had made a crucial error-they were not in control, God was.  

APRIL 15 – NEW

4/15                 Matthew 28:1 

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. 

NEW

This visit, this event would change the understanding of all the world.  God in the flesh had visited us and died for our sin.  Now He has defeated death and risen from the grave.  Praise God our savior has risen.  

APRIL 14 – LIARS

4/14                 Matthew 27:62-66 

The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.  63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”  65Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.”  66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.

LIARS

The leadership, the guards all proven to be liars.  They didn’t know what was happening.  Jesus has risen from the grave.  

APRIL 13 – DONE

4/13                 Matthew 27:57-61 

As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.  59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth.  60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching. 

DONE

They loved Jesus.  They were His friends.  They thought it was over.  They were wrong.  It was just beginning.  Jesus conquered death by the power of God and rose from the dead.  

APRIL 12 – JESUS

4/12                 Matthew 27:51-56 

At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. 54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” 55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. 

JESUS

He died to save us.  He paid a price we could not pay.  He gave a life we could not give.  His death insured that we would have the opportunity of new birth into the family of God.  

APRIL 11 – DEATH

4/11                 Matthew 27:32-50 

Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).  34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. 35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.  37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”  41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!  43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way. 45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”  50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit

DEATH

Death on the Cross.  A cruel evil way to die and He did it for us.  

APRIL 10 – TRADE

4/10                 Matthew 27:26-31 

So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.  27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!”  30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. 

TRADE

Jesus was traded for sin.  He went to the Cross for me and for you.  His death paid the price of our sin.  I don’t understand it because it is more than anything I could do but I know it and I know that Jesus died for me and He died for you.  While we were dead in our trespasses and sin Jesus paid the ultimate price-His life for my life, for your life.  Jesus died on the Cross so that we can born again into the family of God and have a relationship with Him.  

APRIL 9 – YES

4/09                 Matthew 27:23-25 

“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!” 24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” 25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!” 

YES
 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Even when we come to Christ sin continues to be a problem because we still want to play God in our life.  Surrender to Jesus.  Ask Him to forgive you of your sin and come into your heart.  When you do recognize that you are a sinner and Jesus is the only way to the Father and you accept Him you have made the right decision.  Jesus is Lord.  

APRIL 8 – REALLY

4/08                 Matthew 27:22 

Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 

REALLY

Did they really say that?  The testimony says they did.  Are you surprised?  Look at the way the lost abhor Christ.  Maybe even the way you once felt about Jesus.  Jesus is Lord and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about and people dead in their trespasses and sin hate Jesus.  Turn to Christ.  Make sure of your relationship with him.  It is an eternal relationship and you can choose right now but one day the opportunity for choice will be over.  Choose Jesus.