Happy Resurrection Day!

May you have a blessed Easter meditating on the fact that
our Hope is still alive!

You can also view a broadcast of BJU’s Easter themed
Living Gallery here.

Defeat Becomes Moments of Grace and Victory!!

Each year I choose a devotional book to use during my quiet time. The daily entries help me to gain focus as I begin that time with the Lord.  This year, I chose New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. The entry for March 31st gave me much to ponder.  It is something I will be meditating on for days to come, especially as Easter approaches.  Here are few quotes from that entry.

“The cross is evidence that in the hands of the Redeemer, moments of apparent defeat become wonderful moments of grace and victory.”

“How could it happen that the Son of Man could die? How could it be that men could capture and torture the Messiah? Was this not the end of everything good, true, and beautiful? If this could happen, is there any hope for the world? Well, the answer is yes. There is hope! The cross was not the end of the story! In God’s righteous and wise plan, this dark and disastrous moment was ordained to be the moment that would fix all the dark and disastrous things that sin had done to the world. This moment of death was at the same time a moment of life. This hopeless moment was the moment when eternal hope was given.”

“The same God who planned that the worst thing would be the best thing is your Father. He rules over every moment in your life, and in powerful grace he is able to do for you just what he did in redemptive history. He takes the disasters in your life and makes them tools of redemption. He takes your failure and employs it as a tool of grace. He uses the “death” of the fallen world to motivate you to reach out for life. The hardest things in your life become the sweetest tools of grace in his wise and loving hands.”

Tripp, Paul David. New Morning Mercies . Crossway. Kindle Edition.

 

Have a Blessed Easter

Gaze on the Christ

Behold the Lamb, the spotless Lamb,
Who takes away our sin;
the debt we faced was not erased,
But paid in full by Him.

Behold the Lamb, the bleeding Lamb,
Who takes away the veil;
His body torn, His soul forlorn,
Christ cut to God a trail.

Behold the Lamb, the dying Lamb,
Who takes away just wrath;
God saw the blood of His beloved
And over us has passed.

Behold the Lamb, the risen Lamb,
Who takes away death’s sting;
All knees shall bend, all praise ascend
To Christ, the living King.

Refrain

Gaze on the Christ, our sacrifice
On altar made of wood.
Exalt the Lamb, the worthy Lamb,
Who bought us with His blood.

~Chris Anderson, churchworksmedia.com

He is Risen!

 

“He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

~Luke 24:6-7

 

He gave up the ghost…

 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

~Luke 23:44-47

His Robes for Mine

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!
Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage.
Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.
In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

His robes for mine: what cause have I for dread?
God’s daunting Law Christ mastered in my stead.
Faultless I stand with righteous works not mine,
Saved by my Lord’s vicarious death and life.

His robes for mine: God’s justice is appeased.
Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father’s pleased.
Christ drank God’s wrath on sin, then cried “‘Tis done!”
Sin’s wage is paid; propitiation won.

His robes for mine: such anguish none can know.
Christ, God’s beloved, condemned as though His foe.
He, as though I, accursed and left alone;
I, as though He, embraced and welcomed home!

Chorus:
I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:
Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.
Bought by such love, my life is not my own.
My praise-my all-shall be for Christ alone.

~Chris Anderson

The Day of Resurrection

The day of resurrection!
Earth, tell it out abroad;
the passover of gladness,
the passover of God.
From death to life eternal,
from earth unto the sky,
our Christ hath brought us over,
with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil,
that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal
of resurrection light;
and listening to his accents,
may hear, so calm and plain,
his own “All hail!” and, hearing,
may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful!
Let earth the song begin!
Let the round world keep triumph,
and all that is therein!
Let all things seen and unseen
their notes in gladness blend,
for Christ the Lord hath risen,
our joy that hath no end.

~John of Damascus

He is Risen! Rejoice!

Up from the Grave HE Arose!

~~~

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
~~~

Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!
~~~
Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
~~~

Up from the grave he arose;

with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;

he arose a victor from the dark domain,

and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

~~~

Have a blessed Easter!