This week we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection! Before Jesus’ victory over the grave, the garden of Gethsemane, the hill of Golgotha, and the cross of Calvary stood before Him. This week was the final battle for Him. Hi, This is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. Before Jesus could come out of the grave, some sobering things took place to our Lord. Let’s not only remember, let’s value what He did for us! Because of the cross we can live in victory! Because of the cross, we are now family! God’s family. What a privilege! Here is your encouraging word for Easter week:
Have you ever noticed how fickle human emotions can be? One moment we can be overflowing with exuberance, and the next we can be overwhelmed with discouragement. The funniest humans to watch are little children. They can go from one emotion to another, in an instant! As adults, how often do we allow outward circumstances, or even peer pressure to sway our emotions? Too often, we live in the realm of our feelings, instead of standing and abiding on the authority and preeminence of the Word of God.
I can’t help but wonder if Jesus was baffled by the positive emotions that were displayed by onlookers during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and then by the negative emotions of many of the same people who stood and chanted for his crucifixion before the Sanhedrin. On Sunday, he was the hero, and then 5 short days later, to many, he was the villain.
The Bible says that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. Although His present circumstances were grave, He chose not to be ruled by His emotions. His joy came in the realization that as a result of His obedience, people would once again have access to God through His blood. It would appear that He looked beyond the present, to see the provision.
Today, as we commemorate Palm Sunday, it is a wonderful reminder of the great celebration that took place in Jerusalem as Jesus made his entrance. (We should daily welcome Him into our lives with such enthusiasm.) As he rode in on a fresh colt, to the waving of palm branches and the shouts of Hosanna, surely He knew what the next week held for Him. He was born for such a time as this. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He would destroy the works of the devil. His death was the supreme sacrifice that only He could make, as the spotless Lamb of God.
Can we make a choice to live above fickle emotions and to be “full on” for God everyday? We don’t want to be wishy-washy or be tossed about, to and fro like is says in James. It breeds instability, and James clarifies the point that one who is tossed about is unstable in all their ways. We can train ourselves to be ruled by the standard of the Word of God, and not to be ruled by our emotions. As believers, as we strive for a strong, solid foundation, it is attainable when we are firmly planted in the Word, not moved by what we see or feel, but truly walking by faith and not by sight. Then we too, can look beyond the present, to see the provision.