Spreading the Saving Grace of Christ Jesus. Giving God the glory in all circumstances and allowing Him to transform lives and hearts through the atoning work on the Cross. "For we are saved by grace through faith...Ephesians 2:8-9. Love and praise Him with all your heart, mind, strength and soul. Love thy neighbor as thyself and these are the 2 greatest commandments. For even Christ Jesus came not to be served but to serve and sacrifice.
They . . . twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.—Matthew 27:28–29
We sat around the table, each person adding a toothpick to the foam disc before us. At our evening meal in the weeks leading up to Easter, we created a crown of thorns—with each toothpick signifying something we had done that day for which we were sorry and for which Christ had paid the penalty. The exercise brought home to us, night after night, how through our wrongdoing we were guilty and how we needed a Savior. And how Jesus freed us through His death on the cross.
The crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear was part of a cruel game the Roman soldiers played before He was crucified. They also dressed Him in a royal robe and gave Him a staff as a king’s scepter, which they then used to beat Him. They mocked Him, calling Him “king of the Jews” (Matthew 27:29), not realizing that their actions would be remembered thousands of years later. This was no ordinary king. He was the King of Kings whose death, followed by His resurrection, gives us eternal life.
On Easter morning, we celebrated the gift of forgiveness and new life by replacing the toothpicks with flowers. What joy we felt, knowing that God had erased our sins and given us freedom and life forever in Him! —Amy Boucher Pye
Lord Jesus Christ, my heart hurts to think of all of the pain and suffering You endured for me. Thank You for Your gift of love that sets me free.
The crown of thorns has become a crown of life.
INSIGHT: The horrific scene described in today’s reading serves to underscore how this fallen world and the powers of darkness held nothing but contempt for Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world. Yet Christ chose to suffer to redeem us: “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
How might we praise our Lord for enduring the cross in order to erase our sins and give us freedom and life forever with Him?
For further study, see The Mockery and Majesty of the Cross at discoveryseries.org/hp081. Dennis Fisher
My husband David, who just a few days before had prayed and asked God to help David become the Spiritual leader of our house. It's just him and me -- plus our gifts from God in the form of 2 beautiful fur babies (dogs in our case) -- but I want to live my life in complete obedience to His Word. While I know this makes me one of the most hated women on earth (white, married to a conservative white man, myself a conservative both politically but mainly Spiritually, middle aged but mainly because I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in truth and believe that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. There really are no contradictions in the Bible when you understand the criteria used to determine if what is written is true.
One example is the thief on the cross. One of the Gospels record that at first, both thieves mocked Jesus but eventually, one of them (his name was Dismas, by the way), recognized Who He was and is and accepted and believed in Jesus Christ. Jesus then assured that thief that today, he would be with Him in paradise. Now, there's also controversy over that as many believe in soul sleep or we don't go to be with Him until His return but more on that later. I'm doing a Bible study and will share as I learn. Remember always that I am just a mere human with no special knowledge or loved more than any others. That He loves me at all to me is amazing. My words are not inspired or authoritative unless I directly quote scripture. Put no weight on them but know I'm speaking to make you thinkl But back on topic, another Gospel does not record this and says both thieves died with no mention of his salvation. So, what do we believe?
There's a saying that goes like this...there's 3 sides to every story; yours, mine and the truth. Neither writers were lying so it's a matter of perspective, where the writers were at the time, did they hear it or were they even there. The writers would never have written something they did not hear or know personally. I should know which one recorded it but I don't nor does it matter for this purpose. We must take the writer who recorded the salvation of the thief as the truth. For whatever reason, he knew it was true or else he wouldn't have recorded it. The other writer didn't lie either. This proves that the Gospels were not them getting together to "get the story straight." Police detectives today say this is the type of things they actually look for in determining if it was a conspiracy or the truth as they knew it to be. All 4 writers passed all tests perfectly. Believe and know that the thief was, indeed, saved. If not, it would never have been written by the one who knew it for a fact. Just because the other didn't, only means he had no firsthand knowledge and wouldn't record it to ensure the purity of God''s word. That is one of the biggest arguments atheists use to prove the Bible is not true when the opposite is true.
Now, are there some translation errors? A very few have been found but the ones who took the time to use all this amazing Biblical and secular knowledge we have and all say that today there are a very few words that are better than the words used, not one word changes the meaning of ANY verse in the Bible in any meaningful way. For example, the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. The better translation is Spirit but see how it doesn't change one single thing as they mean the same thing. Also, the word Easter is used and it's possible it was an intentional mistranslation by Tyndale and it should have been Ishtar. I have no idea but again, does not in any way change a thing of substance. This same man also tested these "new and improved" versions and came to the conclusion that other than the NKJV, the newer Bibles DO change the meanings or totally leave off very important verses. Even both Messianic and non-Messianic Jews say that the KJV of 1611 is the best and most accurate translation of the original text, including and especially the New Testament.
This verse is intentionally left out of most newer versions as the "world" finds it offensive. If the Bible is so offensive to them, why are they reading it and why are we bowing down to their demands?
So yes, Virginia, your KJV Bible has been studied for errors for 2,000 years. Even atheists admit that at least the historical version of Jesus Christ is 100% accurate. Google the differences in the wording, words, what is left off and added to decide for yourself. Acts 8:37 which states that Jesus Christ is Lord has been removed as people have said it's "offensive" and are being forced to admit Christ Jesus is Lord against their will even though the complete verse states clearly you must believe it with your whole mind and soul first. Besides, there are way more offensive verses in the Bible but it's just our enemy's way of watering down the Word of God. Get a good dictionary (pre-1973), a Strong's concordance and a regular concordance and you will see for yourself that the KJV IS reliable, 100% truth and THE best Bible to read for truth. I also have the NKJV and read that first. If you struggle with the KJV, read that concurrently and after a few books, you'll find the KJV is actually very easy to read. The Bible isn't broken so it doesn't need to be fixed. Also, it doesn't need to be rewritten but REREAD.
Here's a brief video by Lee Strobel and as a huge atheist, he went on a 2 year quest to prove the Bible was false because his wife became a Christian and it made him so mad he wanted to get her out of any religious beliefs. What happened was, he proved to himself that it's truth. God is good! I highly recommend you listen to his videos, debates, etc. It is faith-affirming and very helpful in your walk with Him. God IS a very miraculous and amazing God! Please listen to this short video by him (1 min; 38 sec) and then listen to his other very amazing videos that prove that Christ IS the promised Messiah and Son of the Living God!
Lee Stroebel
Another great video upholding the reliability of the Word of God!
Please watch more videos and do your own research on this amazing Book. It is always the #1 best selling book of all times. I just wish they were read. You ask, seek and knock and you will have all understanding on earth but especially in Heaven. Prayers and be blessed!
