Good Friday

Today, Christians around the world celebrate Good Friday.  If I didn’t know the outcome of the crucifixion of Jesus, I would hardly call it a celebration. 

It is painful for me to think about what Jesus went through.  I could barely watch Mel Gibson’s, “The Passion”.  I sobbed through most of it.  I don’t think I fully realized everything Jesus experienced until I saw that movie. I think I’ll stick with “Jesus of Nazareth” this year.

If you ever doubt God’s love for you, think about today.  He gave his only Son to die for our sins.  Wow.  He gave Jesus as a sacrifice, to be crucified in the most horrific manner.  I can’t even put my mind around that.

If God loves us this deeply, to allow His only child to be crucified, how can we ever doubt that love?  We should know - without any hesitation - that He will always be there for us.

We look at the outcome of Good Friday - Easter.  Jesus rises from the dead.  What an amazing example of hope and encouragement that we need to hold on to.  Good Friday is the most awful day anyone could imagine, yet it turns into a miraculous resurrection.

God will do that for us.  He did that for Rick and me, at a time that I thought our marriage was hopeless.  The period where I turned away from my husband and God was the most terrible time of my life.  God miraculously saved me, though, and resurrected our marriage to new heights.  Although I don’t care to experience that trauma again, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  That experience brought both Rick and me to a higher level of understanding and love, for each other and for God. 

That’s how God works.  He doesn’t hand an easy life to us on a platter.  We have to work for it.  Sometimes it is harder to be a Christian.  We are held to a higher standard.  The world makes ungodliness look easier and a lot more fun at times. Eternity is what we need to focus on. That’s why Jesus died for us, so we could have an eternity.

That’s how marriage works.  It’s not easy.  If you follow the worldly standards, you probably won’t survive. To stay in it for the long haul, you need to iron out the problems and include God in the center of your marriage. We are a society that doesn’t want to work for things.  We expect instant gratification.  That will not make a successful marriage. 

No one would have believed the miraculous resurrection of Jesus had they not seen Him experience that hideous crucifixion.  We also have to crucify our own flesh (self) in order to be resurrected, especially in marriage.

We do not live in heaven.  We live in a sinful world.  We face troubles every day.  We are sent here, though, to reach out to others, to be a witness of the love of God.  If others do not see us go through difficult times, or they see us give up (on a marriage), they won’t notice our resurrection experiences.  We have to live as an example of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

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