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All who pause for reflection and allow their hearts to wander in wonder down the Way of Suffering feel the darkness of this day in history. Good Friday was anything but good – yet, because of God’s unsearchable love for you and me, it was the pathway to our hope, to our forgiveness… and to eternal life.
Injustice took center stage that day as Pilate turned Jesus over to a rowdy mob though he had found no fault in him. Roman soldiers rendered Him wounded and weak as they flogged an innocent man – the perfectly innocent Son of man – with 39 excruciating lashes.
A twisted crown of thorns was placed on his head and a purple robe draped over his shoulders as the crowd struck Him in the face and mocked God’s Son. (John 19:1-3)
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
Forced, then, to carry the weight of a heavy, wooden cross through streets full of accusations and curses, Jesus, the Messiah, was led toward the hill of death to the place of the skull: Golgotha.
He was poked, prodded and provoked by angry voices that cried for his torture. For his death.
Crucify! Crucify!
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” (Isaiah 53:3)
Nails to flesh.
Agony.
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4)
On that pivotal day, darkness hurled hatred at the Light of the world. The sun stopped shining and the sky grew black as night as the beloved Son of God drew His final breath and declared, “It is finished.”
It. Is. Finished.
Death.
Then, a spear pierced His side. (John 19:34)
The tomb. Myrrh. Aloe. Burial. Heaven’s sorrow.
All for you. All for me. This sacred substitution.
Radical love.
To fulfill the wrath of a holy God who cannot accept imperfection into His presence, the Bible tells us that “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and that the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf brought a new and living way of redemption to all who would call on His name. Once for all. (Hebrews 9 and 10)
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
By His wounds we are healed.
Read that again: by His wounds we are healed. Made whole. Forgiven. Saved. Redeemed. Set free. Healed.
It is finished because though darkness shook the earth with death that Friday long ago, the grave could not hold Jesus and death could not defeat Him! (TWEET this!)
Friday brought death, but Sunday brought life!
He is risen, friend! He is risen, indeed!
Respond with me today in worship and thanksgiving in light of the life we have in Christ alone!
Holy Father, My heart is swollen with the weight of Your love. That You would give Your only Son to make a way for me to know You – to be made right with You – to be made righteous in Jesus – is more than I could ever, ever thank You for. All glory and honor and praise be to Your name, Jesus! Amen
Today I want to share a song with you called Once And For All. Turn up your speakers and prepare your heart for a response of worship. CLICK HERE to listen.
FOR YOUR REFLECTION and RESPONSE: This sacrifice is personal, friend. And so is salvation. Have you ever responded on a heart level to this good news? Have you confessed your mistakes and failures to God? Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ – trusting that what He did on the cross was for the forgiveness of your sins? If you are ready, let today be the day of your salvation by doing just this. Pray. Get right with God. Turn to Jesus. {If you pray to accept Jesus as your Savior today – or recommit your heart to Him, please let me know in the comments section of my blog. We will pray for you and give you a few action points to help direct you toward what to do next!}
It’s FRIDAY… but SUNDAY’s coming!!!
Thanks for doing life with me, friend.
Gwen
Comments 31
once and for all!
The perfect sacrifice
I am so thankful for what Jesus did for me. Please pray for me that I can turn everything (problems with marriage, bad habits) everything over to him and just let him take care of these things so my mind will be clear to serve him and only him and be a servant and have a servants heart just like Jesus did when he walked on this earth!!! I was save at age 11 but somethings in my life I did in my teens and early 20’s I am not proud of. I know God has forgiven me but I have not lived for him like I should. Please pray for me that I will let him be Lord of all over my life!!! I love him with all my heart and he is so good to me everyday. Help me Lord to turn it all over to you and Lord I do accept your generous invitation to receive your grace and mercy!! Thanks for the prayers!!!!
I am a Christian, but I want to recommit my life to Christ. It is so easy to get caught up in what the flesh wants and to forget what it truly needs. Please pray for me as I take this journey. Thank you Heavenly Father for all of your patience with me. Amen.
It is finished (over 2000 years ago) I’ll be forever grateful. Thank you Jesus for being obedient to God to the cross for my sin and the sins if the whole world.what a price, no one else could to. IILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL AND SERVE HIM TO THE END OF THIS WORLD. GLORY TO HIS NAME!!!! Amen
I just prayed for each and everyone of you ladies. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and that God would put your arms around you and meet you where you are at. May He lighten your load and bless you. Amen 🙂
Yes. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on Jesus and this last week and sooo much happened. I’m humbled by all He endured starting even at the Upper Room after He established The Lord’s supper to betrayal to deep sorrow and friends not helping him. It seems too much. But JESUS tells me. No Gwen. Not too much. I willingly did this for the Father and I are one. And God is love. I love you. A good Friday but not in my view of a good day. My husband is also going through trials of all kinds and He weeps and says, in the midst of all his pain and suffering…JESUS is my all in all. He died for me Gwen. Can you believe it?!! I’ve been given so much ( when earthly folks would say the opposite looking at him fight cancer and many struggles from a stroke during surgery–where there is no medical cause so he battles blindness from brain damage not eye damage). He’s my caregiver and helps me too. He grows tired but rises early for quiet time with the Lord before work. He reminds me of God’s grace and love. And as we approach a procedure Wednesday where they will do a painful procedure yet only use twilight because of a stroke risk–we use Bible verses to uphold each other when we become anxious or fearful. How blessed to have a Savior.
I appreciated the song too.
You are in my thoughts and prayers
I am praying for you today. I pray that the Lord will be with your husband and ease the pain. I pray the Lord will be with the doctors and medical staff to do the procedure with precision and as painlessly as possible. I pray the Lord will be with you to calm your fears and comfort you.
Blessings to you all and may the outcome be positive.
I have recommited my life to our Lord and continue to do so. I’m not perfect I stumble as I get back up I recommit myself and always ask for our Lord to be my Savior. Yes I accept him as my Lord and Savior.
Please pray for me Antoinette. Today I have decided to recommit my heart to my Lord and Saviour. His mercies endures forever and He is always faithful and Love me unconditionally hence it is my duty to surrender my all, my life to Him so that he can use me as he please.
i just prayed for you, God bless you through your amazing journey
Please pray for me as I recommit my heart to the Lord!
I will lift you up in my prayers tonight Lyn! God bless you
I love your devotional today and am truly comitted to Christ. I listened to Once & for all and it touched my heart so much that I had to let you know. Keep up the good work Gwen as your blogs are truly inspirational.
What a love! He laid down His life for me…. Yes, me.
Thank you, Gwen for sharing. May God continue to bless you.
I want Desperately to grow stronger in the Lord! I want to Trust Him Completely, have Faith in his mighty works and to experience his Prescence and Joy in my life. I am a Single mother of three with two small grandchildren…… Iam struggling Financially, mentally and spiritually, I just solicit your prayers that I will be able to hear the voice of the lord and follow his plan for my life….I Pray but I waver, I fast but I get weak….I feel like my prayers are not getting through, or that, iam not doing something right… but I want give up on God.
Your prayers are always heard. God has three answers to prayers: yes, not yet, or I have something better planned! Hold tight to your relationship with our amazing God and never lose help. I will pray for you and your family. God bless you all
He gave his life for you and me. We all have sinned and have fallen short. Let ye who has not sinned cast the first stone. Even as a Christian we all sin every day in some way, maybe we said something we didn’t realize that hurt someone’s feelings that day, maybe we got rude with someone or we broke one of the commandments. I find myself struggling daily but I know in my heart and soul that Gods love and grace is always with me. I will not give up lord. We all go through struggles some seem worst then others but I have learned those struggles make us stronger and help us to grow.Lord for each person here Lord hear there prayer Lord give them strength, encouragement and Lord we thank you for giving your life on that cross for us. I thank you for your love, your grace. Lord lift these women up lord let your light shine upon them. AMEN If you fall or you stumble he is right there to lift you up. God Bless I loved the song and inspiration today Thank you ladies for sharing with us.
Amen!
Love love, with a heart wide open this devotion.
. Yes it’s hard to say its GOOD FRIDAY. When the almighty one gave his life, in such a brutal way. So we could live our life, and be forgiven for all our sins. How powerful a feeling in our soul. Crying, praising, loving him for his scafrice for each of us. I have read the story several times over and over on his journey, yesterday and this morning. The love I have in my heart, that Jesus loves me, yes me ( and ALL of us ) that much to under go such a terrible beating. Then I listened to your heartfelt, humbling praise song and felt every word. Now I understand this is Good Friday. And the joy of what’s coming Sunday. Praise God TRUELY BLESSD
< < < praying for everyone this day,
I am so thankful. Thankful. Please pray for me as I continue to build my strength and faith through my Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord.
Please Pray for me – I need to rededicate my life to Christ.
I BELEIVE THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE TOUGHEST SEASONS I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED AND IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS NO END TO IT. I PRAY DAILY, CRYING OUT AND POURING MY SOUL OUT TO GOD FOR PEACE AND RESORATION. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME, THAT GOD WILL DELIVER AND SHOW ME FAVOR. I WANT TO BE CLOSER TO GOD, TO SURRENDER TO HIS WILL, I JUST WANT TO KEEP MY SIGHTS ON HIM. TRYING TO REMAIN POSITIVE IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL IS NOT AN EASY TASK
I have to say this has been the worse Lenten season I’ve ever been through. Every other year I have given things up or focused more on God, this year I felt as if I had no strength to do it. I failed miserably every day. I was struggling with an issue that I finally had partially resolved this morning – Thanks Be To God! I want my focus to be on Jesus – my Savior so heavily – please pray for me to keep my eyes on Jesus and off of people who are confusing me with what their interpretation of the Word is. Thank you so much Gwen for your faithfulness! 🙂
There was an inspiration on girlfriends from God about forgiving yourself. I to have struggled with forgiving myself from some stuff in my past but through Gods love and grace I am learning to let it go. Forgiving someone who has hurt us is hard or it was for me. I don’t know your situation God Does but know God has forgiven you and now you need to move forward and forgive yourself so that you can grow more with your relationship with Christ. I love girlfriends from God and it is through some of their inspirations and stories that has helped me. You are in my prayers Beth. God bless
Thank you Jen – you are so right. I never realized that I needed to forgive myself until you said it just now! Wow, another freeing moment on this beautiful Easter weekend. Thank you so much and God bless you. I will also be praying for you as well. Happy Easter 🙂
Prayed for much for forgiveness last night in church for something from my past that I cannot forgive myself for — I know I am forgiven by Christ — pray for friends that are struggling with health issues with their son — please keep all in prayer …..
Please pray for me, I have strayed from My focus on Christ and want to to recommit my faith.
The struggles are what can make us strong!
God bless her with the end goal of you in sight, nothing can make her blossom as you can. Life is meant to be lived not just survived. You have so much in store for her, open her eyes to your promises that are for her good and to bless her.
You are a daughter of God, he wants nothing more than to enfold you in His arms and heal you, love you and make you a women of God. You are forgiven and made new in Him, do not hesitate to listen to Gods call.
I will pray for you! In love, another daughter of God.
Please pray for me. I want to recommit my life to Chist. I’m struggling.
Praying for you today! Romans 8..