Virtual Chapel – 3/19/20
Good Morning! Praise to our Lord God who keeps us ever in the palm of His hand.
STEP 1: Read the Bible verse for today.
“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Exodus 15:2
STEP 2: Read the devotion for today found below. This one comes from Dr. Kari Jo at Lutheran Hour Ministries (Lutheran Hour Ministries – Daily Devotions).
“FREEDOM FROM DEATH”
When He (Jesus) had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:43-44)
Death is unnatural. It is wrong. We all know that, in our hearts and in our guts—no matter who tells us it is “natural” and “to be expected.” It’s not.
Jesus recognized that fact, too. When His friend Lazarus died, He wept. Jesus was facing the doom of Genesis 3:19 applied to someone He loved: “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Jesus shared our response to death. But then He did what only God can do—He raised Lazarus from the dead. And He promises to do the same for everyone who trusts in Him on the day He returns to bring us all into the kingdom of God. This is our great hope and our comfort as we live in a dying world.
Death was mainly theoretical to me when I was younger. But after four deaths in the family last year, I’m holding on to the words Jesus spoke to Lazarus’ sister with all my strength. He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26a). I hope you are holding on to them, too, as you face the death of those you love—or your own death.
The Bible tells us that Jesus came into this world to set us free from death. “He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). Jesus does this, not as we might expect, by brute force. Instead, He did it by laying down His own life—God Himself, the Author of Life, submitting to death on a cross—and then rising to life again, on the third day. Who could have predicted such a wonder?
STEP 3: Listen to today’s song: “Great Are You Lord” by Casting Crowns
STEP 4: Pray.
Lord, You have power over death. Make us alive with You forever. I also pray for _____________ (insert your own prayer requests here). Amen.
Share this good news with others. Blessings on your day!