Day 5 - Thursday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect the Testaments | My Ut Most for His Highest | Thoughts for the Quiet Hour |

 Morning, April 3. Go To Evening Reading

"They took Jesus, and led him away."

—John 19:16

He had been all night in agony, he had spent the early morning at the hall of Caiaphas, he had been hurried from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate; he had, therefore, but little strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest were permitted him. They were eager for his blood and, thus, led him out to die, loaded with the cross. O dolorous procession! Well may Salem's daughters weep. My soul, do thou weep also.

What do we learn here as we see our blessed Lord led forth? Do we not perceive that truth outlined in shadow by the scapegoat, not the high-priest, brings the scapegoat, puts both his hands upon its head, confessing the people's sins, that thus those sins might be laid upon the goat, and cease from the people? Then the goat was led away by a fit man into the wilderness, and it carried away the people's sins, so they could not be found if they were sought for. Now we see Jesus brought before the priests and rulers, who pronounce him guilty; God himself imputes our sins to him, "the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;" "He was made sin for us;" and, as the substitute for our guilt, bearing our sin upon his shoulders, represented by the cross; we see the great ScapScapegoat away by the appointed officers of justice. Beloved, can you feel assured that he carried your sin? As you look at the cross upon his shoulders, does it represent your sin? There is one way you can tell whether he carried your sin. Have you laid your hand upon his head, confessed your sin, and trusted in him? Then your sin lies not on you; it has all been transferred by blessed imputation to Christ, and he bears it on his shoulder as a load heavier than the cross.

Let not the picture vanish till you have rejoiced in your own deliverance, and adored the loving Redeemer upon whom your iniquities were laid.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, April 3

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

—Isaiah 53:6

Here is a confession of sin common to all the elect people of God. They have all Godallen, and therefore, in familiar chorus, they all say, from the first who entered heaven to the last who shall enter there, "All we like sheep have gone astray." The confession, while thus unanimous, is also unique and particular: "We have turned every one to his own way." There is a peculiar sinfulness about everyone; all are sinful, but each one has some special aggravation not found in his fellow. It is the mark of genuine repentance that while it naturally associates itself with other penitents, it also takes up a position of loneliness. "We have turned everyone to his own way," is a confession that each man had sinned against light peculiar to himself, or sinned with an aggravation which he could not perceive in others. This confession is unreserved; there is no word to detract from its force or a syllable by excuse. The confession is a giving up of all pleas of self-righteousness. It is the declaration of consciously guilty men—guilty with aggravations, guilty without excuse: they stand with their weapons of rebellion broken in pieces, and cry, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." Yet we hear no dolorous wailings attending this confession of sin; the following sentence makes it almost a song. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." It is the most grievous sentence of the three, but it overflows with comfort. Strange it is that where misery was concentrated, mercy reigned; where sorrow reached her climax, weary souls find rest. The Saviour bruised is the healing of bruised hearts. See how the lowliest penitence gives place to assured confidence through simply gazing at Christ on the cross!

 C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).

April 3: Your Inner Self

Deuteronomy 4:1–49; 2 Corinthians 1:17–24; Psalm 32:1–11

"Did I leave the burner on?" "Did I lock the door?" "I feel like I'm forgetting something."

Forgetfulness is a syndrome we all experience at one time or another. Many of our forgetful moments end up being minor inconveniences. But there is one thing we should never forget: God and His instructions.

As the Israelites prepared to enter the promised land, Moses offered them a string of commandments, including this: "Take care for yourself and watch your inner self closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not slip from your mind all the days of your life" (Deut 4:9).

By watching ourselves closely, we remember what we're meant to do and who we're meant to be. And this isn't just a value added to our lives and relationship with God. Moses said to God, "And you shall make [the commandments] known to your children and to your grandchildren" (Deut 4:9).

Moses knew that God had chosen the Israelites to carry out His work. He also knew that forgetting God's commandment would jeopardize that work and their lives. He tells them to be sure about who they are—to keep themselves in line with it's

It's precise. Paul emphasizes God's point in 2 Corinthians 17–24: God is about the relationship. " Yes." God has God. God has chosen us. God, we are the receivers of His salvation. We are called—not some of us, but all of us.

And in this we should rejoice, for we can claim, as the psalmist does, "I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh, and you [Yahweh] took away the guilt of my sin" (Psa 32:5).

The best way to make "our""yes" and "no" be a no is to align yourself with God's grace. Commandments only get us so far; identity in Christ and the Spirit's work will take us where we need to go.

What can you do to constantly remind yourself of God's goodness and His work?

John D. Barry

 John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

April 3

If thou hadst known!

If thou hadst known … in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. Luke 19:42.

Jesus had entered Jerusalem in triumph, and the city was stirred to its foundations. But a strange god was there, the pride of Pharisaism; it was religious and upright, but a 'whited sepulcher.'

What is it that blinds me on this day? Have I a strange god—not a disgusting monster, but a disposition that rules me? More than God brought God face to face, the peculiar God, as God. I thought I would have to yield, but I did not do it. I got through the crisis by the skin of my teeth, and I find myself in the possession of the strGod; God bless the things which belong to my peace. It is appalling that we can be in a place where the Spirit of God should be getting at us unhindered, yet increasing our condemnation of God’s good news, God’s destiny, God's own,”—God's word directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind. These words imply culpable responsibility; God holds us responsible for what we do not see. “Now they are 'h' d from thine' eyes'—because the 'd position has never been yielded. The unfathomable sadness of the ‘might have been’! God never opens doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors we have shut, doors that need never have been shut, and imaginations that need never have been sullied. Never be afraid, God has His way. It is a minister of God's blessing and sorrow. God will turn the ‘might have been’ into an ideal culture for the future.

 Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).

April 3

Always rejoicing

2 Cor. 6:10

No Christian can ever know what those two little words mean, “always rejoi"ing,” but the Chr"stian who takes up his cross and follows Jesus.

W. Hay Aitken

 Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).