Easter: Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 15:22-16:10

We see in this text the Lord perform miracle after miracle for the people, but yet they still doubted, they still grumbled. They desired the certainty of captivity instead of the uncertainty of faith. This new journey into the Promised Land would require that the people trust God. And He would provide for them, but they had to first trust.

The Lord gave them water to drink and food to eat, yet they still doubted. They had seen Him rain plagues upon the people of Egypt, yet they still doubted. They had seen Him part the Red Sea and bring them across, yet they still doubted. And now, they had seen Him give them water and bread, would they still doubt?

We know the answer, yes they would. The Lord had done so much for them, yet they still doubted. How about you and me? What has our God done for us? Do we still doubt? Have we seen and felt Him work in our lives? Do we still doubt? We need to trust in Him today, for the same God that did all of these great things in the Bible is the same God that leads you and me today.

New Testament Lesson

1 Peter 2:1-10

This passage ends with that great statement, once you were no people, know you are the people of God. What a great statement. To those that are God's children, there is no great example of grace than that. We once were not much, but now we are the people of God. We once were lost, but now we are found. We once were separated from God, now we are at peace with God.

And it is God that has has made it this way. He has longed to make us His people. Not because we are perfect, not because we are blameless, but because He loves us. It is His that is the motivating force behind all of this. Today, know that you are loved by God and called by God. Today, won't you follow His lead?

Gospel Lesson

John 15:1-11

Jesus Christ is the vine and for us to produce any fruit, we must stay rooted in Him. When we depart from Him, we fail. When we depart from Him, we wither and die. When we seek to produce good fruit apart from Him, it will not work.

So often we think that we can just "will" a good Christian life. That we can just work hard enough to be who we should be. That we can do it, and then we are plagued with guilt when we find that our best intentions are not good enough. We can never be who we are supposed to be apart from Jesus. Apart from the vine, the branches will die.

But, when we are grounded to Jesus, when we are plugged in, when we remain in Him; He can do great things through us. Today, are you living by your own strength, or by His? Or you living by your power, or by His power? Apart from Him, we can do nothing, but by Jesus Christ working through us, great things can happen.