Easter Encouragement: Let God Lift Your Head
We go to the woods on a cool spring morning. The first bulbs are climbing through the earth to speak secrets known only to those who live long through dark winters. We’ve known dark winters here. We’ve wept over broken ground and shattered dreams, and we need a dose of Easter encouragement this year.
As our children search earthen hollows for plastic Easter eggs, I think of the empty tomb.
I think of the mystery of healing from brokenness and the miracle of life from death.
Easter Encouragement
As we search for the eggs, I remember Jesus’ words from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
The words scroll through my mind as I consider those who put Jesus on the cross.
Were they not killing an innocent man, and didn’t they all know it very well?
Yes, they knew they were killing an innocent man. They knew he was no criminal. But there was something they didn’t know. They didn’t know it and couldn’t understand it. They didn’t know how much they were loved.
God demonstrated his love on the cross. They didn’t think about their own children and how they’d never send their children to suffer and die for someone else. They didn’t know they were crucifying Love himself.
Easter Encouragement for Every Heart
I wonder if I’m missing it, too. I wonder if I’m doing all the right “godly” things but forgetting to soak in the reality of just how much I’m loved.
Have I taken it for granted?
Have I complained about my calling instead of embracing it?
Perhaps these questions are the Easter encouragement I need most. Perhaps I need to step back and stop taking the love of Christ for granted.
I wrestle with these questions as we walk from the woods with our buckets of eggs. I think about the cross the whole way home. Later in the day, I sit with the open pages. I am reminded of what happened on that cross where love was poured out.
Why the Cross is the Answer for the Weary and Hurting
Are you weary and burdened today?
Return with me to the cross.
Return with me and remember what happened when Jesus died on the cross for you. May these Truths fill your heart with Easter encouragement today.
1. Jesus set us free from guilt and shame at the cross.
Do you ever wonder if God is angry with you for your mistakes and sins?
In these moments, I need the reminder that God is not looking upon me with a critical gaze.
Romans 8:1 reminds us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. The quiet voice telling me I should be ashamed is not the voice of God. Jesus defeated shame at the cross.
Friend, if you are dealing with guilt or shame regarding a mistake you made or a sinful choice, run to the cross. Jesus bore God’s punishment on the cross. He bore the punishment you deserve, and in doing so, he set you free from guilt and shame.
Receive his forgiveness and commit to following him, and you can be free from shame.
2. Jesus bore God’s anger at the cross.
First John 4:10 reads, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Jesus bore the punishment we deserved at the cross. This is love. God poured out his anger toward the sinfulness of the whole world upon Jesus.
I find this mysterious and difficult to wrap my mind around. Nevertheless, it is the truth. God isn’t angry with us. Because Jesus bore God’s anger, we have peace with God through Christ.
This Easter encouragement can transform every aspect of our lives.
3. Jesus reconciled us to God at the cross.
Romans 5:10-11 reads, “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
We are no longer strangers to God.
The cross gave us direct access to God.
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple, which once separated God’s people from his presence, was torn in two. God tore the curtain to show us that we had free access to his presence because of the cross. What an amazing gift!
4. Jesus set us free from the power of sin on the cross.
First Corinthians 6:20 reads, “You have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your bodies.”
Thanks to Jesus’ work on the cross, sin no longer rules over our bodies. We are free to follow Christ in righteousness.
Do you feel stuck in some area of sin right now?
Remind yourself you are no slave to sin. You are a child of God. Ask him how to take the first step to walk in the freedom earned at the cross. He will show you.
5. Jesus defeated darkness at the cross.
Christ overcame the power of Satan on the cross.
Colossians 3:15 reads, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
We are victorious because of the cross. Jesus won the battle. He defeated death.
We will face attacks from the enemy; however, the war has been won. One day, Jesus will throw Satan into a lake of fire forever. Until that day comes, we can stand on faith when the enemy attacks us. We can remind ourselves that the war is already won.
6. God demonstrated his love for us at the cross.
My kids sometimes beg me to play a game called, “I Love You More.”
I tell them I love them to the moon, and they tell me they love me to the moon and back, and on and on we go.
Romans 5:8 tells us God demonstrated his love for us at the cross. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.
Let’s hold onto this truth today. When we are hurting, let’s remember that love is not merely a feeling. God demonstrated love with the most profound sacrifice a parent could ever make. He allowed his Son to die in our place.
I wonder how the story might have been different if those who crucified Jesus knew how much he loved them.
I wonder how the story might have been different if those who crucified Jesus knew how much he loved them. #thecross #Godslove #Jesusislove #Jesus #loveofGod Click To TweetHow would my life be different if I lived out of the overflow of God’s passionate love every moment of every day?
Let’s hold the cross close to our hearts this Easter. What happened on the cross changed everything. God’s love is radical.
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