31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," 37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." 38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. John was an eyewitness to all this. No one at the time refuted his testimony. He declares that it is the truth. Anyone who refutes this testimony centuries later simply has an ax to grind because their acceptance of the truth would mean they would have to admit that Jesus really died and the he was really resurrected from the DEAD. And that would lead to all the other truth claims of Jesus and the Bible being right such as our need for a Savior from our sins.
What does the Lord’s sword look like. It has different meanings depending on where you find it in the Bible. In today’s video it is found in Psalm 7 verses 12 and 13 which says, “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.” This isn’t the verse that Christians usually quote when they think about the God’s sword. They are usually thinking about the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God found in Ephesians 6 verse 17. But the word of God is a double-edged sword as Hebrews 4 verse 12 tells us. One side of the sword is to bring salvation to those who hear it and obey by expressing faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. The other side of the sword is to bring judgment to those who ignore God’s word and reject Jesus Christ. You have heard enough in this short video to know that you must repent or his sword will be joined by his other deadly weapons in judgment. You don’t want to be on the wrong side of God’s sword. If you want to know what it means to repent, then watch my video on Youtube , "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you enough about God’s sword, his word to be saved. May God Bless you! “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword” Psalm 7:12. It will be for judgment, not salvation. #bibledevotion #swordofgod #judgment #repentance #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves
A lot of Christians have some wrong ideas about anger. Psalm 4 verse 4 is used to justify their anger. It reads, "Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent." They look at those first two words and believe this gives them the right to be angry. They reaffirm this right by quoting Ephesians 4 verse 26, "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger." It sounds almost like the same message as the Psalm. They use the first word, "be" as a command to actually get angry at times. So what wrong about this conclusion? The first problem is that they ignore or minimize the idea that they aren't sinning when they become angry. Both of these verses explain that any permission to anger can only be when it isn't a result of sin. So now I come to James 1 verse 20 which says, "For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." You see, they think that any anger is OK as long as they don't do something in anger and that they resolve their anger by the time they go to bed. They totally ignore the fact that 99.99 percent of anger is because of their own sin. It isn't righteous anger. They aren't angry that Lord's holiness has been called into question or that people are acting in defiant rebellion against the Lord. They point to Jesus cleansing the temple and think that their anger is of the same category as Jesus's. There are so many prohibitions against anger in the Bible that it would take a book to talk about them all. You see, our anger comes out of our heart just like Jesus said about many sins. Anger is a result of an impure heart and that can only be cleaned up by agreeing with the Lord about sinful anger and surrendering to Jesus Christ in repentance and salvation. If you want to get rid of your sinful anger, watch my video on Youtube , "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to turn to Jesus for salvation. May God Bless you! "For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). #bibledevotion #anger #righteousness # #repentance #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves
Do you have trouble sleeping? Does everything int the world, wars, disaster, diseases, and even people keep you awake at night? Maybe it's your own behavior that keeps you awake. What do you do? Listen to what David said about his sleep in the midst of all the troubles surrounding him. David wrote in Psalm 3 verses 5 through 6, "I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around." Like this picture, David simply lay down to sleep and had a good night's sleep because the Lord took care of him. He wasn't afraid of the demons, the warring countries or even the people in his own country that opposed him and wanted to get rid of him. His trust was in the Lord. Isaiah put it this way in chapter 26 verse 3, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." You see, when we focus our mind on the problems instead of the problem solver, we will be anxious and unable to sleep. Even if we don't have enemies, we can be anxious about just the daily cares of life. What to eat, what to wear, do people like me, am I good enough, am I ugly. If you want to have the peace of mind that gives you a good night sleep, then you must trust the Lord. You must have your mind focused on him. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will never know that peace because you will not have peace with the Lord. If you want that, watch my video on Youtube , "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to turn to Jesus for salvation and rest well in his peace. May God Bless you! The only way to have peace for a good night's sleep is to have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. #bibledevotion #peace #sleep #troubles #anxiety #trustjesus #repentance #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves
What do you do when you think you can't be saved? Listen to David when he was being told the same thing in Psalm 3 verses 1 and 2. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Who on earth would ever tell another person that they can't be saved? Only someone who doesn't know the Lord themselves and the devil who wants to destroy that person's hope for salvation in Jesus Christ. We may certainly warn people who are engaging in sinful behavior that if they don't repent in this life time, they won't be saved but that isn't the same as telling someone they can't be saved, ever. There have been many people who have lived ungodly lives and at the last moment repented and turned to Jesus for salvation. Look at the thief on the cross. Luke 23 verse 42 and 43 summarize his interaction with Jesus. And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” There is always hope for a person while still alive to turn to Jesus for salvation. Look at that thief for a minute. He didn't have time to do good works to earn his way into heaven. He simply asked Jesus. But note that his attitude had changed when he contemplated his own sin. This was the Lord working in him. It wasn't him doing any work to earn salvation. But here is the warning to anyone who thinks they can knowingly live an ungodly life and depend on a last minute confession for salvation. That just smacks of hypocrisy all the way to the end. It isn't true repentance. The Lord know if you are just trying to play the game or if you are sincere when you turn to Jesus for salvation. If you know that you must turn to Jesus for salvation but keep putting it off because you want to do things your way, there is no guarantee you will have the time to repent. So do it now before it is too late. Watch my pinned message on my profile page, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to turn to Jesus for salvation and know you are truly saved. May God Bless you! Salvation is available to all but not everyone takes advantage of it. It is never too late to truly repent and be saved. #bibledevotion #repentance #sincere #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves
The command to give thanks occurs 59 times in ESV Bible. The first occurrence is in First Chronicles 16 verse 8, "Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!" We can give thanks to the Lord because he is always available for us to when we call. We don't need to make a reservation, though it is a good idea to make sure we reserve the time for ourselves to pray to the Lord each day. Because we can call on the Lord at any time, we should be obedient in making his name and his deeds known in all the earth. Another verse about giving thanks reinforces the previous one. First Chronicles 16 verse 35 says, "“Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise." Our salvation is the greatest thing we can praise and give thanks to the Lord about. We should wake up every morning and give thanks to the Lord for sending Jesus to take our sins from us and give us the Holy Spirit to live in us and give us the ability to live godly lives. Colossians 1 verse 3, Paul says, "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you." We should always be giving thanks to the Lord for the people in our lives. I know some of them can be difficult and others are a true blessings. But the Lord has put them in our lives for a reason and we should give thanks for all of them. Paul also says in First Thessalonians 5 verse 18, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Whoa! Did you catch that? He says to give thanks in all circumstances. The didn't say to thank the Lord for bad things, but when good or bad happens to us, we thank him during these times. We don't forget to thank him because of who he is and he is in sovereign control of all things. Make no mistake, giving thanks is God's will for all who are in Christ Jesus. Sometimes, giving thanks is a sacrifice as Hebrews 13 verse 15 says. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, giving thanks is actually impossible because you don't know the one to whom you must give thanks. If you want to give thanks to the Lord properly, watch my video on Youtube , "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation and then you will have much to give thanks for.
How to be Blessed Psalm 1 The greatest blessing is to be in the presence of the Lord. Psalm 1 tells what a blessed person looks like then it contrasts blessed people with those who are not concerned with being in the presence of the Lord. They are described as evil and wicked people. Here is Psalm 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (ESV) Do you want to be blessed? Do you want to live continuously in the presences of the Lord? Then you have to know Jesus as your Lord or you will not. If you do know Jesus, then praise the Lord and do as the Psalm says by constantly studying and memorizing passages from the Bible. Why not start with Psalm 1? If you don't know Jesus, then watch my video on Youtube ,, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation and then you will be blessed according to the Bible. May God Bless you! Psalm 1 describes the difference between being blessed and being evil or wicked and the results of each. #bibledevotion #Psalm1 #blessed #fruitful #judgment #sinners #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves
Who thought up the idea that dead people will be resurrected? Was it just whimsical wishful thinking invented by fearful people? Or was it something that the Lord has instilled over a long period of time? I'm told that the book of Job may have been written before the other books of the Bible. If so, then it is the first recorded mention of the resurrection as well as our need for a redeemer. Job 19 verses 25 through 27 records Job's confidence in a redeemer so that he will be resurrected from the dead. Here is what he says, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" King David made mention of the resurrection and they joy it would bring in Psalm 16 verse 11, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." But there is also a grave (pun intended) warning about the resurrection found in Daniel 12 verse 2. It says, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." The Lord is telling us that even evil people will be resurrected. This isn't just something for Christians. Jesus also told us in Matthew 25 verses 31 through 45 that everyone will be gathered together for judgment. Then he says in Verse 46, " And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." When you think about your resurrection from the dead and then being able to see the Lord with your own eyes, what emotions does that stir up within you? Does your heart faint within you as Job said? Or maybe you don't know the Lord and it stirs up emotions of fear, dread, or even hate because the last thing you would want to do is be face to face with Jesus in the afterlife? If the latter is the way you are reacting you really need to Watch my video on Youtube , "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation and then not to have anything but joy to see the Lord face to face. May God bless you!
Lord questioned Job about his creation. From everything from the stars to the time it takes for a deer to birth a fawn. He asked Job, "Where were you when I made or did all this?" After Job challenged the Lord to explain his suffering, the Lord didn't give the reasons for his why questions. Instead, the Lord revealed himself to Job. The Lord revealed his sovereignty, his wisdom, and his power through creation. The Lord was telling Job and us that he is the answer to all our why questions. We don't need to know the answers, we need to know the Lord. When we have "why" questions about whatever is happening in our lives or in the world around us, we should always remember the Lord. Everything in the universe points to the Lord and Psalm 54 verse 4 says, "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." Remember the Lord sustains us. Job answered the Lord in Job 42 verses 2 through 6. Here is part of what he said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” When we are bitter or angry about what is happening to us or around us, we need to do the same thing as Job. We must repent. Of course, if you don't know Jesus, the first thing to do is turn to him for salvation. Watch my video on Youtube ,, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation and then … you will know the Lord. May God Bless you. We all have why question about our lives and the word around us. The Lord is the answer to them all. #bibledevotion #whysuffering #comfort #whyme #salvation #gospelin3minutes #jesussaves
