23.June.2025
Did the Son of God die so we could feel good? Did He die so we could feel better about our lives, our jobs, our routines, our appearance on Sunday, or how we’re perceived by others?
No!
““This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.” John 3:16-18 MSG
Jesus didn’t give His life for us to feel better.
He died and rose again so we could be transformed, completely new. So we could become what He always intended: stable, victorious, full of the life that flows only from a real relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ, and overflowing with the power of the Holy Ghost.
The Cross wasn’t about comfort.
It was about covenant.
He didn’t go to the grave to make your version of life more manageable, He went there so you could die to yours and live fully alive in His.
“Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight…For He foreordained us… to be adopted as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent].” Ephesians 1:4–5 AMPC
Before the foundation of the world, He hand-picked us.
Now that we’re here, alive in this moment, we get to ask ourselves:
Do I really want the life I set out for myself, or do I want His perfect plan?
The man in a story I heard recently didn’t expect it. He was living in a garbage dump, in a cardboard box. He had made choices that led to destruction. Smelly, sticky, rejected by society and even himself. But God…had a different story.
God woke another man up and told him to go. Go to the dump.
Not the kind of place you want volunteer to go unless His love sends you.
But that’s how Jesus came for us…Not when we were clean…Not when we were shining in potential.
When we were garbage dwellers (not necessarily literally), in filth of our own making.
“Through Him you believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him honor and glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God…You have been regenerated…by the ever living and lasting Word of God.” 1 Peter 1:21–23 AMPC
The man went, and the smell overwhelmed him but he honored God’s voice and found the man in the box. However, the man didn’t want help. He said there was no help for him. His wife asked the man what he wanted from them.
He answered: “I don’t want anything from you. I just want to touch you. Because the minute I do, your life will radically change.”
And it did.
That man now has hundreds of churches, businesses, homes and vehicles, but more importantly, he has the purpose and power in Jesus. Notice the divine order: God first. Then all else.
Matthew 6:33 isn’t a suggestion. It’s key.
https://youtu.be/zx3SA7WU53w?si=sdyf5eo1Wh0ossPp
If you have not committed your life to Jesus, or you have walked away from Him doing your own thing, I invite you to come back to Him today.
~ Dear Heavenly Father ~
Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the Cross just for me. I admit that I have sinned, and I repent. I ask You to forgive me. I believe that He died and rose again. Right now, I make Him the Lord of my life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. My sins are washed away, my past is forgiven, and my future is bright. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ Name Amen.
Make today count and see you tomorrow.
And…There’s a scene in the movie Shrek where Donkey is terrified to cross a rickety bridge over a fiery gorge. His fear is paralyzing him until Shrek distracts him with arguing, he pushes him step by step across. Donkey makes it to the other side only to realize he did it while afraid, because he trusted Shrek more than his fear.
Isn’t that just like us? When we fixate on our fear, the shaking bridge, the drop below, and all the “what ifs,” we freeze. But when we take our eyes off the circumstances and place them on Jesus, our Savior, the Holy Spirit our Comforter and guide, and the Father who loves us so much, we find ourselves walking through what once seemed impossible. He doesn’t always remove the bridge, but He walks in us and with us across it.
Fear fades when we remember who and whose we are. We are children of God, and He never leaves us. Here’s the clip from that scene if you want to watch:
Knowing Him Daily 
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