One of the most touching stories in the New Testament is the life-changing encounter that a woman, held in demonic bondage for years, had as she encountered Jesus the Redeemer of all things, and was set free from years of mental illness…years of confused thinking…years of depression.
Two days ago, as I returned home from running errands, I heard the sound of a shrill, demanding kind of alarm going off. When I unlocked my door I realized that the alarm was coming from a fire alarm on the second floor of my house and was going off for no apparent reason. Nothing had been disturbed. Nothing was on the verge of exploding in fire. Everything appeared to be in the same order in which I had left it. So, why the alarm? I decided it was just a fluke, or possibly the battery needed to be replaced.
Then a friend of mine brought my attention to an article recently published in Charisma magazine. The title was, “Do You Hear the Alarm?” The author was speaking about a storm coming. I am not an alarmist by nature. Yet, with the increased sound of hate speech and violence in the world, it is impossible to not realize we are living in times that are revealing greater darkness. The need for light, brilliant light is being sought out in an ever-increasing way. People are looking for hope, for encouragement, and for the firm foundation that truth brings.
We have just celebrated one of the greatest observances of our Christian faith. For believers in Jesus Christ, Easter celebrates the specific events of Christ’s crucifixion for sin and His resurrection from the dead three days following. It is a time of serious but wonderful reflection on the truths that the Bible speaks of regarding the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. Jesus died on the cross as the “substitute” for sinners so that all who believe in Him will be saved. The word “substitute” means “to take the place of another.”
“The cross we preach to others should first crucify us. The word we preach should first burn itself deeply into our life so that our life is the living message. We must let the cross live out of us daily. Then what we preach will be more than a message, but a kind of life which we daily exhibit.” Watchman Nee, The Messenger of the Cross.
