Jesus’s Walk to Calvary

Hello everyone,

Today marks the saddest day for Christians as we mourn the death of our Saviour. Although today was a beautiful sunny day in Prince Edward Island, I wish it would have been dark and overcast to match the feeling in my heart.

There’s a passage I was reading in John that really drove home the message of why Jesus had to die. The night he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, I noticed that Jesus was praying for his disciples and future believers more than he prayed for himself. Even though he was about to die, he prayed for you and me. Let that sink in for a moment….Jesus was praying for you in his darkest hour! (John 17:20-26)

From the moment the Lord said “Let there be light,” Jesus already knew man would sin and disobey His Father. God already had a plan for salvation in place to save us all. It was Jesus’s love for us that pushed him to lay down his Heavenly crown and become human. He knew that if he didn’t take our place then we would all be doomed to hell for eternity and separated from God forever.

Jesus endured the torture and mocking because the entire time, he was thinking about us and our desperate need for salvation. 

After he had been whipped, Jesus had to carry his own cross up the road to the hill of Calvary. At this point he was weak from blood loss and blinding pain from the scourging. Lots of people didn’t even survive the whipping, but Jesus still had work to accomplish. He walked with the heavy cross on his shoulder and the crown of thorns jabbing into his head. Every step was agonizing for the Son of God and the crowd jeered at him as he hobbled through the streets.

But as he made his way to Calvary, he had one thing on his mind…you. His love for the world was so strong that nothing could extinguish it, not even death. As he breathed his last breath and released his spirit, he cried “It is finished!” The plan of salvation was opened up and he had made a way for us to be reconciled with our God. And it was all because he loved you.

So when you are complaining about your walk through life, remember the difficult walk Christ took so you could have eternal life. None of it would have been possible if he hadn’t taken that trip up to Calgary’s hill. If he had the strength to finish his walk, then he will give you the strength to finish yours and he will be with you every step of the way. The Bible says “I have told you this so you might have peace in me. Here on Earth you will have many trials and sorrows but take heart for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Keep walking in faith,

Sarah

The Greatest Gift of All

Hey everyone,

I am sorry I haven’t been able to post yesterday. But today I really want to talk about the second week of advent: Love

When you give a gift to someone is there love in your heart?

Usually if you give a gift to someone close to you, you can’t wait for them to open it. Gifts are often a symbol or a token of your love.

Well Jesus is God’s gift to the world. Since the creation of the world God had a plan to send his Son.

As soon as Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God knew the Earth was in trouble and He wanted to save it. The only way to redeem humanity was for someone to die in our place.

The question is: Who would go?

God’s only son Jesus looked at his father and said, “I’ll go. Send me.”

It must have taken every ounce of love in His heart to say, “Alright son. You can go.”

The Bible says in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

So Jesus stood up from his throne where he was the ruler of the universe. He dismissed all the angels who followed his every order. He took off his crown, laid down his scepter, and removed his royal robe.

He gave up all of Heaven’s riches and power to rescue us.

And he knew exactly what he was going to face even before he stepped off the throne. He knew he was going to be forsaken by man and even his own Heavenly Father. He knew every excruciating detail of his death and all the pain and suffering that would go with it.

But he went anyway.

Romans 5:8 says “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Jesus humbled himself and stripped himself of all majesty when he came to Earth.

John 1:14 says “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.”

The King of Heaven became a helpless little baby. The Lord of Lords who ruled creation had to rely on his mother and have his diaper changed. He became the lowest of the low for us because he loved us.

1 John 3:16 says “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

Let’s take that verse to heart. Because Jesus gave it all for us, we shouldn’t just sit there and appreciate his love. We should do the same as Christ by giving up ourselves for other people. It could be as easy as running an errand for a senior or shovelling someone’s driveway. The most valuable thing we can give to someone is our time and attention.

This Christmas as we give gifts to other people, let’s pause and reflect on the greatest gift of love that was ever given: Jesus Christ. But don’t just keep that wonderful gift to yourself. Give it away!

If you want to learn more about God’s love I suggest you read the Christmas story in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. You could also read 1 John which is a book that specifically talks about God’s love.

Keep walking in faith my friends,

Sarah