Father,
We rejoice that You are the God who raises the dead. You are the God who brings about such dark situations but then uses them for unimaginable good. You are the all-wise and all-powerful God. And You have proved this in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Has there ever been a darker day than that day when those who were evil, both human and demonic, had their way with Jesus, Your promised Anointed One. Beaten, scourged, crucified. How the mockers rejoiced. They thought that they had won. And for a time, it looked as if they had won. Jesus, Your champion, was lying dead in a tomb. What could He do now?
But this was simply a part of Your surprising plan. And on the third day, the beauty of that plan was revealed. Jesus was raised from the dead. Amazing! In this He accomplished redemption for Your people. Your champion has defeated His opponents. He has succeeded in what You called Him to do. You used the wicked and their evil to produce something astounding. And now because of what happened with Jesus, it's just a matter of time until You complete Your plan for the conquest of the world by the Gospel. For this we praise You, Father.
We also praise You, Father, because You still use the wicked and their evil to produce astounding things. And it is so good for us to know this. We find ourselves hounded by evil. And there are days when evil seems to be doing a great job of winning the battles.
Those are the times when we become discouraged and are even tempted to give up the fight. But if we do that, it's only because we forget who You are and how You plan and how You fulfill Your plan. We forget how You brought such good out of evil in the resurrection of Jesus.
Father, we will never have to deal with the kind of evil that Jesus experienced on the Cross. But we do experience evil. When we do, help us to remember how You still use evil to bring about good. You still raise the dead. Help us to cling to this so that we will continue to hope in Your wise power until the day of our own resurrection.
Father, though evil seems so strong at times, it will never be as strong as You. And while Satan is a crafty opponent, he will never be as wise as You. Remind us of these things so that we will live well and make You look as good as You really are. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
We rejoice that You are the God who raises the dead. You are the God who brings about such dark situations but then uses them for unimaginable good. You are the all-wise and all-powerful God. And You have proved this in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Has there ever been a darker day than that day when those who were evil, both human and demonic, had their way with Jesus, Your promised Anointed One. Beaten, scourged, crucified. How the mockers rejoiced. They thought that they had won. And for a time, it looked as if they had won. Jesus, Your champion, was lying dead in a tomb. What could He do now?
But this was simply a part of Your surprising plan. And on the third day, the beauty of that plan was revealed. Jesus was raised from the dead. Amazing! In this He accomplished redemption for Your people. Your champion has defeated His opponents. He has succeeded in what You called Him to do. You used the wicked and their evil to produce something astounding. And now because of what happened with Jesus, it's just a matter of time until You complete Your plan for the conquest of the world by the Gospel. For this we praise You, Father.
We also praise You, Father, because You still use the wicked and their evil to produce astounding things. And it is so good for us to know this. We find ourselves hounded by evil. And there are days when evil seems to be doing a great job of winning the battles.
Those are the times when we become discouraged and are even tempted to give up the fight. But if we do that, it's only because we forget who You are and how You plan and how You fulfill Your plan. We forget how You brought such good out of evil in the resurrection of Jesus.
Father, we will never have to deal with the kind of evil that Jesus experienced on the Cross. But we do experience evil. When we do, help us to remember how You still use evil to bring about good. You still raise the dead. Help us to cling to this so that we will continue to hope in Your wise power until the day of our own resurrection.
Father, though evil seems so strong at times, it will never be as strong as You. And while Satan is a crafty opponent, he will never be as wise as You. Remind us of these things so that we will live well and make You look as good as You really are. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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