I never liked getting a spanking. I deserved every one I got, but I didn’t like them. But limits were set and when I decided to ignore them, I got into trouble. It wasn’t just the pain I disliked, but the embarrassment and shame, too. You could say that I suffered. The dictionary defines suffering as enduring pain or distress, or tolerating something for a time.

The Bible says that Jesus suffered. He felt the pain and embarrassment of people saying that He deserved to die. They spit on Him! YUCK! How awful that must be! They blindfolded Him so He might become disoriented and perhaps fall. They struck Him with their fists. Already blindfolded, He couldn’t even see what was coming. After all this, the guards took Him and beat Him. The first serving of suffering was not enough, another set of guys decided He needed more… they put a ‘royal’ robe on Him and pushed a crown of thorns into His head.

No one would want to think any of this would happen to someone they knew. Oh, wait, it did! And you DO know Him! Our precious Jesus, that loved us so much, He took this suffering. Not because He deserved it, but because we did.

Mark 14:64b-65: “They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards took him and beat him.”

Author: Angie Reeves

“Oh, I can’t wait for you to get here,” I said over and over to Bob, my husband of 34 years. Since I resigned from my seven-year Minister of Christian Education church staff position a few months ago, I have been working an out-of-town temporary corporate position while Bob works from home. Bob and I got intentional in planning our weekends so that our time together could be better in quality even though less in quantity. Bob and I talk and text often during the weekdays, and look forward to videos of record snowfalls, our cocker spaniel’s new haircut, home projects, etc. We meet most weekends outside of Nashville, Tennessee, at our daughter and son-in-law’s home, and play with our six-year-old grandson while they go on Saturday night dates. We all go to church together on Sunday mornings, and then enjoy a family meal. Bob and I have our own date time on Sunday afternoons before we drive back to our respective cities. I don’t often get to see our adult son, Josh, but do enjoy talking and texting with him every day or so. Many years ago, I could not stand being apart from my husband for more than eight days, but for now, Bob and I are comfortable. God has made it very clear that He is taking care of us as a couple, no matter the distance between us right now, and we look to Him for His guidance and the peace that comes from that.

It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I learned to put God first in my life, even though I had been a Christian for many years. I had gone to church, read the Word, prayed, and taught Sunday School, but I really missed the mark by putting my children before my husband, and my husband before my Lord. My life radically changed once I realized how spiritually dysfunctional I had been living, and actively took steps to change. I began to spend time with ladies that loved Jesus in a demonstrative way that I had not yet experienced. One morning was very special when we gathered and took turns calling out the names of Jesus, such as Beautiful One, my Bridegroom, the Lamb of God, my Redeemer, my Teacher, and many more. The Holy Spirit’s presence fell on that room like I had never experienced to that point, and the love that flowed between us was none other than our shared love for Jesus in and through the Holy Spirit.

I now talk to Jesus in an entirely different way than I did years ago. I tell Him how much He means to me, and how much I love Him. I thank Him for simple things that happen in my life, knowing that He cares for me. I thank Him for the complex things He’s done to show His love for me (and you) by dealing with worldly sin and spiritual oppression. I tell Him how much God’s forgiveness and mercy means to me. And, most importantly, I thank Him for giving His life for me (and you) on the cross and for assuring my eternal life in Heaven with His defeat over the grave. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without Him, the Lover of my soul.

Author: Sandy McCutcheon

When I was growing up, I often watched a Saturday TV show called This Is the Life. At the end of the program, a deep, richly resonant bass voice would intone the words of the verse above: "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." I wasn't sure what it meant to have "life more abundantly," but I loved the sound of it. It was obviously something good, something that I wanted, this abundant life.

What DOES it mean to have a more abundant life? Does it mean having more power? More money, more cars, more jewels and clothes ─ more stuff? That's apparently what some folks think because so many of them spend their time trying to amass more and more and more...but that's not the answer. If power or money or things could make us happy, there would be no need to continue amassing more and more. There would be some point when we'd say, "Ahhh, now I have enough stuff. Now I'm happy." Certainly, God's purpose in sacrificing His Son was not so you and I could have lots of power or material goods. So the abundant life must be something else.

Maybe "abundant life" means having the love and recognition of more and mightier people – that is, more adulation...but no, that's not it either. If it were, a day would come when we could say, "Yes! I've finally made it! I have all the people love and fame and hero-worship-of-me that I need. Now I am content." Instead, people who seek completion through their own fame find that stardom is brief and the fall from on high is swift and painful. And those who pin their hopes on the love of people often find that human love is only temporary.

So what does Jesus mean when He says His purpose in coming to earth is to give us life in abundance? He was born so that He could die. His purpose was to experience human life and then, by assuming all our evil and sin and dying in our place, to provide forgiveness and eternal life for us. Aha! We have the answer. FORGIVENESS is the answer! Forgiveness is the difference between merely being alive and living the abundant life.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your perfect gift. Thank you for the opportunity to live abundantly, basking in Your love and forgiveness for eternity.

Author: Kay Bradburn

To wonder at God’s love, to evaluate its boundlessness, to meditate on this springboard for all of God’s wonderful gifts… is purely overwhelming. This wonder ties all seasons together - God’s love in giving us Jesus, celebrated at Christmas. The love Jesus owned that had driven Him to His death for us. The light of His love that shines through all believers is our unifying mark!

There have been books, devotionals, songs, poems, letters and plays written about God’s unfailing love. Human love, however, is confusing, misplaced and even used as leverage in relationships. Our “love” can be sold cheaper than dirt and can be uglier than sin. Without God, we don’t know true love. His love is the pure love that drives all goodness.

We all know John 3:16 and how much He loved us to send His only son. But do we really meditate on it? Let’s spend some time in the Word looking up scripture on the Wonder of God’s Love.

There are 697 times the word “love” is mentioned in the Bible (NIV). 2 John 1:5-6: “And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.”

We may wonder at God’s love, but we don’t have to wonder about what to do with it! He has written down everything for our convenience and repeated the important parts.

TAG Author

Who knows you best? Maybe it’s your parents, your spouse, your best friend, your sibling, or your child. Are you ever amazed that they know so many of your faults, yet still love you? Do you think they would still love you if they new every single one of your faults and every thought that has ever run through your head?

No doubt, that would have an effect on one’s relationships. But there is someone who’s seen it all, and isn’t phased by anything we’ve done. God our Father knows everything we think and do and loves us, anyway. Not only does He continue to love us, He actually wipes out our sin. He soaks them out in His laundry with the ultimate stain remover, Jesus. They are no more. God is the epitome of grace – giving infinite love that is completely undeserved. He’s looked at all the facts laid out before Him about us and He decided to forgive us through his Son, Jesus.

He knows us best - and loves us, anyway.

Author: Heather Roberts

Can you imagine loving someone so much that you'd literally give your life for them? Can you imagine loving people so much that you'd go around from place to place, healing people, casting out demons, and feeding the multitudes?

This is what Jesus did. Jesus gave up His life for us because He loved us so much and wanted us to have eternal life with Him and our Father in heaven. He healed the sick, cast out demons, fed the people - that all might see the glory of God, through Him.

I don't imagine that we will ever truly understand this kind of love; at least, not until it's time for us to leave this temporary dwelling to spend eternity with Him. But I'm sure glad He loves me!

John 3:15: “In order that everyone who believes in Him (who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him) may not perish, but have eternal life and (actually) live forever!”

Author: Denise Dulaney

A word often used to describe deep love is ‘unconditional.’ We love our children unconditionally. Regardless of what life may do to them, or what their choices may be, we will love them.

God’s love is like that – unconditional. Where we have that for our children, He has it for everyone. I mean EVERYone. The pitiful, the unshaven, the odorous, the wealthy, the beautiful, whoever. Peter tells us in Acts that God is not a respecter of persons. He does not care about anything but YOU, your Spirit and your soul. He does not care about how you look or where you are from. It’s easy for us to say that we love everyone, but we would all have a limit, somewhere. With God, there is no limit.

Another awesome fact about God’s love is that nothing can separate us from it. This means nothing that we do, or say, or think, can separate us from that great love. He is always forgiving and always has His arms open wide for us.

His love is so deep, so wide, so high, that He gave His Son for us. His Son had to carry all our ugliness to the cross and bear it upon His shoulders. Then He had to turn His back on His Son, so that His plan of redemption could happen.

Romans 8:39: “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now that is love.

Author: Angie Reeves

I grew up in a era when parents weren’t afraid to spank their children, either with their open palms or a belt, which I remember hiding under the sofa, hoping neither of my parents would look there when they felt the urge to discipline me. Never happened – “Bring me the belt, right now!” didn’t demand an answer or an excuse, just an action. Maybe in slow motion, but action, nevertheless.

Having vowed to never be like my parents and never to spank my children, I have since become one of those species and have appreciated my parents’ efforts to keep me and my siblings on the right path while growing up. I have also learned, quite quickly after walking through the door of parenthood, that discipline is something we do for our children, not necessarily to them, because we can see what will happen if they don’t have those boundaries. Believe me, a swat to the bottom immediately after the wrong action is worth not seeing your child hauled away in the back of a police car down the road (no pun intended).

God’s love for us is like that of a parent, too. He sees us as we are – sinful, ready to get off track, neglectful of Him – and He wants to bring us back. The Bible shows many examples of people gone wrong, and even more wrong, and while He metes out punishment and “turns His face away,” it’s not because He hates us, but because He loves us. Not an easy concept as a child to understand; not always an easy place to be as an adult, but the alternative is something far worse.

Discipline, love and compassion. What a trio of emotions and actions! “I turned my face away from you for a little while,” how dark life is without His face shining on us! “'But with everlasting LOVE, I will have COMPASSION on you,' says the Lord, your Redeemer."

He said that. He loves us. What a wonder is our God.

Author: Judy Burhans

A popular craft item used by churches for many years is the WWJD keychain, bracelet or necklace. It is often made with a thin strip of leather and four beads lettered W, W, J, and D. The instructions are simple: Slip a “W” bead onto the leather a little past mid-way and tie a knot on both sides of the bead to keep it in place. The next three beads are added in W-J-D order and secured by knots same as the first bead. Tie the bracelet, lock the clasp, or add some keys and the item is complete. No matter the style, the intent of the WWJD item was to remind us to pause and think “What Would Jesus Do” in any given situation.

I was Minister of Christian Education at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Huntsville, Alabama for seven years, and never once used a WWJD craft or devotion. I prefer to think of WWJD as “We’re Why Jesus Died” rather than “What Would Jesus Do?” Was Jesus a man that lived a perfect life in an imperfect world? Absolutely, but many major religions of the world teach about their prophets in much the same way with Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, etc. Does copying Jesus’ life bring about my salvation? After all, what’s so different about my Jesus?

In my humble opinion, I think we need to focus more on the purpose for which Jesus was sent here in the first place. Since the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve freely chose to step outside of God’s perfect plan for mankind, sin has separated us from the type relationship God planned with us. God loved us, His creation that was made in His own image, so much that He formed the perfect plan by sending Jesus, His Son, to form a bridge over the great divide of sin. This bridge (Jesus) once again opened a way for us to be in eternal relationship with God. Jesus followed God’s will in that He took our sins (yours, mine – past, present, future) on Himself and therefore became separated from His Father. With the weight of our sins, He died on the cross after saying, “Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?” But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus defeated death and sin by rising from the dead after three days, and through Him we can also defeat death and sin. And, when Jesus ascended back into the heavens to sit at the right hand of God the Father, we were given the Holy Spirit to daily direct, encourage, and comfort us in God’s plan for our life in Jesus.

So, the next time WWJD flashes at us from a necklace or bumper sticker, let’s not just think “What Would Jesus Do?” and go about our business. Let’s ponder “We’re Why Jesus Died” and share the salvation story with others – maybe as close as our family and friends. John 3:16-18 (New American Standard): "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Author: Sandy McCutcheon

In the dark of night, you’re strolling through the garden, lit only by the moon and the stars. Ahead you see some kind of lump on the ground…What is that? A boulder? A shadow? A bush? Drawing closer, you see the dark shape move. It’s a man, and he seems to be in great distress!

Not sure what might be going on, you stay in the shadows, watching. As you stand there, the man throws himself face down onto the ground. Then, after a bit, he lifts his head, and the moonlight shows you his tear-streaked face.

The night sounds are split by moans, and you realize that the man is speaking, but there’s no one there but you, and he hasn’t noticed you. Who’s he talking to, and what’s this that he’s saying? Something about a cup?

Wait a minute! You recognize this man…it’s the Galilean, the one who, just days ago, you saw riding into town on a donkey. People were cheering him and shouting “Hosanna!” The talk in the crowd was that this man Jesus is the Jews’ long-awaited king. Well, he doesn’t look much like a king right now.

Drawing closer, you notice that his robe is filthy from his lying in the dirt. His hair hangs limp and wet with perspiration, and the sweat on his face is an odd dark color. What is that? Is it blood?! What can be wrong with this man? Obviously, he’s in agony. Is he sick? Maybe you shouldn’t get too close. You certainly don’t want to catch whatever he has…and besides, whatever is wrong with him, it’s not easy to watch, and you’d just rather not get involved. So you withdraw farther into the shadows and silently you slip away….

Hmm…that’s sort of how we are sometimes when it comes to the “suffering” part of the Easter story, I think. Intellectually, we know that Jesus suffered, but we shy away from looking at that suffering head on. The Mel Gibson movie The Passion of the Christ that came out several years ago portrayed Jesus’ suffering quite graphically, and many people who watched that movie were profoundly affected by it. Perhaps for the first time, many viewers thought about the horror of Jesus’ suffering and death.

From the anticipation of what was to come, to the reality of the betrayals and beatings and the ultimate agony of death on the cross ─ Jesus, God’s own Son, took upon His body and soul the entire load of sin and evil from all mankind…Oh, yes, he suffered!

His agony and death were certainly not a pretty sight, and yet, through them, we have forgiveness, the most beautiful gift ever given.

And the wonder is this: He did it all for you and for me.

Author: Kay Bradburn