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Hear the devotional right here. http://bit.ly/2OzKGNp
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:14-21 NIV)
Happy Monday to you dear ConCafe Family! And may the cobwebs of the first work day for many be swept away by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in you. God needs us to have us bright-eyed and bushy tailed for His work! As I shared with you in special emails, please continue to pray for all who battle Covid, especially those whose names we have lifted up; Gina and Nellie Rosales, our nieces from Mission, TX,. and Officer Elijah Neely, an Austin police officer who is in a medically-induced coma in Austin. May our prayers bring healing from the Lord and comfort for their families.
The journey of Lent which takes us to the victory we will soon celebrate on Easter, has been one with a huge shadow cast on it. It is the shadow of the Cross, which we can liken to David's exclamation, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," meaning parts of our life have reminders of the finality of human life; loved ones we have lost, the personal fear many have towards their own death; scrapes with death, and even near-death experiences for some. In this famous encounter with a well-connected and influential Pharisee, who so wanted to believe he ventured in the cover of darkness to meet with Jesus, to ask Him about Who He truly was, and Jesus told this man, Nicodemus, the truth about Himself and His way, leading to death, and the why behind that death. In the passage from Exodus, which is referred to in verse 14, Jesus speaks of that which overcomes any shadow, and that is the light and love of God towards life! Even though Jesus knew His painful suffering would serve an eternal purpose for all people who sought it, He needed to share these words with them.
Jesus also shared what many people call their favorite verse, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." It is still as powerful now as it was the night Jesus uttered those words to Nick. And the following verses are just as strong, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
The Lenten Journey turns bright when we allow all that God has offered to us through His Son Jesus to be real and personal in our lives. It is a defining moment of faith to receive, believe, and share that we belong to God because of God's love given to us. We need that to help us defeat the doubt, the weight of our guilt and sin, the stress of anxiety and worry; and to say, "I'm not alone, God is with me, and together we will defeat all that comes against us!" And that will be true. Friends, others may be looking towards us even now in hopes of finding a glimmer of hope for themselves; and if we allow it to shine through, it will bring blessing to them, and to God's work. Let's make defeating the devil a priority; his message stinks, no, reeks of death and hopelessness; we must be the sweet aroma of life to all who need it.
PRAYER: Loving Father, lift our spirits high above all that is weighing us down; and lead us on paths of righteousness for Thy name's sake. May we see beyond the shadows to the light that shines brightly above all things; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a shadow-buster today in someone's life!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
