10 Verses To Prepare Your Heart For Easter

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10 Verses To Prepare Your Heart For Easter

I love Easter because of all that it means for believers. If Jesus had never risen from the dead, we would have no hope (see 1 Corinthians 15:14). Easter, or rather Resurrection Sunday, holds such promise for those who are trusting in Christ’s finished work on the cross. As with many things in life, though, it’s easy to get caught up in the small things around the Easter season and to feel like we haven’t adequately spent time pondering all that Jesus has done for us.

I discovered that I needed a list of Easter verses to help me keep my heart in the right place as this amazing holiday approaches. As I started researching the best Scriptures for Easter, I realized like never before just how many are applicable to this beautiful season!

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Why and How to Write Out the Gospel In Your Own Words

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Why and How to Write Out the Gospel In Your Own Words

Have you ever written out the Gospel in your own words?

I have to admit that, until last week, I hadn’t ever done this exercise. While I’ve written out my testimony before, I’d never even considered jotting down the story of the Good News as I would share it with others.

But my Bible study group challenged me to try this exercise, so I completed the assignment. And oh my, was I amazed by the wealth of spiritual truths I learned during the process!

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Why the Gospel Is Vital to Easter

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Why the Gospel Is Vital to Easter

At first, I wasn’t sure what about that statement bothered me, but I knew immediately that something about it was incorrect.

And then it hit me.

Christianity didn’t start with Jesus’ coming to Earth around 4 BC (the date typically assigned to His birth).

No, Christianity is as old as the Earth itself, founded by God from the very beginning.

The Gospel has been woven through the pages of history, etched on mankind’s heart by a loving Heavenly Father (see Revelation 13:8; Ecclesiastes 3:11). And understanding the Gospel is pivotal to understanding the Easter season and everything it celebrates.

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How to Preach Truth to Yourself During A Hallway

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How to Preach Truth to Yourself During A Hallway

“How are things going?” I asked a friend who was walking through a very dark hallway.

“I’m surviving because I’m preaching truth to myself during this valley,” she replied.

Her response both encouraged and challenged me. I was thrilled to hear that she was taking measures to find her hope in the Lord, but I was also convicted about the way I handle my own struggles. When I’m hurting, how often do I forget to remind myself of the truths in God’s Word? Do I even know how to preach truth to myself?

Maybe you’ve wondered the same things. You know you should be dwelling on God’s faithfulness and preaching truth to yourself, but how do you go about doing it?

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What a Passover Meal Taught Me About Perfection and Grace

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For the past several years, Jon and I have tried to put together a Passover meal of sorts for the spark plugs.  Each year varies slightly, but our goal is to serve grape juice, unleavened bread, and lamb while we have the kids take turns reading various Scripture passages that pertain to Passover and the Last Supper.  

This is a great way to help everyone connect the Old Testament sacrificial system with Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the Cross.  

This year, we had many of the traditional dishes:  barbecued lamb, boiled eggs, bitter herbs with salt water, carbonated grape juice.  But while the boiled eggs turned out perfectly, the gluten-free unleavened bread I tried to make flopped royally.

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Contemplating the Curtain

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Contemplating the Curtain

What about Easter is most meaningful to you?

It’s been another tough week for us (you’d think I’d be getting used to this by now).  I’d really wanted to spend a lot of this week preparing the spark plugs for Resurrection Sunday, but between injury and illness (thankfully non-contagious this time!), it just didn’t happen.  We did get to read aloud about Jesus’ betrayal and trial in Luke, and I’ve done some thinking on my own.  As I’ve contemplated Christ’s death and resurrection in light of these hardships, my thoughts keep coming back to the tabernacle veil.

In the Old Testament, a thick curtain or veil separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple.  Now, when I think of my wedding veil – a light, transparent piece of netting – it doesn’t do justice to the temple veil described in the Bible.  According to this author’s description, it’s believed that the temple veil was about 4″ thick and unable to be torn by human effort.

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