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The Shocking Truth About You, Me and Barabbas: A Daily DevotionalSample

The Shocking Truth About You, Me and Barabbas: A Daily Devotional

DAY 1 OF 3

LET'S TARRY FOR A WHILE

It’s interesting how quickly Easter passes us by. We eat chocolate, enjoy a long weekend, and that’s about it. Then it’s back to the grind of everyday life.

But when you miss out on Easter, you miss out something that can change your life. So in this booklet, I invite you to take your time this Easter, tarry as they say, and discover what this long holiday weekend is really about. 

No, I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about the thing that Jesus went through: the suffering, the persecution, the beating, the rejection and that death on the cross.

Why did He do it? 

Because you are incredibly special to God – which is what makes you worth dying for. He handcrafted you, He set you free in this amazing universe – and He loves you so much He even gave you a free will, the ability to accept or reject Him.

The problem is we’ve all turned away from Him. At different times, in different ways, we’ve all turned our backs on God. But at the cross, at a time that we now call Easter … God calls us home.

The heart of the message of Easter is the fact that Jesus paid the price of our rejection of God, to open the door for you to a real and exciting and wondrous relationship with your Creator

So tarry for a moment. Let the gravity of God’s love for you sink deep into your heart. 

The longer you stay in this place of awe at the suffering Jesus went through – and the love for you that caused Him to do it – the more powerful the Easter story becomes. 

 

LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS 

  • Be honest with yourself. How does Easter usually play itself out in your life? Is it a quick long weekend, perhaps with a trip to church? Or is the message of Easter the bedrock of your life?
  • How often do you turn your mind to the punishment that you deserve for rejecting God, and the injustice of the fact that Jesus bore that punishment on your behalf?
  • Take another moment to read through John 18:38-19:16. Feel the tension, the hatred, the injustice, the pain. What is God saying to you through His Word?
  • Take some unhurried time to pray, to listen, to pour your heart out to God, to experience deep in your soul this life-changing thing that is Easter.

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Day 2

About this Plan

The Shocking Truth About You, Me and Barabbas: A Daily Devotional

For many, Easter is an excuse to eat chocolate and celebrate a long weekend. But hidden in the familiar story of Jesus’ trial and sacrificial death is a shocking truth that can turn your 21st century life upside down! Join Bible teacher Berni Dyment to really unpack the life-changing story of Jesus – and discover the true gravity of God’s love for you this Easter.

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