Good Friday morning! I don't have any good news for you. I have no words of wisdom, no smattering of encouragement, or platitudes of patience. Not one of my words can help you get through the day or make the sun shine a little brighter to your eyes. I am a fallen sinner in a world of darkness, just like you. There is another who does have words of hope and salvation. A man like us and yet unlike us who brought words of life and grace. He called himself the Son of Man, but we know him as the Son of God. This man freely admitted to equality with God, often inciting the self-righteous anger of those near him. This man refused to lift a finger or a word in his own defense when the authorities came to arrest and crucify him. Yet, this man also rose out of a stone-cold and stone-sealed tomb into a new dawn for all of those who will believe. We know this man as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
My words will not save anyone, but the words of Christ are to a believing heart the very words of eternal life. My words of compassion, encouragement, and faith can only grow when Jesus, the True Vine, sends his Word through me. I can write words of comfort, but the true comfort comes from the Spirit of God sent to us by Jesus. I can repeat the scriptures and even attempt to explain those words with commentary, but the words came from His Word first and any understanding of mine comes from His Spirit. Some days I start the devotional full of energy to write a bang up paragraph or two of love and encouragement, but if Jesus does not provide then no provision will happen.
We are but conduits for the Holy Spirit of Christ. We may be lighthouses for Christ, but He provides the power and the ability to shine. We may show the cross to the world, but He died on it. We may show our love to each other, but His love gave us that opportunity. We may have gifts of the Spirit to share, but God first gave us those gifts. We may feel the temptation to peel back our shirt to show a big "SC" for Super Christian emblazoned upon a costume over a body of strength. But our chest is not invulnerable, our words are not those of life, our strength is but a weakness. Only when we come to Jesus are we given the full armor of God to protect that chest; the Word of God that makes our words ring true, and the faith that can move the mountains our strength is far too weak to budge. I don't have the answers; you don't have the answers; but Jesus has the very Words of Life.
Praise God for the new day!
Bucky
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