This picture of God, mistaken though it is, nonetheless captures the view of many people still today whom we might call “cultural Christians.” Folks like these have a passing acquaintance with Christianity and perhaps a tie to the church through a pious parent or godly grandparent, but no real grasp of the Holy Scriptures or of what our Lord Jesus truly taught.

Sadly, this picture of God has sometimes poisoned the original intent of potentially powerful customs in the church. Take Lent, for instance. We can tell what our culture thinks about it by watching the excesses of Mardi Gras. The drunkenness and other debauchery, lasting in some places for weeks, seems to say something like this: “Let’s get in all the sin we can before Lent arrives and God’s angry fist descends to destroy our fun.”

While some Christians observe Lent and others do not, we all do well to prepare our hearts for the glorious celebration of our Savior’s resurrection at Easter. Such preparation goes much deeper than a superficial decision to “give up chocolate” for six weeks. The early Christian church used the 40 days before Easter to rehearse the key teachings of Christ and all he has done to rescue us from sin and death. New believers were instructed in the faith; more mature believers made use of this time of preparation to review the basics of Christianity they had come to confess as truth. 

Think of it this way: Medical doctors often treat patients with a newly diagnosed chronic illness. High blood pressure, for instance. After a week or two on medication, the patient’s symptoms begin to fade away. Some patients interpret this as a miraculous cure —and stop taking the medicine. The symptoms come roaring back, sometimes with disastrous results. Call it denial. Call it a failure to communicate. Call it what you will, the doctor shakes her head and the patient bears the consequences.

The spiritual version of this scenario may occur even more often. Pastors and other Christian workers face it all the time. The Holy Spirit leads a person to recognize her sin and her need for the salvation Jesus has won for us. She relies fully on the blood of Christ shed for us on his cross. True peace cascades into this believer’s heart and life.

Yet after a week or two, a month or two, life seeps slowly back into a routine, a kind of “new normal.” Satan subtly slips the key truths of repentance and faith out from her field of awareness. She—or should I say we, for it happens to all of us—fail to notice because we’re focusing on other areas of our busy lives. Without realizing it, we’ve stumbled back under the Law, back under the bondage of trying and of trying harder to please God.

Instead of recognizing the truth that in Christ, God is already pleased with us, we labor under what St. Paul calls in Galatians 3 the “foolishness” of works (vv. 2–3), the “curse of the law” (vv. 10–14). At heart, this curse involves primarily the burden of shouldering the doleful “have-tos,” “shoulds,” and “musts” that Satan hangs over our heads like an eternal sword of Damocles.

•  In Christ and his cross, God is already pleased with us—with you! He takes as much pleasure in you right this moment as he will on that day he welcomes you into his eternal presence in the heavenly home. His love is an everlasting love that began in eternity past and will never change (Jeremiah 31:3; Malachi 3:6; Ephesians 1:3–4).
• In Christ and his cross, your sins are gone. They have disappeared into the sea of God’s forgetfulness (Micah 7:19). God has removed them as far from you as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

 Our culture, of course, fails to understand this kind of love and forgiveness. Even our own minds boggle at it sometimes. Consider, for example, Romans 4:5: 

To the [person] who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness (NIV, emphasis added).

 God justifies the wicked! Think of it! If we were good, we wouldn’t need a Savior! As we prepare for Easter, we do so remembering how much we truly need Jesus. We go back to the basic truths of sin and salvation. We recall that, though we once slaved for sin and Satan, we do so no longer. We instead revel in the deep, deep love of Jesus who died for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NIV).

 And we exercise the freedom that’s ours in Christ for all it’s worth! Our heavenly Father wants our spiritual walk to be the exciting, joy-filled adventure of being who we are in Christ. We no longer have to do good works to earn our salvation. Instead, we get to! We can! We want to! (And for those times when our sinful nature tempts us not to want to, we have the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit working in us to renovate our desires.) Only the children of God can understand the joy of the psalmist:

I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free (Psalm 119:32 NIV).

Like children at 3:30 pm on the last day of school as summer vacation begins, we race down the steps and out the front door, free from assignments and term papers and the tardy bell. We get to do what we want. And what we want to do is to run in the path of Christlikeness, because at the cross, our Lord Jesus has set our hearts free.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to copy this devotion for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #041008. © 2008 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this devotion is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

As a CSR for CTA, I recently talked with pastor who had just read, Grieving with Hope . . . Leaning on Jesus. He passed it on—to a family grieving the loss of a child several years ago. The family came back a few days later to say, in essence, “We so wish we had read this at the time of our child’s death!”

Grief seldom evaporates the day after the funeral! Many people continue to grieve for months and even years. Experts in grief tell us that individuals each grieve in their own way, following their own timetable.

Do you have friends who struggle with grief? When you act in faith, our Savior will step in to care for those whose lives you touch. It’s never too late to bring the hope of Jesus to those who are grieving.

Editor’s Note: CTA’s Grieving with Hope . . . Leaning on Jesus has become a best-seller in only a few months! It costs much less than most sympathy cards and it comes with an envelop for easy mailing.  The Christ-centered message coupled with four-color, eye-striking photos, make it a truly valuable ministry tool! Churches, Stephen Ministers, chaplains, and others will want to buy a case to have on hand.

As much as we need courage, our Lord wants to give it to us. Courage is a virtue—one that comes to us as a gift from our Savior. He wants to pour courage into to us throughout life. That gift makes it possible for us to give ourselves to him and trust in him in body, mind, and spirit. 

As we face life’s difficulties, we can remember those who came before us. This past weekend in many liturgical churches God’s people observed “All Saints Day.” Among other thing, it reminds us that no generation was without its trials and sufferings, its ordeals and struggles. We thank God for our parents and for Christians in generations before them who relied on him, courageously raising their families, building our schools and churches, and inspiring us in our generation to take a stand for what is good, true, and beautiful. 

We “bend our knee before the Lord who made us” (Psalm 95:6). And we ask for his gift of courage.

Different people process information differently. In general, I need to write what I’m thinking before I get a clear grasp on most things. My prayer life is no different. How about you?

In love for our Lord, in obedience to his command and trusting in his promises, we assault the throne day by day. Often hour by hour or minute by minute! Have you ever tried writing some of those prayers instead of speaking them? For example:

• A chart with requests and the dates our Savior answered them is helpful in building confidence.
• A sentence or two of praise in response to the Scripture chapter you just read can bring thoughts together in encouraging ways.
• A paragraph of reflection can clarify sins that need to be confessed and forgiven; the pardon and peace of Jesus’ cross will then provide the insight and power to turn from them.

Today is the National Day of Prayer, but it’s certainly not the only day God’s people pray! If this aspect of your walk with Christ could use a lift, buy a small notebook or set up a section of your computer and see if writing might help. Or consider the various prayer journals CTA offers.

God bless you as you pray today–and every day!

Many churches use these words at the conclusion of their worship service. Thinking more deeply about the passage, phrase by phrase, can make that part of the worship service even more stirring. Be Blessed provides refreshment and renewal—the perfect gift for any woman on Mother’s Day.

As a free gift to you, we also provide a “Be Blessed” Ministry Message^SM, a one-page presentation devotion you’re welcome to use when you give these gifts to the women in your church. The devotion is also available in Spanish.

Just this week, our church bid on a 15-passenger van through an auction. We won the bid! The dealership that was helping us sent a transport truck to the middle of Ohio to bring our van back to the middle of Illinois.

Then I received a call from the salesman. He told me the other dealership had sold our van!! We had been looking for months, and I had thought our hunt was over. My mind was thinking some not so Christian thoughts, but faith says, “God allowed this for a reason. Maybe there was something wrong with that van that would have caused us problems.”

Faith trusts God at every turn of life, even when our heart doesn’t want to. I am thankful for God’s grace that forgives our failures in faith and enables us to trust him, even in life’s disappointments. I am thankful that God’s promises are not dependant upon how I feel. Faith is not an emotion; it is a decision. Let me encourage you to walk in faith today. God is in control. Nothing takes him by surprise!

I believe it is important to have visible reminders that help us remember we can depend upon our invisible God. One such tool is available from CTA–the Mustard Seed pewter pocket coin. Keep it with you. When you reach into your pocket and feel that coin, say in your heart, “I’m going to walk by faith. My God is in control.”

Please don’t think I’ve lost my way or that I’m ready to abandon my faith. My walk with the Lord is more real than ever; indeed, I think I’ve grown closer to Him during this season of struggle.

But stuff happens. The loss of a son to suicide. Distance with a grieving spouse. Fathering two head-strong teenage daughters. The financial pressures of being the lone breadwinner.

In such times, any sign that God knows and God cares is a welcome relief. Strangely, I have found that relief in recent days from an air freshener. That’s right, an air freshener from CTA that hangs from the rear-view mirror in my Buick.

The Lighthouse Car Air Freshener has been a surprising reminder – to both my nose and eyes – of God’s blessings in my life. Every time I get in my car, the fresh “ocean” scent and the visually striking lighthouse let me know that my Savior is bigger than any problem I face and that He will guide me through the darkest nights of my life.

Who would have thought an air freshener could do that?

“I recently ordered copies of “Facing Illness with Hope” and “Grieving with Hope” from CTA. I shared a copy of “Grieving with Hope” with a recent widow from our church. I knew she needed encouragement as she had not returned to church since her husband died several months ago.

She told me it was just too hard to think of going alone. I mailed the booklet trusting that God would use it to lift her spirits. Several days later she called to thank me for the booklet and to tell me how much it has meant to her. She reads it over and over and finds it provides her with a much needed boost of hope and confidence in the Lord’s provision for her. She has marked her favorite pages and prayers and turns to them first thing each morning and night. She even commented on the beautiful photos that accompany each page. She is ordering copies of “Grieving with Hope” so she can share them with the members of her grief support group.

Best of all, she has been able to return to the fellowship of her church family due, at least in part, to the encouragement and gentle reminders of God’s love for her in this book. Thank-you, Rev. Wesemann, for allowing God to use you in such a meaningful way. And thanks to CTA for providing this resource for us!”

- Cindy S., Missouri