Today's writing by Jan Andersen entitled "FICKLE FRIENDS" is about the change in the people's attitudes from the glorious entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the cries of "Crucify him!" on Good Friday. She relates this to our own lives and how we can learn to deal with fickle friends.
Praying you have a blessed Palm Sunday and Holy Week,
Jan and Corinne
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We've probably all experienced them - fickle friends or acquaintances who in one moment support you and the next thing you know turn on you. Sometimes it is even our own relatives who do it. That can be so annoying, disappointing, even devastating. Our response can range from mild irritation to furious anger. It can be very hard to trust that person again, or other people for that matter.
Our God certainly understands what it is like to have fickle friends. As Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we celebrate today as Palm Sunday, the people lining the streets showed him great honor and praise. Yet less than a week later, they were calling for him to be hung on a cross.
Mark 11:8-10 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Mark 15:12-14 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
The response of our Savior was to go willingly to the cross and to ask the Father to forgive those who sent him there, "for they know not what they do." We sin daily, and often do things that we don't even realize are not in line with God's will. At other times we may feel like there are things in our past for which we can't possibly be forgiven. With each wrong we commit, it is as though we ourselves hammer the nails into his flesh that crucified him, for that is the price for our sins and fickle faith. We continue to turn to him, and then turn against him over and over. We know that while hanging there on the cross, he forgave those who called for his death and those who hammered the nails into his hands and feet. In the same way he also forgives every possible wrong thing that we do as we repent in faith. May we learn to do the same for those in our lives who are fickle. Praise God for his patience and mercy to forgive us, his fickle friends!
Dear Father in heaven, as we celebrate Palm Sunday and remember the impending change in atmosphere as we head to Good Friday, help us to remain focused on the resurrection to come and the forgiveness you provide through all of this. Thank you for forgiving us when we are fickle about living out our faith. Help us to be good witnesses to others by not being so inconsistent and also by being forgiving to others who are fickle to us, or worse. May we forgive even the seemingly unforgivable, because by doing so we release ourselves, not them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
The song chosen to go with this devotional is "Forgiveness" by Matthew West
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Praying you have a blessed Palm Sunday and Holy Week,
Jan and Corinne
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Today's Devotional:
"FICKLE FRIENDS"
by
Jan Andersen
We've probably all experienced them - fickle friends or acquaintances who in one moment support you and the next thing you know turn on you. Sometimes it is even our own relatives who do it. That can be so annoying, disappointing, even devastating. Our response can range from mild irritation to furious anger. It can be very hard to trust that person again, or other people for that matter.
Our God certainly understands what it is like to have fickle friends. As Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we celebrate today as Palm Sunday, the people lining the streets showed him great honor and praise. Yet less than a week later, they were calling for him to be hung on a cross.
Mark 11:8-10 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”Mark 15:12-14 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
The response of our Savior was to go willingly to the cross and to ask the Father to forgive those who sent him there, "for they know not what they do." We sin daily, and often do things that we don't even realize are not in line with God's will. At other times we may feel like there are things in our past for which we can't possibly be forgiven. With each wrong we commit, it is as though we ourselves hammer the nails into his flesh that crucified him, for that is the price for our sins and fickle faith. We continue to turn to him, and then turn against him over and over. We know that while hanging there on the cross, he forgave those who called for his death and those who hammered the nails into his hands and feet. In the same way he also forgives every possible wrong thing that we do as we repent in faith. May we learn to do the same for those in our lives who are fickle. Praise God for his patience and mercy to forgive us, his fickle friends!
Dear Father in heaven, as we celebrate Palm Sunday and remember the impending change in atmosphere as we head to Good Friday, help us to remain focused on the resurrection to come and the forgiveness you provide through all of this. Thank you for forgiving us when we are fickle about living out our faith. Help us to be good witnesses to others by not being so inconsistent and also by being forgiving to others who are fickle to us, or worse. May we forgive even the seemingly unforgivable, because by doing so we release ourselves, not them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
The song chosen to go with this devotional is "Forgiveness" by Matthew West
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Here is an uplifting graphic
for you to think about.
for you to think about.
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Prayers are lifted up daily for
you by the Devotional Writers
and the Monthly Writing Staff
of Women's Focus Ministries.
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