Sunday wouldn't have mattered if Friday didn't happen.
In this episode we reflect on the incredible sacrifice that Jesus paid for all of us. We are joined by Mike Schoettle who shares from his "Sacred Steps" devotional series written for TRM staff in the weeks leading up to Easter. Mike's devotionals, steeped in authenticity and reverence, help guide us to a deeper appreciation of the transformative power of Christ's love through His tremendous suffering, and the invitation to an eternal relationship with God that's open to all. Remembering the constancy of God's love, this episode is a reminder that the hope ignited by Easter is not confined to a single Sunday but extends into every moment of our existence.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Sunday wouldn't have mattered if Friday didn't happen.
In this episode we reflect on the incredible sacrifice that Jesus paid for all of us. We are joined by Mike Schoettle who shares from his "Sacred Steps" devotional series written for TRM staff in the weeks leading up to Easter. Mike's devotionals, steeped in authenticity and reverence, help guide us to a deeper appreciation of the transformative power of Christ's love through His tremendous suffering, and the invitation to an eternal relationship with God that's open to all. Remembering the constancy of God's love, this episode is a reminder that the hope ignited by Easter is not confined to a single Sunday but extends into every moment of our existence.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Gracious Heavenly Father. We thank you for this time, god. Thank you for God as we reflect on Easter. Lord and God, just your goodness and your mercies, and your son, god and his sacrifice. I pray for our listeners, god, as they listen to this episode. God, that they would fully be able to grasp and understand the depths of your love In your holy name. We pray Amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, this is Lamanda Broyles, the executive director here at the Topeka Rescue Mission, and we want to welcome you into our community, our mission on this Wednesday, April 3rd 2024. And we are on episode 216, 216. You know, it's pretty amazing. We've had a handful of people tell us that they have not listened to just one or two or three, but that they have listened to all.
Speaker 3:Miriam, what do you think about that? I think that is amazing. I do too. I do too. It kind of increases the pressure on us as well, but for the most part it's just amazing, I know.
Speaker 2:I think that's just so incredible. If this is your first time listening to our community, our mission, we want to welcome you in. It is a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission, but we are focused on what are we doing together as a community, and sometimes those highlights are members of the community, sometimes it's people experiencing homelessness, sometimes it's our own staff, sometimes we have topics that we cover and themes, and other times it is personal testimonies. So come on in. Hopefully you will laugh. We will try to not let you cry, but that happens too, especially when our guest is on. It's never me crying, it's always him, but we'll talk about that in a moment. Um, but, josh, yeah, before we get started, josh, we were kind of having some fun before we started this and there were like some sounds. Can we play one of them?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. What do we got here?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:This one. This one's a good one.
Speaker 2:I mean, I feel like right after we say our community, our mission, like that needs to go that, or you know.
Speaker 3:There we go, yes.
Speaker 2:Um, preloaded on the board. Yeah, but let's you know how we kind of talked about doing that one about Mike? Let's not, but let's go ahead and talk right now. So if I introduce him and I say our special guest today is Mike Schottel, what are we not going to do? Yes, just so you know, schottel, we're not going to do that to you today.
Speaker 4:I understand, but we want to we want to it would have gone really well if we would have done it on Monday, with April Fool's Day.
Speaker 2:I know, womp, womp, womp, that's sad. Anyways, we have so much fun here at the Topeka Rescue Mission and you know we're close, we're friends. But what I think is beautiful about our team and our community is many of us are not just connected in the joyful times, and so there are also just times of brokenness that we all experience. And I'm going to be very honest and put this disclaimer out, that today we are really going to focus on Easter and we want to highlight some things. But one of the things that the Lord really laid on my heart and I'm so, so blessed by Mike Schottel, just being a friend but also just a coworker that's incredible, with a credible heart, and he has written some beautiful devotions leading up to Easter that God has placed on his heart. But one thing that the Lord really spoke clearly to me on is, yes, we have hope moving past the Friday, because we know what happens on Sunday. And, for those of you who may not be familiar with Christianity or maybe new in your faith, what we're referring to is Good Friday, when Christ died on the cross for us. But he rose on Sunday and that's what makes him the only living God and through that sacrifice we had salvation, but what God placed on my heart was, oftentimes we jump straight to the Sunday and although that is beautiful and it's the resurrection and it shows that he is alive and he paid the ultimate sacrifice, sunday would not have mattered if Friday wouldn't have happened. And so, the past several weeks, our team has had some pretty intense devotions, and so, mike, if you can just have a couple of, maybe lines out of one or two of them prepared to read, of just how you have really informed our staff of Jesus's death and what that looked like, what that probably sounded like, that's what we're going to dive into, because our topic really is Easter, but not just the resurrection. That we really dive into. What type of death did Jesus have? And the reason I think that's so important is because any time we think about the fact that a life was given up on our behalf, it's incredible. But then when you think about the type of death he endured, that magnifies the intensity of his love so much. And so, before we dive into all of that, today is known as the day of hope. So I'm going to read this because I think it's just a perfect way to kind of introduce.
Speaker 2:Why do we have hope, and so today, the Day of Hope is held on the first Wednesday in April of every year. It is a day of inspiration and motivation for everyone to wake up to the need to rescue children and adults who are passing through phases of abuse, and remember those abuse can come in all different shapes and sizes, from sickness and traumatic experiences physical, mental, emotional and the primary reason why we observe the Day of Hope is to try to put an end to child abuse and neglect. And there are so many incredible organizations, so many incredible school systems that do so much Think about our medical field, that see things, and so right now, on behalf of the Topeka Rescue Mission, we just want to thank everybody for doing their part to try to bring hope to whatever area, regardless if that is to children, vulnerable populations, people that may be struggling in your workplace, whatever it is. We see you, we see you every day, try to make our part of this world better and we thank you for that. And so we hope that this podcast although there is going to be probably some pretty intense moments, and we are looking forward to what Sunday means and meant it really would not be the right thing if our team, being a team of faith, did not dive into the crucifixion, and so Miriam and Mike Schottel and I were going to kind of walk through Easter and what it means to us and why it's important, why it's important.
Speaker 2:But I've really asked Mike to stay to the facts as much as possible, because sometimes we get so involved in what we think or traditions and those things are not bad but sometimes we really confuse a relationship that was made possible with Christ with religion, and so please know we are not going to talk about denomination, we're not going to talk about what types of worship songs, we're not going to talk about what religion.
Speaker 2:We are focused on Christ, who he was when he was born as a babe, who he was as a boy, as a human, his death and his resurrection and how.
Speaker 2:Now, because of that, what is made possible and spoiler alert what's made possible is that one day we have an option of a different eternity through grace and through mercy. That has nothing to do with merit, and so it doesn't matter right now if you are a CEO or an executive director or you are someone who is staying on the streets barely surviving. Both can be so broken at the same time, but that blood that was shed for us that we're going to dive into now, it was for all of us, for all of us to be forgiven, for all of us to be loved and for all of us to have an opportunity to be with him again one day. So, shaddle, do you want to just kind of walk some of our listeners through? What have devotions been like the past couple of weeks? What have the focuses been? And really, what did you hope would come out of the devotions that you wrote that were explaining Easter?
Speaker 4:So, leading up to everything, probably I don't even think I was in the position I'm in now yet I don't think so you had brought up probably around November. You know, this is kind of what I'm thinking. What were you thinking? I'm like I was already thinking that I'm going to be doing something about the Lenten season, like how much do we significantly know what Christ went through? And sorry, I'm trying to find the notes of everything that I wrote down but I can't find it there it is.
Speaker 4:So, leading up to everything, I kind of wanted to transition, make the devotions something of my own. So we used to call them weekly word that's what they were previously called. But I wanted to do something a little bit more intentional, so I ended up, through prayer, deciding to call them sacred steps, because each of us are in we're in a different level personally in our relationship with the Lord. So we could be on a, we could have been in our walk with the Lord for five years, 15 years, five decades, five months, five days. There's always a step, a next step that we have to take with our relationship with the Lord.
Speaker 4:So that's why I decided to call it Sacred Steps. But then, coming into the Lenten season, I really wanted to focus on what Christ did for us. Really wanted to focus on what Christ did for us and the weight that I felt upon my shoulders the first week just discussing an overview, a simple overview of what Christ did, and then sitting in some of the connection groups and hearing what some of our staff were saying.
Speaker 2:So as he's looking that up. You know, our connection groups are something that we started about a year and a half, two years ago, and Courtney Barr has led that and Cody Bloom and they've just done incredible and it has kind of evolved. And so at one time the connection groups were made up of different people in different departments of TRM. Now it's the same departments and we come together once a month with a focus on some type of devotion, some reminders of trust-based relational intervention strategies that we can help with trauma, de-escalation and learning the brain and research, and then we do prayer, and so that's what Mike is referring to, and part of those monthly connection groups now are diving into the sacred steps that Mike has written.
Speaker 4:So it it was kind of it wasn't shocking. I kind of knew that there were levels of okay, does everybody know exactly what happened on the cross? I mean, as far as the Gospels go for his crucifixion, it says that he was crucified. But if you're not contextually looking into what happened in the crucifixion, you're not fully understanding what happened to him. And as I was kind of unpacking that for our staff at the Hope Center, several of them were like I've just followed him, knowing that he died for my sins, I didn't realize he did that. How much did he actually do?
Speaker 4:So I wrote down what a couple of our staff members had said. One co-worker in my department saidurally I want to look into how significant his passing was and how significant his resurrection was. Miriam, you said I want to know. What does it actually? What does his love actually mean to me? Do I really truly embrace it? Where in my life am I not fully grasping that he loves me and what needs to change because of that? Josh said whether you've been a Christian for two months or your whole life, you will still have questions and you will want to know more about this Jesus. But the one that got me was one of our staff members in the kitchen who has been on this podcast and, with tears going down his face, he just looked at me and he said I just want to know more about Jesus. And I thought, oh God, what are you doing to me? Are you doing to me Whatever this weight of glory is?
Speaker 3:that I have to put in this series.
Speaker 4:Lord it's going to hurt, but I want this to glorify you in every way. And boy did it hurt. So when I do the devotionals, I write it out, I outline it, I write it out, um, as though as I am narrating it, and then, once it is written out, I then audibly record my voice reading what I had written out.
Speaker 4:You know, that's also the way that I proofread it and make sure that there's no errors or anything, but once it is, once that it is um sound and there's no sorry. You could probably hear a truck backing up right now and throwing me off.
Speaker 2:It's all of our programs, we offer transportation to guests, and so that's our shuttle out there bringing people to and from programming.
Speaker 4:So once I know that everything is okay, that it makes sense, that there's no grammatical errors, I record it. And let me tell you week seven when I discussed the crucifixion. Normally it'll take me about 15 minutes tops and they're about seven minute devotionals, but 15 minutes tops because I had to get my rhythm and everything. Week seven took me 48 minutes because it was that hard.
Speaker 2:What was hard about it?
Speaker 4:The research that I put in of how horrible, horrifying but beautiful of a sacrifice he put himself on the cross. It's horrible, but it's why we are here and I am so grateful for it. It's the epitome of what he says to his disciples there is no greater love than this, than one who lays their life down for their friends now do the same. Um it gosh, I call it a holy spirit.
Speaker 2:With two by four moment, that's exactly right so you know, mike, I did not tell you this ahead of time because I knew that it would be know on your mind and I didn't want you to have a chance to say no or pretend to be sick, but I do want you to read that.
Speaker 2:So, if you can pull that devotion up, I have to know in my heart that that listeners really understand that devotion of when we say sacrifice and we say all of these cliche things that we probably often have said in the church Um, sometimes we talk about thorns, sometimes we talk about nails, all of these things but I mean really diving into how you did makes a difference, miriam, before he does that. When we think about God sending his son to die on the cross, for us, that is almost where you can't fathom it. Right, right, right. But what about the person that might be listening right now that says, ok, but I'm not a good person, or I've done this, or I've done that, or OK, I agree that you can believe in that story, but that's not for me. I'm too far gone, I've been like this for too long. Those kinds of things when you think of what the father did by sending his son, and then the skeptic that we can all be thinking that that's not for us. What would you say to that person?
Speaker 3:You know, amanda, it's it's really hard to know exactly what to say, because all you can say is but it is, but it is. He didn't limit it to good people. He didn't limit it to people that always do the right thing. He didn't limit it to religious leaders or people that knew the Bible or, at that point, the Torah. He didn't do that. That's not what he was doing.
Speaker 3:He was saying no, no, I want each and every one of you. I want each of you who was broken to come to me, because I'm going to make your burden lighter. And I'm going to do this by showing you just how much I love you. And I just and you know, I didn't know Mike wrote down my words and that is so true. You know, to think about that kind of love, it's maybe and maybe.
Speaker 3:To embrace it is the biggest act of faith there is, because you can't conceptualize that, you can't how much he loved us, all of us, all of us who knew him, all of us who believed in him, all of us who didn't have a clue, who did not have a clue. He did that for us, and not just as a sacrifice, but also that we could have this assurance. He knows what we go through, he knows the struggles we have and the suffering we face, which is nothing like what he faced, right, nothing. And him being perfect and him being divine. But he went through worry and doubt and begging God, begging God to take the cup from him, to don't make me go through this, right. So he did all of those things as evidence that that's exactly how we can come to him, if he is who he is and went through all of those things, as evidence that that's exactly how we can come to him.
Speaker 3:If he is who he is and went through all of this, we can be that too. We can come without knowing anything about God or thinking that we don't believe, or being furious with God, or all of that because he did it first. But what do you say to somebody? Let me just tell you right. Let me tell you who I am and what the Lord has done for me, because otherwise you can't just say he loved you so much that he died for you. Well, why would he do that?
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know.
Speaker 3:I don't know. I just know he has and when, the more and more I embrace that thought the difference it makes in how I look at other people and how I look at myself. Right, if he loved me this much, my goodness, why am I doing all that silly talk in my head about that? I'm not this and I'm not that. Right, you're right, I'm not.
Speaker 2:But the thing I am is a daughter of the King, and looking at people who you might not agree with and realize they too are a daughter or a son of the King, and that changes our perception, right. And you know, miriam, as you were talking, I was just thinking it is so hard to fathom, even myself right now. You know, I was originally saved when I was eight, and I know wholeheartedly that that was when I truly understood that I needed a savior. It is now, though, that I understand the importance of me learning everything I can about who that Savior is, so I've known that I needed one. Now I am approaching.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, how much can I learn about him? Because it doesn't matter what changes with our circumstances. He doesn't love us more when we're in the middle of success. He doesn't love us less when we're in the middle of success, right. He doesn't love us less when we're in the middle of sin. He does not change, and so, as you were talking about that and saying it is hard, but you, sometimes you just have to have faith and know that he did it, because it doesn't make sense why he did. We are so undeserving, we're so unworthy, right. But what I was thinking, too was but there's no fine print. It doesn't say If you are a good person, if you make a lot of money, if you have a big home, if you there's not Right, you have to believe and want the salvation Right. And to me that is just beautiful, and so I agree with Miriam.
Speaker 2:If you are listening right now and you are saying all of the thoughts that many of us sitting around this table have said, we've looked at ourselves and said, oh God, we've done that. There's no way you can forgive it. And he says it's already been forgiven. Or we've said we are too far gone, we're never going to be able to rebuild this or to do this or to make this or to be forgiven for that. I hope that, as you listen to not just saying this was the sacrifice, I want you to think about when you have those thoughts in your head that you don't matter, that you're not loved, this is what was done for you. This did this was not done for only the elite. It wasn't done for those that had wealth. That wasn't done for this. There there were not disclaimers saying and this was for this right. Um, what it said in scripture is that the ultimate sacrifice was made, and it was made for all of us who are so imperfect. He did it because he knew it had to be done, and that that is beautiful.
Speaker 3:It's incredible. It's incredible and it's unthinkable. It's unthinkable. And the the older I get and the longer I'm on this journey with the Lord, the more this time of year and His walk to the cross impacts me and I am always struck. Sometimes I do best when I get to visualize something. I can read it, yeah, but every year I watch the Passion of the Christ just because it's extremely graphic, right, so it gives me that feeling of that. But every year I watch the Passion of the Christ just because it's extremely graphic, right, so it gives me that feeling of that. But I'll tell you the part that moves me so much other than the obvious. The Christ part is his mother and how she is broken by what's happening to him.
Speaker 3:And Lord, just let me be, let me fully understand and be broken by what my Lord did for me. Right, he is the King. He is the King and he did this for me. And I look at her and I watch her face in that movie and just think oh Lord, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I, I have a cousin. Well, I have three cousins. They're all very talented Brayden and Hadley and Jason, and they are in Arkansas and Jason is just very gifted musically and so is Hadley. Hadley and Brayden are his sons. My other cousin, shelly that's my biological cousin. She's super sweet and she keeps them all together.
Speaker 2:But they did this thing at church and I've seen just snippets and there is a song that Hadley sings and my cousin Braden played Jesus.
Speaker 2:But the song that that Hadley sings is come drink from the well so that you won't be thirsty, and her voice is beautiful and the production is beautiful. But what was amazing is there's three individuals that bravely got up and walked on stage when she tells them to come get a drink, come get a drink from the well. And so they walk up, they get a drink from the well, and when they get a drink from the well, they hold up a sign. And the sign one said on there that he had alcoholism for 35 years that led to homelessness. And then he flips the sign and it says but as of April, something of last year, he drank from the well. And then there was another person on there that was about addiction and things like that, and it's, it's just beautiful. So, as we go into reading about the death and just how, how it was, I want you to remember that it doesn't matter if you're on the mountaintop right now or if you're in a valley. This death was done for you, either one Do both.
Speaker 1:Can I do both? Yep Okay.
Speaker 4:Okay, either one do both.
Speaker 4:Okay, bear with me folks. So pilot, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released them, barabbas, and, having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is of the governor's headquarters, and they called together the whole battalion and they clothed him in a purple cloak and, twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him and they began to salute him, hail, king of the Jews. And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and they led him out to crucify him.
Speaker 4:Jesus had endured hours of questioning and mistreatment, yet he remained patient and silent. He was denied by Peter three times. His followers scattered in fear and he stood alone. His beating was so severe that it fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 52, which describes his appearance as marred beyond that of a man. This prophecy was a precursor to Isaiah 53, which foretold the healing that his death would bring to us. His death would bring to us. By his stripes we are healed. What is his love for this week? How much he loved us that he took a beating so bad before his crucifixion that, in most cases, most victims rarely survived, but he did.
Speaker 4:You could say that Pilate hoped that the flogging would have been enough for the Jewish people to be satisfied, because it was pretty significant punishment that should have silenced the crowd, but it didn't. Pulling apart Mark 15, and with the help of several historical accounts of what Roman flogging looked like, we can get a pretty good idea of how bad Christ was beaten In Mark 15, 15, when it says and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. This is what the scourging looked like. Jesus was stripped naked, his hands were tied to a post above his head, and he was hit numerous times by a whip that had several pieces of leather and pieces of bone, pottery and lead embedded near the ends. In Jewish culture, the lashings from the whips never exceeded 40.
Speaker 4:However, the Romans were far from merciful. The heavy whip used by the Romans was brought down in full force again and again over Jesus' shoulders, back and legs, and again over Jesus' shoulders, back and legs. The first few lashes would have only cut through his skin a couple inches, but as he was turned into raw hamburger, his tissues were cut deeper and deeper, which would produce severe bleeding and spurting. Blood from his arteries and muscles underneath His skin would be hanging from him like long ribbons and he would have been left unrecognizable. This beating should have killed him, but it didn't. After he was beaten, the Roman guards crafted a crown of thorns to place and beat into his skull. The thorns were believed to be at least an inch and a half long, and when the skull is only a quarter of an inch thick, there's certainly some damage done to the brain. That should have killed him, but it didn't. Then he was mocked. The soldiers placed a purple robe a sign of royalty on him and mockingly knelt to him as if they were worshiping Jesus. They would then spit on him, hit him more and continue to mockingly call him King of the Jews, continue to mockingly call him king of the Jews. And the worst part of it all was that the robe that was on Christ most likely clung to his wounds, and as the wounds began to clot and try to heal, they ripped the robe clean off and put his own clothes on him. All of the wounds would have been opened all over again and his bleeding would start once more Again. This should have killed him, but it didn't.
Speaker 4:And now, going into week seven, let's pick up right where we left off last week. Jesus was beaten beyond any recognition of a human being. He has tremendous pain and blood loss. We can see in the early verses of John 19,. Pilate brought Jesus to the crowd after he had been beaten and hoped that the flogging would be enough to appease the Jewish leaders in the crowd, but it didn't. They still wanted Jesus to be crucified. In verse 12, we can see that Pilate tried to set Jesus free multiple times, but they kept shouting that Jesus was not their king, only Caesar was their king. In the following verses, pilate finally handed Jesus over to be crucified, and we'll pick up in the second half of John 19, verse 16. So they took Jesus and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them.
Speaker 4:In all of the Gospels we do not have the full details about what the crucifixion looked like, but we do know that it's through studying Scripture. Jesus was so weak from his beating that, as he carried his cross, he was unable to do so. It is believed by many historians that the path to Golgotha was around a half a mile, but remember, jesus was beaten so severely and he had one and a half inch thorns going into his head. There is no way he should have still been alive, but he was Now. The part of the cross that Jesus carried was believed to be a slab of wood that his hands were nailed to, so it weighed around 30 to 40 pounds, so either way it was too heavy for him to carry, so a man from Cyrene called Simon was made to carry it. When they reached Golgotha, the Romans placed Jesus between two criminals to die beside him.
Speaker 4:Now again, even though we don't know through scripture what lengths were taken through crucifixion, we are fortunate to have the historical records that depict what would happen. As they would square the shoulders of Jesus on the cross, a soldier would feel for the indentation on Jesus' wrists to fill the gap between his ulna and radius bones his ulna and radius bones. They would then drive an iron nail clean through that gap, causing severe shooting pain to be distributed throughout his arms and body. Once his wrists were both nailed, he was then lifted into the air. His left foot was pressed backward against his right and both feet extended and toes pointed down. A nail was driven through the arch of each foot, leaving his knees slightly bent. At this point, the crucifixion process was now complete.
Speaker 4:Now all that had to happen was death, as Christ slowly dropped due to the gravity and more weight being placed on his wrists from the nails, jesus' nerves were more likely exploding because of the pain. As the pain is amplified through his arms and legs, the real torture of death sets in Asphyxiation. Christ's arms become weak, his muscles are cramping and throbbing in pain, and all he wants to do is breathe. However, the way he was placed on the cross, all he can do is inhale, not exhale. Breathed and had to be exhaled by him picking himself up from his nailed wrists, his beaten and torn back, rubbing the rough wood and putting splinters in all throughout his back. According to the four gospels, he spoke only seven phrases in the six hours he hung on the cross.
Speaker 4:Jesus endured this torment and one of the most loving things he said was Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing.
Speaker 4:He could have saved himself. He was fully God and he was fully man, and he didn't deserve to die the way he did, but he did it anyway and he took his final breath and he said it is finished and he died. To ensure he had passed, a soldier was given a spear to pierce his side and all at once, blood and water came out of Christ's body. And all at once, blood and water came out of Christ's body. The separation of blood and water meant that every single ounce of liquid had left Christ's body. Every bit of blood was spilled for all mankind. That, my friends, is the love of Christ and there is nothing greater. Jesus was then removed from the cross and buried in a tomb. His followers were scattered and afraid because to them, their king was dead. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was dead. Was hope lost? What happens now and next week we will conclude this series and, to quote the one and only Paul Harvey, we will know the rest of the story.
Speaker 2:And we know that the story didn't end there. Did death happen? It did it in there Did death happen? It did. And maybe some of you have walked through some of that and knew that there was so much about his death that I have learned. So thank you, mike, for just the research that you did and the guidance of the Holy Spirit and just pouring into those did and the guidance of the Holy Spirit and just pouring into those. But not only did death come, but death came in the most morbid fashion that it could and he endured it and he knew why and it didn't stop him. And that, my friends, if you can remember anything, know that that death was done for you, for me, for us.
Speaker 2:And really it is a lot simpler to accept than it is to not. And we accept by learning all we can about Christ and who he was and who he is and who he is to come. But then, like Miriam said, when we open this, some of it is also just by faith, knowing his character, knowing that there's a lot we don't know, but believing in him and believing what is to come. And so, as Mike finished reading that and saying, there is the rest of the story. There is a day of mourning, then there's another day of mourning and on that third day he rose and the tomb was empty. Why was the tomb empty? Because our God is the only living God. He is the only one that can be resurrected through death, and he was. And so when we talk about Easter and we celebrate the resurrection and we are rejoicing for how the Lord rose Christ from the dead and then, because of that death, we now have the Holy Spirit in us, the advocate, as some of the versions say, that spirit lives inside of us and that is beautiful and no one can take that away from us. We are so grateful for what the Father did through his son and we are so thankful for the resurrection and we're so thankful for that sacrifice. But I really think that to truly understand as much as we can, as far as just our human flesh can do, in order to really understand the depth of that love, we have to understand the depth of that death and the depth of the hurt. And, mike, thank you for capturing that, for recording that for us.
Speaker 2:I read both your devotions and listened to both of them, and then to hear you read it again, I know that that is hard and it's intense, but it's the truth. And sometimes I feel like there is no balance with Christianity. It's either we want to make everybody feel like they're going to go to hell because of X, y, z, or we're talking about all of the good stuff, because we want everybody to feel good and, quite frankly, there's an in between, and having a relationship with Christ it's not just when everything is awful and it's not just when everything is great. He wants to be there for all the in between, and that death happened so that the resurrection could happen, so that when our death happens, we can have a resurrection. And so I just hope that you take away from this time that this was done and there wasn't a fine print, there wasn't a caveat, there's no works that you have to do to make this happen.
Speaker 2:It's already been done, it is written, it is finished and I can promise you right now it doesn't matter if you are a guest in our shelter, if you're in a six bedroom house, if you have a large family, if you're alone, if you're on the streets, if you've never taken drugs, if you are taking drugs as you listen to this that death happened for us and it didn't happen to cover our perfections.
Speaker 2:It happened to cover all of the imperfections all of us were going to have. So I hope that you are encouraged by this. I hope you know that when you feel like no one else loves you, that you remember the death of our Savior and how awful it was, but he did it anyways for you. So I hope that this past Easter, and as we have just these next several months that we go through the year, that you remember that that is a God of the God of in-betweens, regardless of what you're facing right now, he is with you, he loves you and he so desperately wants to have a relationship with you. You are loved. Remember nothing determines that. Christ died for all of us and rose. God bless all of you. Love you guys. Bye-bye.