In partnership with FaithGateway’s “Daily Devotions,” Max Lucado, Anne Graham Lotz, and other Christian leaders contributed to a 40-day Easter devotional eBook (here).
For today’s day 19, Max shared …
We are guilty and He is innocent.
We are filthy and He is pure.
We are wrong and He is right.
He is not on that cross for His sins. He is there for ours. And once the crook understands this, his request seems only natural. As he looks into the eyes of his last hope, he makes the same request any Christian has made:
“Remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42 TLB).
No stained-glass homilies. No excuses. Just a desperate plea for help. At this point Jesus performs the greatest miracle of the cross. Greater than the earthquake. Greater than the tearing of the temple curtain . . . He performs the miracle of forgiveness: “Today you will be with me in Paradise. This is a solemn promise” (Luke 23:43 TLB).
This Easter season, my prayer is to find myself in the desperate place where that thief on the cross found himself. In a gentle yet strong way, God is shaving off layers of pride and complacency that crept into my heart over the years—reminding me that He is all I need. During this “spring cleaning” of the soul, the words of Max Lucado regularly offer both conviction and comfort.
You know better than I do that people in your audience relate to these sentiments. Thank you for what you do to remind your listeners of God’s grace and forgiveness through Max’s daily feature, UpWords. Here are three of my favorite broadcasts (also, please note that the week leading up to Easter will feature special themed messages on air!):
Leave Your Guilt at Calvary >>
Max says, “The path to the cross tells us exactly how far God will go to call us back.” And aren’t we thankful for that!
