Growing Deeper In Faith This Easter

　　Your Nightly Prayer for Apr. 2, 2025

　　by Lynette Kittle

　　TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” - Acts 4:12

　　SOMETHING TO PONDEREaster is a treasured time when families come together in celebration to prepare and eat special dishes, share stories, and make memories together. For followers of Christ, it’s especially meaningful when we remember the Cross and what Jesus accomplished on it for our eternal Salvation.

　　In celebrating Easter throughout the years, its meaning and our understanding of it most likely have deepened from childhood to adulthood, where we may keep discovering it anew each year, possibly in surprising and unexpected ways we didn’t see coming.

　　For me, growing up in church as a pastor’s daughter, it was a busy time, full of activities for our family, with days and weeks of preparations for our church’s commemoration and celebration, including Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

　　As far back as I can remember, I knew Easter focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet, even though I knew the story and the importance of accepting Jesus into my heart and receiving Salvation, understanding the depth keeps growing.

　　Although I grew up singing and believing that “Jesus Loves Me,” the realization that my sin was why His death needed to occur took time to comprehend. Like me, many of us are not sure at times that our sin really motivated God to send Jesus, seeing it more as a universal problem, like in John 3:16, which states that God so loved the world.

　　In some ways, recognizing how sin affects everyone can cause us to have a personal disconnect, preventing us from truly grasping the responsibility our sin plays in Jesus' suffering and death.

　　Even so, the truth is that our sin is exactly why Jesus died, to atone for it and set us free from a very real debt, one that, if left unpaid, brings eternal death and separation from God.

　　As Romans 6:23 explains, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

　　Gaining insight and growing through our Easters helps us to realize in deeper ways why Jesus died to give us life, making Easter even more meaningful than ever before.As “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die’” (John 11:25).

　　YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYERDear Father, Thank you for Your gift of Jesus, sent to save us from our sins and receive everlasting life in Him. Lead us this Easter to a deeper understanding and appreciation for His sacrifice and the blood He shed on our behalf. Help us to comprehend how He died in our place so that we might be reconciled to You and live eternally. Strengthen us to be courageous and bold to tell others how they can be saved, too. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

　　THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON1.Set time aside to consider how your own understanding of Easter has changed or grown over the years. Go through the years and see where your heart seemed to grasp more of the truth of His death and resurrection.

　　2. If you feel like your understanding of Easter hasn’t grown through the years, ask God to open your eyes and heart to comprehend more about His sacrifice on the cross and the significance of His resurrection. Set time aside to read through the events that led Christ to the cross and to His resurrection from the grave.

　　3. Look for ways to share the significance of Easter with your spouse, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and those you meet out in the community. Ask them to share the insights God has given them through the years.

　　Photo Credit: Unsplash/Caleb Stokes

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