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…so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus Ephesians 2:7 In another translation of today’s Scripture, Paul said that we would see “the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor).” That’s favor as we’ve never seen before. That’s what God wants to do for us. You may think your situation is permanent. You don’t see how you can ever rise any higher and accomplish your dreams. All the calculations are telling you that you’ll never get out of debt, but God is saying, You need to get ready. You haven’t seen His blessings yet. You haven’t seen the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing greatness of God’s favor. He will increase and it will be beyond your calculations.”

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 One of the challenges we faced with the coronavirus was that our bodies had no antibodies to fight it. Without a cure, without a vaccine, we were at its mercy. Once you have the cure, the vaccine, you don’t have to fear the disease. But what about virus-like poisons you can’t treat with a vaccine—guilt, fear, depression, addictions. These can infect our thinking, poison our self-esteem, and make us sick with regrets, hurts, and disappointments. The good news is that the Scripture says by the stripes Jesus received before He went to the cross, He took our guilt, our shame, and our failures upon Himself, and “we are healed.” We are not at the mercy of fear, depression. We have the cure. Don’t let the fear, the guilt, or the depression hold you down. Take the antidote. “Father, thank You that I am forgiven, I...

Then he said, “I am the god of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 3:6 In the Scripture, it talks about the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I can understand how He is the God of Abraham, the father of our faith. I can understand how He is the God of Isaac, who was the miracle child of God’s promise and extremely obedient. But when it says He is the God of Jacob, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Jacob was a cheater. He went around deceiving people. He stole his brother’s birth right. Jacob was known for making poor choices. What was God saying? “I’m not just the God of perfect people. I’m not just the God of people who never make a mistake. I’m the God of people who have failed. You may have made mistakes, but be encouraged. Don’t beat yourself up. He is the God of Jacob. He is your God, too.

As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. Matthew 27:32 When Jesus was being led out of the city to be crucified, the custom was that the person had to carry his own cross. Jesus was so exhausted from the sleepless night, the suffering and pain of the trial, that He fell down under the weight of the cross. God provided a man named Simon to be there to carry the cross for Jesus. God is sending us the message that we don’t have to be strong all the time. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. Sometimes the weight of what we’re carrying gets too heavy. When you’re down, when you’re discouraged, God is not going to leave you there. He’ll always have someone to help lift you back up, someone to encourage you, someone to help you carry the load that you can’t carry. There will be a Simon there to help lift you back up.

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again Luke 24: 6-7 The three women who went to the tomb on Sunday morning to care for Jesus’ body were met by the angel’s question, “Don’t you remember what He told you?” They came to the tomb discouraged, depressed, and defeated, and they left excited, passionate, full of faith and hope. They couldn’t wait to tell the disciples. When you’re under pressure, under stress, overwhelmed by a situation, too often we forget what God has said, and we go by what we see. We let negative thoughts drown out what God has promised. Recognize that’s a test. The enemy would love for you to get so caught up in your circumstances that you forget what God told you. Are you remembering that He says He’ll supply all your needs according to His riches?