Living Savior Podcast

Today we enter the home stretch with our Lord Jesus. Yes, we have been here before. There is something very familiar about the Palm Sunday celebration. But this final stretch is far from routine. It’s certainly not the time to travel on auto pilot, because behind the familiar palms and praises is the God-man who left his heavenly home to purposefully enter the city of his death. He did so for an extraordinary reason: to seek and to save the lost. For this final stretch of his journey, he chose to humble himself to death — even death on a cross — all so that we might journey back to his heavenly home with him.

What are your credentials as a Christian? What are your most noteworthy deeds as a follower of Christ? Before you ponder such questions too deeply, be careful! Personal credentials and accomplishments are actually obstacles in your path. Or as Jesus’ apostle Paul puts it, those are garbage compared to the surpassing value of experiencing the righteousness, power, sufferings, and resurrection of Christ. None of us has “arrived” as a Christian. Instead, we press on toward the goal of knowing Christ and of being called heavenward in him.

“Life is a journey.” You’ve heard that axiom more often than you can count. So much is said about will point out that “life has its ups and downs." Others will warn that life is full of "detours" and "forks in the road." So much is said about our “personal journey” that we can lose sight of the One who alone makes life purposeful and meaningful.

Far more significant than the journey we take, Jesus' road took him on the path of suffering, death, and hell. Yet the path he paved and the life he gave lead us to the peace and security we could never have reached on our own. .

“Life is a journey.” You’ve heard that axiom more often than you can count. Some will point out that “life has its ups and downs." Others will warn that life is full of "detours" and "forks in the road." So much is said about our “personal journey” that we can lose sight of the One who alone makes life purposeful and meaningful.

The world in which we live is a dangerous place. Every day another catastrophe falls upon individuals and groups of people. Even the most cautious among us faces threats to body and soul. Today the Lord instructs us to take every calamity as a warning. “Repent!” he says. Confess your own sins, and turn in faith to the Savior who himself walked a dangerous road so that you might have life.

“Life is a journey.” You’ve heard that axiom more often than you can count. Some will point out that “life has its ups and downs." Others will warn that life is full of "detours" and "forks in the road." So much is said about our “personal journey” that we can lose sight of the One who alone makes life purposeful and meaningful. Far more significant than the journey we take, Jesus' road took him on the path of suffering, death, and hell. Yet the path he paved and the life he gave lead us to the peace and security we could never have reached on our own.

“Life is a journey.” You’ve heard that axiom more often than you can count. Some will point out that “life has its ups and downs." Others will warn that life is full of "detours" and "forks in the road." So much is said about our “personal journey” that we can lose sight of the One who alone makes life purposeful and meaningful. Far more significant than the journey we take, Jesus' road took him on the path of suffering, death, and hell. Yet the path he paved and the life he gave lead us to the peace and security we could never have reached on our own.

Today's focus: Distracted driving is a major problem. We don’t need to ask the insurance agent or the state trooper to know that cell phones, billboards, other drivers, people walking on the sidewalk are among the countless distractions that pull our eyes away from the way ahead. It’s as common as it is dangerous. Jesus’ road was anything but free from distractions. From Satan’s temptations to the weakness of humankind to the weight of a saving a broken world, Jesus faced every temptation. And yet he over came every distraction as he took steps that only the Savior could take.

“Life is a journey.” You’ve heard that axiom more often than you can count. Some will point out that “life has its ups and downs." Others will warn that life is full of "detours" and "forks in the road." So much is said about our “personal journey” that we can lose sight of the One who alone makes life purposeful and meaningful.

Far more significant than the journey we take, Jesus' road took him on the path of suffering, death, and hell. Yet the path he paved and the life he gave lead us to the peace and security we could never have reached on our own.

Today's focus: Distracted driving is a major problem. We don’t need to ask the insurance agent or the state trooper to know that cell phones, billboards, other drivers, people walking on the sidewalk are among the countless distractions that pull our eyes away from the way ahead. It’s as common as it is dangerous. Jesus’ road was anything but free from distractions. From Satan’s temptations to the weakness of humankind to the weight of a saving a broken world, Jesus faced every temptation. And yet he over came every distraction as he took steps that only the Savior could take.

We dedicate so much of our lives trying to fit in and feel like we belong. With each passing year we realize the brokenness of our world and its inability to satisfy the longings of our heart. More and more feeling out of place might actually be a good thing? God's Son unsurprisingly seemed out of place when he came to this earth. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise us when the same is true of those who follow him. All the more we want to discover the beauty of knowing we don’t belong.

We dedicate so much of our lives trying to fit in and feel like we belong. With each passing year we realize the brokenness of our world and its inability to satisfy the longings of our heart. More and more feeling out of place might actually be a good thing? God's Son unsurprisingly seemed out of place when he came to this earth. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise us when the same is true of those who follow him. All the more we want to discover the beauty of knowing we don’t belong.

We dedicate so much of our lives trying to fit in and feel like we belong. With each passing year we realize the brokenness of our world and its inability to satisfy the longings of our heart. More and more feeling out of place might actually be a good thing? God's Son unsurprisingly seemed out of place when he came to this earth. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise us when the same is true of those who follow him. All the more we want to discover the beauty of knowing we don’t belong.

Today our Savior reminds us that while we don’t belong to this world, we do belong to the family of our heavenly Father. That changes how we interact with those who hate and mistreat us. Just as our Father is always merciful to us, Jesus says, we are free to be merciful to our enemies and share with them, do good to them — yes, even love them.