Category: Life in Christ
Morning Reading: Luke 23. 44-49 NLT – last breathe
Reading: Luke 23:44-49 NLT
By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.
Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent. ” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.
But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
Prayer: Lord Jesus – It’s never too late to confess you as the Messiah, the Son of the living God… not for the thief, not for the soldier, and not for us. You alone are our Savior and Lord. You alone hold the keys to eternal life. Fill me with a deep sorrow that leads to worship… not from a distance, but at the foot of the Cross. Amen!
Hymn: “Beneath the cross of Jesus” – Elizabeth C. Clephane (1868)
Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand. The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land. A home within the wilderness,a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.
Upon that cross of Jesus, mine eye at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me. And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess: the wonders of His glorious love, and my unworthiness.
I take, O Cross, thy shadow for my abiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss. My sinful self– my only shame, my glory– all the cross.
Morning Reading: Luke 23.26-43 NLT – remember me
Reading: Luke 23:26-43 NLT
As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? ”
And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Prayer: Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom
Morning Reading: Luke 23.13-25 NLT – mob rule
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ijNGxMWUI&feature=youtube_gdata_playerReading: Luke 23:13-16, 18-25 NLT
Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, and he announced his verdict.
“You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”
Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.)
Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”
But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.
Prayer: Lord God – It’s all so wrong… an unprincipled politician, self-serving religious leaders, and a rent-a-mob! Innocence declared but justice denied. Forbid it Lord that I should follow in these wretched footsteps. Help me to do the right thing – and take full responsibility for my decisions – regardless of the consequences. For Jesus’ sake! Amen.
Hymn: “Jesus, Lover of my Soul” – Charles Wesley, 1740
Please pray for Christians in Laos – World Watch List # 18
Christian Persecution in LAOS – World Watch List # 18 (Open Doors)
LAOS (Wikipedia)
Government: Communist state
Main Religion: Buddhism
Population: 6.6 million (170,000 Christians)
Laos, officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west.
Open Doors: Laos is unique as one of the few remaining Marxist-Leninist countries that also follows Theravada Buddhism. Being Lao is synonymous with being Buddhist; Christians who do not participate in traditional festivities and ceremonies face Buddhist aggression.
Evangelism is effectively prohibited on the grounds it would create social division. Families see Christianity as breaking family unity.
The majority of Christians are from a tribal background, and face severe persecution – mostly instigated by animists and spiritists who lose their trade due to conversions.
Please Pray:
+ That Christians will respond to monitoring by village officials with wisdom and sensitivity
+ For believers from the Katin or Hmong tribes, who are especially vulnerable. Some have been killed in army clashes
+ Give thanks for reports that orders to expel 10 Christian families from their village were retracted.
Persecution Dynamics
The state and the ruling Communist party put heavy pressure on the small Christian community in Laos. On paper, the government protects the rights of Christians but this is not the case in practice. Three Christian denominations are registered yet Christians remain the number one enemy of the state.
Persecution is mostly instigated by animists and spiritists who lose their trade due to conversions to Christianity. Therefore, there are high levels of persecution in tribal areas and villages.
The government promotes Lao culture which includes teaching Buddhist practices. If Christians do not participate in traditional festivities and ceremonies, they face Buddhist aggression.
In 2012 at least three churches closed under Decree 92, the principal legislation defining religious practices and favouring Buddhism.
There were, however, encouraging reports of an official stopping the expulsion of 10 Christian families. No major changes are expected as the government continues to favour Buddhism, therefore encouraging local religious and political leaders to pressurise the Christian minority.
ANECDOTAL REPORT:
Former Buddhists Kapono* and his family fled their house on Jan. 9, 2013 due to persecution they were facing at the hands of relatives and villagers. The believers were barely two weeks in their faith in Christ when they left their village in Southern Laos.
“When the family returned home (from a church in another village), their cousins and neighbors persecuted them,” according to a local source. “Last Jan. 6, they took Kapono’s cow…and then pushed him and his family out of the village. The believers lost their land, which was about four acres.
Kapono and his family are now staying at the house of a Christian friend in a nearby village.
* Kapono – not his real name.
