How to Celebrate Good Friday and a Give AWAY!
The question hangs in the air. It asked by countless people across the world.
“Why is Good Friday called good?”
That question reverberates with me each year as Easter approaches. I wonder how I can celebrate a sham of a trial, an innocent man sentenced to die, a gruesome death, and all for me.
But isn’t this the way God chooses to work? The living contradiction of victory from apparent failure, of life from death, of ultimate good from evil circumstances. His word confirms His ways,
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
So how do we celebrate the day that marks the greatest sacrifice for our greatest need? Here are some things to ponder, grieve, and rejoice during this day:
1. Mourn the sin that sent our Lord to the cross. Acknowledge that your sin sent Him there, to die on a tree. Our sin, be it what the world calls evil or what the world applauds, is why He hung there. See your hopeless, helpless self and beg forgiveness from a gracious loving God.
2. Thank Jesus that He was willing to go to the cross. He didn’t have to do it. In Luke Jesus said He had more than twelve legions or more than 72,000 angels at His disposal. He was not in a desperate situation. He was right where He planned to be. Thank Him that He walked a difficult painful road, taking the penalty for our sin, so that we can live in eternity with Him.
3. Consider Peter. He denied knowing Jesus three times. In what ways have you denied Jesus with your life?
4. Consider Pilate. Are you washing your hands? Are you choosing to follow the crowd and walk away from Jesus? Are you trying to blame others for your choice? You have a choice. What are you going to do with Jesus? Are you going to choose to live for Jesus despite your circumstances? Are you going to allow Him access to all your life?
5. Consider the Chief Priests and Scribes. Are you so religious that you can’t see your need for a Savior? Are you so sure that you are good enough that you don’t need forgiveness of sins?
Father God this Good Friday help us all to adjust our thinking so that our lives are transformed by Your love. Captivate us with Your grace and help us to never get over what Jesus did for us on the cross. O God, we are sinful people and so far from You. Thank You for making a way for us to draw near to You. In the precious and AWESOME name of Jesus. Amen.
Give-Away
In honor of celebrating Good Friday and my brand new blog design, I have a give-away. I am going to give a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a random entry. Here is how you enter:
1. Leave a comment about some of your thoughts about Good Friday
2. Share this post on twitter or facebook.
3. Subscribe to the RSS feed or for an e-mail subscription
4. E-mail five friends with a link to my blog inviting them to visit my site.
In your comment tell me which of these things you have done. If you have done all four, you will be entered four times. I am leaving this give-away open until April 24th at 5:00 PM Central Daylight Savings Time. I will post the winner in my April 25th post. Good-luck everyone and thanks for stopping by!
19 Comments
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1. Being in the drama this year has made me look at things from Judas’s perspective. Oddly enough, I think Judas betrayed Jesus because he felt Jesus had betrayed him. That is to say that the Messiah did not meet the expectations of Judas. How many times has the LORD transcended my meager understandings? Too many to count…
Then I look back on my own life and so many times I honestly thought God had forsaken me. I judged God, instead of God judging me. How foolish I was! And how foolish I still am at times.
2. I put this on my Twitter, Miss Angela! Unfortunately I’m still on Facebook hiatus…
3. I have subscribed by email through Feedburner, though I got to this post through Twitter rather than email. Do you still have glitches with the subscription system, or am I simply failing to get the message on my end? I didn’t find anything in my spam folder either.
4. If I can think of five friends who would read this blog, I’ll be sure to email them. So only three entries right now for me! ^_^
Daniel…Thanks for sharing. Judas and I have somethings in common. I like to think I would never be like him, but my life proves otherwise at times. That breaks my heart…
As for Feedburner, it has a set time to send out feeds. So even if I post at say midnight, it doesn’t send the e-mail until around 5 AM. I am guessing you have an e-mail in your inbox right now. 😉
Thanks Daniel!
Today when I was telling my boys that it was Good Friday, Luke said, “That is not good.” We had a good discussion about it. I have signed up to receive email updates.
That is great Heather! How exciting!
I love that you shared this. It’s an excellent reminder that we need to continually assess our behaviors and prayers.
I’ve shared on FB & Twitter & am an RSS subscriber.
So glad you joined in and I pray this post blesses you.
Thank you for sharing these steps, Angela. And I love your new blog design by the way! It’s very welcoming and clean.
I actually just wrote a little on my Good Friday thoughts. Here’s some from that: Christ endured. He endured mocking, beating, accusation, hatred. He did it all for us. Many people might do good things for those they love, but how many of us love everyone – past, present, and future? I know I can’t without His love. Christ, perfect and blameless (did you see that? blameless), endured and sacrificed all for us, the still-broken, needy, imperfect us.
I always think of John 3:17 and Hebrews 4:15 when I think about the blameless nature of Christ.
Thank you for this kind offer, too! I tweeted about it here: https://twitter.com/#!/Keep_Tha_Faith/statuses/61545791084429312
Caroline, Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for the retweets! I appreciate you!
Love your site! I found it via retweet from a fellow blogger. Your thoughts on Good Friday are insightful and made me think how lightly I usually treat this day with a focus on Sunday instead. In honor of this day I have planned on watching Passion of the Christ on DVD this evening.
I subscribed via both RSS and emal, so looking forward to reading more! I retweeted and posted the link on FaceBook as well.
God bless your words and make them fruitful in the lives of others!
So glad that you like it. Thanks for joining in.
today’s message is Yeshua’s “it is FINISHED” !! that is victory!! that makes it GOOD – in fact VERRRY GOOD !
mission accomplished! – ALL that was needed has been DONE! Praise to God forever . Gratitude to Yeshua forever.
but definitely celebration and thanksgiving for His goodness that follows me ALL the days of my life…
So wonderful to remember “IT IS FINISHED” that is certainly not a cry of defeat. Thank you for sharing!
Good Friday is the ultimate good! “It is Finished” is the ultimate victory cry. This is the very minute we were given the greatest gift. So, although I agree with Luke that on the surface it’s not very good, in my life-story it’s the BIGGEST good.
Love the new design!!
I’m suscribing!
I’m facebooking
I’ll email 5 friends
Great giveaway!
So glad you jumped in Melanie! Yes Jesus’ greatest loss for our greatest good! I am amazed!
My heart is heavy on good Friday as I think about what he endured for me. But I hold to the hope that Sunday is coming and he is risen. Thank goodness for his grace and mercy through Good Friday and Easter. I don’t deserve the gift of eternal life but he paid the price anyway and offers it to me (grace) and I do deserve death but he did not give it to me (mercy) but instead died for me so I could live. Heavy but good! Sunday ‘s a commin!! Thank goodness!
Forgot to mention I have subscribed
and Facebook posted!
I just subscribed to your beautiful blog! Thanks for eloquently sharing your thoughts. I was thinking last night about Jesus saying “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” when He could have just told people He had had enough of their scorn and mean ways, leaving them to be killed without payment right away…
You have such talent for writing, and so much wisdom to share! Keep up the good work! Blessings to youths Easter!
Yes. I am often remembering that sentence, “Father forgive them.” Pondering it often brings tears.
I am so glad you stopped by and joined in Christi! Blessing to you and yours this Easter as well!
Went to our church’s Good Friday service. It was a celebration and a reminder that Jesus gave “all” for each of us!! He love is so amazing!! Thank you for reminding us to ponder on Easter!!
God is so good!!!
I subscribed by email.