Now we turn our eyes towards Holy Week—perhaps the most important week in all of history. We will pick up the pace with a daily devotional to follow Jesus from Palm Sunday to the grave.

If our peace is in anything else––jobs, family, sports, health, popularity, comfort, or whatever else––it is unsteady. It can be taken away in a moment and thus life is as good as our latest achievement or failure––our latest good doctor's appointment or life-changing phone call. 

We’re back in Revelation again, and this time we see how closely our death is linked with the death of Jesus. How do the people of God conquer?

Jesus says that a grain of wheat is fruitful when it dies, for then it is able to bear much fruit. The death doesn’t look glorious (neither does suffering!) and you can’t even really see the work that is going on under the ground until much later.

If you feel like you’re walking through a valley without any vision of the other side right now––you’re not alone. There’s a reason Psalm 23 has been a balm for the soul of so many followers of Jesus throughout the centuries.

Those who trust in Christ have no condemnation (Romans 8:1), belong to God as his children, and will inherit all things with him. That’s amazing news that helps us feel security, safety, and satisfaction in this life––to free us from fear and frustration.

If Christ conquered through suffering––and ultimately death, then how much more should we expect to follow in his footsteps as his disciples? We do not need to seek out suffering, but as we contemplate the life of following Jesus during this season of Lent, we remember that our Savior paid for our pardon with his own blood.

Luke 18 is a parable about persistence in prayer without losing heart. We know that because the Bible tells us the meaning and application at the front of the prayer.

God wants us to make good resolves, and he wants to empower us to live out all that is good, right, and true. Why?

So that the name of Jesus is glorified. Therefore, while we don’t find our identity in any of the works we do––we do find great joy in seeing the Lord transform us, reorient us, and restore us in ways that show how good and beautiful he is.

For those who know him, Jesus is our hope. Jesus is our peace. Jesus is our joy. And all of this is because God has been glad to send Jesus as the way he shows his love for the world.

You might think of sheep as kind of cute, cuddly things and shepherds having a kind of noble profession. But that was not the reality when this was written. Shepherds were thought of as outcasts––gruff, crude, and often violent––and they were thought of as dangerous and outsiders quite often in this time.

Where do you find peace? Stop and think about it. What are the spaces and places and people and circumstances that bring you peace? All of those are likely good things. Good gifts from a good God meant to give us a taste of the shalom that was here before the world began.