101 Devotionals for Boys from the Lives of Great Christians and 101 Devotionals for Girls from the Lives of Great Christians will both be published in 2017. We’re publishing one or two devotionals a week to give you a taste of what you’ll get in those two gift books. This one is based on a story from Lights in a Dark Place: True Stories of God at Work in Colombia (Hidden Heroes #5).
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“Why do you say Jesus died on purpose?” one kidnaper demanded from missionary Russell Stendal. “It would have been good enough just to give us a message about mercy and love. If I were God and came down to earth, I wouldn’t let anyone nail me to a cross! I would have called down all the angels and defended myself. An all-powerful God wouldn’t have let himself be put to death. This shows that you made up this story. It’s a story for weaklings and fools!”
The kidnaper had no understanding at all about God’s love for sinners. That’s the reason Jesus died.
Russell prayed. Finally he said, “Jesus died because we’ve all been kidnapped.” He looked at their hopeless faces. “We’ve been kidnapped by our own selfishness and pride. But Jesus came to die and pay the price of all our sin and rise again to break the power of sin and death. He came to set us all free.”
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” ~I John 4:9
Lord God, thank You so much for sending Jesus to die for us. Lord Jesus, even though You are the all-powerful God, You allowed Yourself to be put to death to set us free. Thank You.
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