Zechariah served in the temple. He had a wife named Elizabeth. They loved God but we’re old and had no children. God blessed them to have a baby. The baby would be called John.

John prepared the way for Jesus when He began His ministry.

When their baby was born Zechariah spoke these words of blessing over his new baby.

Luke 1:

⁶⁷ Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

⁸⁰ John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.

God used the humble, young, teenage girl Mary to make the impossible reality. The Holy Spirit came upon her before she married her future husband Joseph. Thus, she brought Jesus, the Savior of all humanity, into the world.

Luke 1:

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. ²⁸ Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,^[a]favored woman! The Lord is with you!^[b]”

²⁹ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.³⁰ “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.³² He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ And he will reign over Israel^[c] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For the word of God will never fail.^[d]”

³⁸ Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

³⁹ A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town⁴⁰ where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴² Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. ⁴³ Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?⁴⁴ When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. ⁴⁵ You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

⁴⁶ Mary responded,

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.

At the beginning of the third Gospel in the New Testament, the writer, Luke, was writing a letter to a man named Theophilus. Luke’s intentions were to tell him all the details he knew of Jesus’ life. These first words of the book of Luke are sweet to me because I, too, am a writer of the story of Jesus. I love thought of relating to the excitement of Luke as he began his writing adventure. He scrutinized and then carefully gave an account of Jesus, the Son of God, as He carried out His mission of being human like all of us.

Luke 1:

1 Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. ² They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.^[a]3 Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, ⁴ so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.

God hears our cries of distress.

Psalm 55:

But I will call on God,
    and the Lord will rescue me.
¹⁷ Morning, noon, and night
    I cry out in my distress,
    and the Lord hears my voice.
¹⁸ He ransoms me and keeps me safe
    from the battle waged against me,
    though many still oppose me.
¹⁹ God, who has ruled forever,
    will hear me and humble them.
For my enemies refuse to change their ways;
    they do not fear God.

Jesus was in full control when he allowed the Jews to falsely convict Him and then put Him on the cross. He chose the moment he breathed His last. He could have called armies of angels to rescue him. He fixed His human mind on the goal to be achieved and the joy He would have when His mission was complete. He lived a sinless life and then He offered Himself up as the final and ultimate sacrifice to cover every sin that could ever be committed so that any human, so choosing, could have a close relationship with God.

I wish the chilling yet profound realization of the Roman soldier would be the conclusion and opinion of every soul on this planet. Then revival truly would come.

So, I pray for this Easter, great revival would come and human souls everywhere would realize Jesus truly is the Son of God!

Mark 15:

³³ At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. ³⁴ Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”^[a]

³⁵ Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. ³⁶ One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”

³⁷ Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸ And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

³⁹ When the Roman officer^[b] who stood facing him^[c] saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰ Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph^[d]), and Salome. ⁴¹ They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.

⁴² This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation,^[e] the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached,⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.)⁴⁴ Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. ⁴⁵ The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.

In the Old Testament in Psalm 53, David wrote of how God was seeking even one single person that was good. He found none.

But His Son, Jesus, in the New Testament, was a human on this earth without sin. So when we let Jesus rule our lives God accepts us as righteous.

Psalm 53:

When Moses was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land, his sister Miriam and his brother, the priest, Aaron came to him criticizing him for who he married.

The Bible says Moses was the most humble, meek man on earth. God spoke mainly to him as he led. God was angry with Moses’ siblings because of their unnecessary criticism.

Being human, we all need to keep a close check on our humbleness. What’s the reading on our humble meter? God speaks to and can use humble people. There are so many ways to get prideful. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

Numbers 12:

 1 While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. ² They said, “Has the Lordspoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lordheard them. ³ (Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.)

⁴ So immediately the Lord called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “Go out to the Tabernacle,^[a] all three of you!” So the three of them went to the Tabernacle. ⁵ Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[b] “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward. ⁶ And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say:

⁹ The Lord was very angry with them, and he departed. ¹⁰ As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy.^[c] When Aaron saw what had happened to her, ¹¹ he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed. ¹² Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth.”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!”

¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.”

¹⁵ So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again. ¹⁶ Then they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

The most humble people are like words in the parenthesis…beneficial to all but not wanting the main attention.

1Peter 5:

⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

⁸ Be ^[c]sober, be ^[d]vigilant; ^[e]because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. ¹⁰ But ^[f]may the God of all grace, who called ^[g]us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, ^[h]perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.¹¹ To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In the Bible, God said King David was a man after His own heart except for the situation in which he committed adultery with the wife of one of his most dedicated warriors. And then had the warrior killed on the frontlines of a battle. A prophet came to David spoke a parable about a family’s well-loved lamb that was taken by a selfish rich person. The story angered David then the prophet Nathan told him the story related to him. Then David admitted the great sin of adultery he had committed.

David wrote many Psalms. He loved music. He played the harp and was a songwriter. The Bible calls songs Psalms. I imagine he was a man with big emotions. The best songwriters are like that. The songwriter and piano player Billy Joel is very famous. He once told how some of his greatest songs came from hard times he was working through. He took his emotions and put them into words and made a popular hit out of them.

I surely never want to fall into a trap of a great sin like David. His situation should be thoroughly studied to make us more aware of the temptation to sin. He wrote out his regrets and begged God to forgive him. And his descendents also committed adulterous type sins but in a greater capacity. I know I can do wrong. I just don’t want to have to work through harder times because in a moment of weakness, sin got the most of me. It is a great benefit to study every aspect of what David did so we don’t falter like him.

So, I cry out to God today.

Heavenly Father,

I thank you that I’m hidden Christ. So is my family. We are aware that our enemy, the adversary of our soul  wants to destroy us and our representation of the Gospel. Oh, God, protect us and in times of temptation we realize our enemy, and we submit to you and we resist the devil and he is FORCED to flee! Thank you ahead of time, Heavenly Father, victory is ours because greater is He who is in us, that is Jesus Christ our Lord!, than he who is in the world. Amen!

Psalm 51:

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Moses was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. Then they bagan to complain. Moses was frustrated and he cried out to God. The Spirit of God was on Moses. God told Moses to gather leaders and He would place His Spirit upon them also to help him with the burden of all the people who were whining.

Numbers 11:

1Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped. ³ After that, the area was known as Taberah (which means “the place of burning”), because fire from the Lord had burned among them there.

⁴ Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. ⁵ “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. ⁶ But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”

⁷ The manna looked like small coriander seeds, and it was pale yellow like gum resin. ⁸ The people would go out and gather it from the ground. They made flour by grinding it with hand mills or pounding it in mortars. Then they boiled it in a pot and made it into flat cakes. These cakes tasted like pastries baked with olive oil. ⁹ The manna came down on the camp with the dew during the night.

¹⁰ Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated.¹¹ And Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? ¹² Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? ¹³ Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴ I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! ¹⁵ If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”

Moses Chooses Seventy Leaders

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle^[a] to stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone.

¹⁸ “And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. ¹⁹ And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. ²⁰ You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

²¹ But Moses responded to the Lord, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ ²² Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?”

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!”

²⁴ So Moses went out and reported the Lord’s words to the people. He gathered the seventy elders and stationed them around the Tabernacle.^{[b] 25} And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Then he gave the seventy elders the same Spirit that was upon Moses. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this never happened again.