David wrote Psalm 101. He purposed to live a life of integrity in several different ways. Today, I pray these words with authority as a Christian to our powerful God who will continuously help us in every of moment of this day to do the right thing.

Psalm 101 ~

When Jesus walked this earth, He was God in human form. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness (New Living Translation) from God. Long ago, with God, He created the world. But most sadly, He was rejected by God’s own people, the Jews. They were the ones who said to crucify Him. Jesus was beaten and whipped and then painfully died on the cross. But before that He was rejected…insult was added to injury…His own people screamed the words to the ruler, Pilate, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” when He had not committed any kind of crime.

John 1 ~

¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ So the Word became human^[a] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.^[b] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

The beginning of the book of John has several powerful, thought-provoking verses. It’s as if, you need to read a single verse and then dwell on it before you go to the next. The verses give answers to deep questions such as Jesus exsisted before He came to this earth. Jesus was human form of the Word of God. God and Jesus are so intertwined that the world was created by God through Jesus. Jesus gave life to the world.

John 1 ~

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
² He existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,^[a]
    and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.^[b]

Shout it out loud with great gladness that God is faithful throughout all your generations (if you allow Him to be)!

Psalm 100 ~

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
²     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.^[a]
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Three days after Jesus died, He came back and met some of His followers as they were walking. They didn’t recognize Him but He talked with them for awhile. He even spoke of the prophecies that were fulfilled.

What a great privilege it would have been to have the Lord Himself describe how He completed what the Old Testament said would happen. The conversation was firsthand from the One who fulfilled it. When I get to Heaven I want to find those followers to ask them how it felt to talk to Jesus at that time!

Luke 24 ~

¹³ That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. ¹⁶ But God kept them from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”

They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. ¹⁸ Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”

¹⁹ “What things?” Jesus asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people.²⁰ But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. ²¹ We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.

²² “Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. ²³ They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive!²⁴ Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”

²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. ²⁶ Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” ²⁷ Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

The Israelites all worshiped other gods but then other people went to war against them. They were desperate and cried out to the one true God and He heard their cry.

Judges 6 ~

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. ⁷ So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead).⁹ The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.

The Israelites were in great distress.¹⁰ Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”

¹¹ The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹² the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. ¹³ Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

¹⁵ But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” ¹⁶ Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

After Jesus died on the cross, it’s interesting to notice the responses of those observing. Luke 23 gives us an opportunity to people watch, right after the most important deed in all of human history occurred.

Here are some of those responses ~

1)The Roman soldier who oversaw His death acknowledged His innocent

2)The crowd who saw Him left in deep sorrow

3)Jesus’ disciples and friends stood watching from a distance

4)a man named Joseph of Arimathea, who was also a member of the Jewish high council but disagreed with the decision to crucify Jesus, went to Pilate (the leader who allowed Him to be crucified) and asked for His body.

5)women who were Jesus’ friends followed the body of Jesus to the tomb in order to prepare it for burial with spices and ointment

Luke 23 ~

⁴⁷ When the Roman officer^[b]overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.^[c]” ⁴⁸ And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.^[d]49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

⁵⁰ Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, ⁵¹ but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. ⁵² He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³ Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. ⁵⁴ This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation,^[e] as the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵ As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.

Jesus chose when to end the pain He endured on the cross.

Luke 23 ~

⁴⁴ By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. ⁴⁵ The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!”^[a] And with those words he breathed his last.

All nations, honor God! He created the world. Ultimately, it all belongs to Him.

Psalm 99 ~

The Lord is king!
    Let the nations tremble!
He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
    Let the whole earth quake!
² The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem,^[a]
    exalted above all the nations.
³ Let them praise your great and awesome name.
    Your name is holy!
⁴ Mighty King, lover of justice,
    you have established fairness.
You have acted with justice
    and righteousness throughout Israel.^[b]
5 Exalt the Lord our God!
    Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!

Sing to God.

Psalm 98 ~

4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
    break out in praise and sing for joy!
⁵ Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and melodious song,
⁶ with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
    Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!