He is risen, indeed

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Past the Palms...

 When celebrating Palm Sunday, it's hard not to look beyond the day's triumphant entry and on to the night when many from the same group became part of a lynch mob (Mark 14). How do God's good people so quickly become angry enough to murder the very Son of God? Can you think of a time when you found yourself swept up a in crowd and began to adopt the crowd's emotion and bad behavior?

Loving in-bounds

 Most Christians believe that they are called to love. In his letter, John compares the kind of love we should have to the love Christ showed us (1 John 4:7-12). We might remember that Christ gave His love to everyone, including those who were not behaving in the ways He prescribed. What limits your love for others? What gender, political, or personal expectations do you require to love another?

When your religion requires a temple

 When Christ preached that the temple of God would be desecrated (and destroyed), the religious leaders were so angry the plotted to kill him (Mark 13-14). Their response makes us wonder if they were worshipping God or their ceremonies and artifacts. What would prevent you from worshipping God? 

Judging the sprout

 Jesus warns of those who pretend to be speaking for God, but are really just using God's name to gain wealth or power (Matt 7). In our fast-paced world, we might be a little too quick to judge who is 'good' and who is 'bad.' Jesus speaks of judging the tree, or the person, by what they produce. Farmers know that it takes time for fruit to form, and maybe we would all do well to slow our judgement until the fruit is formed.

The 'help meet' helper

 The word "help meet" used in Genesis 2 has often been used to assign a lesser role to Eve, as though she were an intern or assistant. A closer look at how the same word is used throughout the old testament points a helper as in a rescuer, or like God coming to the aid of Israel like in Deuteronomy 6. Can you think of anyone you consider 'lesser' and with whom you might need to rethink your relationship?

How do you measure God's love?

 Most Christians eventually begin to wonder how much God loves them, and if they should perform certain acts to gain more of Gods' care and provision. In 1 Corinthians, we are reminded that God's ways won't make sense to us, and instead of comparing ourselves, we can accept the love God provides and let it motivate us to act out the gospel everyday. Can you think of times when you thought you needed to win God's love?