Darkness falls

Isaiah 9:1 “Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever…”

Darkness falls over the Earth on Good Friday. God’s own Son goes to His death to save us from the darkness in our hearts. While He is walking out this terrifying mission, His followers seem to do everything they can to show how little we humans deserve the favor.

God is a God of Light: He can’t tolerate darkness, and darkness cannot survive in His presence. We, who have dark hearts full of sin, should tremble at this fact, but Jesus, who was completely good, took on our sin and stood under the wrath of God.

On the cross, He was destroyed and cut off from His Father. It was to have been our fate. In the midst of humanity’s own darkest hour, and in the face of His followers’ cowardice, selfishness and laziness, God does not cut us off. In His awesome mercy, He sends His own Son into the darkness so that we might live in the light.

Take some time to meditate on the following scripture passage.

Additional reading:

Mark 14.32-15:37

Please spend some time praying for the following:

Our heavenly Father sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved; that all who believes in Him might be delivered from the power of sin and death, and become heirs with Him of everlasting life.
Pray, therefore, for people everywhere according to their needs.
Pray for the Church of Christ throughout the world;
For its unity in witness and service
For all ministers and the people whom they serve
For all Christians in this community
That God will confirm His Church in faith, increase it in love and preserve it in peace.
Pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them; for all who serve the common good, that by God’s help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace.
Pray for all who suffer and are afflicted in body or in mind;
For the hungry and the homeless, the destitute and the oppressed
For the sick, the wounded and the crippled
For those in loneliness, fear and anguish
For those who face temptation, doubt and despair
For the sorrowful and bereaved
For prisoners and captives, and those in mortal danger
That God in His mercy will comfort and relieve them, and grant them the knowledge of His love, and stir up in us the will and patience to minister to their needs.
Pray for all who have not received the Gospel of Christ;
For those who have never heard the word of salvation
For those who have lost their faith
For those hardened by sin or indifference
For the contemptuous and the scornful
For those who are enemies of the cross of Christ and persecutors of his disciples
For those who in the name of Christ have persecuted others
That God will open their hearts to the truth, and lead them to faith and obedience.

prayer:

O God of unchanging power and eternal light: Look favorably on Your whole church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the working of Your providence, carry out Your plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down
are being raised up, things which had grown old are being made new, and that the weak and weary are being made strong. Though sometimes it is hidden to our eyes, these things are being done by the One through whom all things were made, Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Grant us patience, faith, courage, and hope worthy of eternity.