Easter Week- Day 4

        We created these daily readings for the week of Easter to help prepare our hearts to remember and celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus our Savior!  We encourage you to spend some time each day in these readings, not only reading them but processing their implications on your life and your love for God!

       This week you might notice that we are using palm branches in our Easter branding. This is because the crowds laid down palm branches before the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday believing that “Hosanna in the Highest” had come. This week lay down our praises believing that Jesus is Hosanna- the One who saves! 

“Great Exchange” 

In God’s mercy we are called forgiven, through His grace we are called righteous!

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” -2 Corinthians 5:21

      To be shown mercy means that you messed up in some way and did not receive the consequence you deserved. To be shown grace, on the other hand, means that you mess up and instead of receiving the due consequence, you received undeserved kindness! Through faith in Jesus we receive the mercy of God. We are not given what we deserve, punishment for our sin. Even more we receive the grace of God through faith. Instead of receiving the punishment we deserve for our sin, we are given the very righteousness of God that we did not deserve and could never earn on our own! Not only did Jesus take on our sin and it’s consequence, but He gave us His own righteousness. This is the great exchange… our sin for His righteousness!

Read:  Isaiah 53:11, 1 Peter 3:18
Day Four Account:  Matthew 26:6–16