Easter Devotional
One-eighty ~ 180 ~ One-eighty
Larry Crawford, Minister, Open Arms Christian Fellowship

[March 31, 2015]  Do you need a change…a real lasting… for the better change? Are you discouraged… tried everything and nothing seems to work? Instead of things getting better, they seem to get worse? Or perhaps you feel like you have everything that should make you happy and yet there is something missing?

If you find yourself in one of these situations or in some other place, it is time for a 180. A 180 means to turn to face the opposite direction; a complete reversal in attitude; literally and simply – to turn around… it is time for a change… a turnaround for the better.

There is a word in the Bible calling us to make a 180. It is called repent. Repent often has bad connotations. We think of someone beating an individual over the head with the Bible. We get images flashing in our heads of a person waving a sign with the inscription “Turn or Burn!”… Someone yelling in what appears to be an angry voice, “Get Right or Get Left!” The focus often is on the negative instead of the positive of the word.

The word repent means “to change one’s mind; to turn from going one way and go the other.” It is a powerful positive word calling for a transformation for the better and even the best… God’s best for your life, which is the very best of all.
 

If we are turning away from something, what are we turning away from? We are turning away from trying to do it ourselves. We are turning away from failure, discouragement, depression; a good, even at its best, not as good as we think it is. We are turning away from sin and its lasting effects on our life.

What are we turning to?

We are turning to:
Grace – getting something we don’t deserve;
Mercy – not receiving what we do deserve;
Hope – real hope not wishful thinking;
Forgiveness – all our sins…no matter how bad…washed away in the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Most of all we are turning to the greatest love
ever known to mankind:
~ the Love of God ~

A sacrificial, unconditional love God demonstrated for us in sacrificing His Son for our sins.
A love He continues to pursue us.
A love born out of the desire for every one of us to experience His salvation…abundant life on the earth and eternal life in the new heaven and earth.
A love you can experience today…right now and for the rest of your life on earth and life after death.

Easter is what makes a 180 possible. Join us Easter Sunday at 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. and meet a lady tormented most of her life, always in search of relief…never able to find it. Until one day she met a man…different than any other man she ever met. You will meet a man who was full of doubts…perhaps you find yourself in this place.

Does God really exist? If He does, why am I going through this?

Even more importantly you will meet the One who can make the most difficult 180 not only a possibility, but a reality. One who loves you more than you know! One who believes the best when it comes to you and is committed to seeing you experience it.

Take time… make time to join us THIS EASTER April 5 at 311 Broadway. You’ll be so glad you did.