Devotional Guide for Thursday, April 6

John 19:1-16

Reflect
As I was reading today’s passage, I was reminded of a phrase “This is the Way” that is used in the show Mandalorian. They use the phrase to remind them of the creed they choose to live by.
The chief priests, Pilate, and the crowd all had an idea of how today’s narrative should turn out. They all had their own motives for the end result. There was only one way it should go. Jesus also knew how the events would go, but for Jesus, He understood that ultimately it all rested with God. “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” (v11)

The chief priests and Pilate were reacting out of fear and the unknown of what would happen to them if they allowed Jesus to go unpunished. Jesus surrendered His life and outcome to God because He knew He could trust God.

This passage reminds me to check my motives; ask myself why I am pushing for or wanting a certain outcome to the events in my life. Is it out of fear and a desire to control my own story, or am I willing to trust God with my whole life?

Pastor Terry

Missionary of the Week, Joost & Cheryl Pikkert (Wycliffe)
Over the past several decades many Wycliffe Bible translators have worked with national mother tongue speakers from all over the world.  These Africans, Asians, North and South Americans, Pacific Islanders and Aboriginals have sped up the task of global Bible translation but this success has incurred another challenge: the lack of highly trained Bible translation consultants necessary to check the quality of these newly drafted Bible translations.  The new translation drafts need to be checked for accuracy, clarity, naturalness and acceptability by credentialed Bible translation experts before they are cleared for printing. After all, this is the word of God!! Joost and Cheryl Pikkert are engaged in trying to solve the shortage of Bible translation consultants by training Bible translation consultants around the world.  Their focus is to upgrade the skills of promising national mother tongue translators so that they in turn can become Bible translation consultants in their local geographical areas and so reduce the bottleneck to Bible translation being finalized around the world.