I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20
“Our understanding, which is enlightened by the Spirit of truth, should receive with purity and freedom of heart the glory of the cross as it shines in heaven and on earth… How marvelous the power of the cross; how great beyond all telling the glory of the passion… Through the cross the faithful receive strength from weakness, glory from dishonor, life from death… God’s compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the righteous or the holy, but for the wicked and the sinful.”
Leo the Great (c. 400-461) in his Passion 8 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 300-301.
One of my favorite verses after Easter is today’s Scripture. Read it again.
From this verse, I receive the generous gift of strength from God to live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
He did this not because I was deserving, but because of His grace to me a sinner.
If you find yourself weary today, receive strength from the cross. Find strength to love the unlovable, serve the undeserving, and live by faith in hard times.
Jenni and I fly to Milwaukee to speak at the Fuel Conference tomorrow hosted by NCF Wisconsin and others.
Pray for us to help others find fuel from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us on the cross to live as generous sharers of life.