April 9

Luke 24

After Jesus rises from the dead, He appears to a number of His disciples.

INSIGHT

The most reasonable explanation for the empty tomb is the Resurrection. If, as some have claimed, Jesus had not been killed but only weakened by the crucifixion, the stone and the soldiers would have prevented His escape from the tomb. If Jesus’ friends had tried to steal the body, the stone and the soldiers likewise would have prevented them. Jesus’ enemies would not have taken the body, since a missing body would only encourage belief in His resurrection. The easiest way to quiet claims of His resurrection would have been to produce the body. This they could not do. The angel said, “He is not here, for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:6). Since Jesus predicted and experienced His own death, burial, and resurrection, we can trust Him with our lives.

PRAYER

The Lord can be trusted with our lives because of His own life, and we praise Him:
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works…
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You (Psalm 9:1, 9-10).

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression (Psalm 19:12-13).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (John 6:37).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:

Greater love for the lost
The work of missions in Africa
Your activities for the day

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands (Psalm 90:17).