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This is an excerpt from “The Bible in a Year: A 52-Week Journey Through God’s Word,” written by the Spiral Bible team.

Biblical joy is a deep-seated contentment in God that transcends circumstances and emotions. It flows from our relationship with God and remains steady even in difficult times. Paul’s command to “rejoice in the Lord always,” establishes joy as more than an emotional response to favorable circumstances. This repeated instruction reveals that joy is a choice we can make regardless of our situation. Like a deep-water spring that flows regardless of surface conditions, Christian joy draws from a source deeper than circumstances…It isn’t about manufacturing happiness but drawing strength from God’s own joy over his people. Like a battery that energizes a device, God’s joy provides spiritual energy for life’s challenges and opportunities…Are we depending on circumstances for our joy, or have we learned to rejoice in the Lord regardless of conditions?… Let’s practice choosing joy as a deliberate response to God’s faithfulness, remembering that true joy flows from who God is rather than from what is happening around us.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! [Philippians 4:4]

Written by Paige Vanosky, a contemporary author and member of the Village Church.

Father, you know us fully. And you know that while many of us outwardly celebrate Jesus’ Easter resurrection, inwardly we wrestle with doubt—even disbelief—despite recognizing that it fulfills your promises throughout history. From the very beginning, in the Garden, you promised that one day you would provide a Savior to overcome the worst Satan could do—death itself. Throughout the history of your people, as revealed in the Old Testament, you promised this Savior would come through the line of Abraham and David, providing details of His birth and life. Yet, though Jesus fulfilled these promises and later told of His coming death in Jerusalem, we admit to experiencing doubt. Even though His miraculous resurrection from death occurred during the commemoration of the Jews’ miraculous deliverance from death, we sometimes struggle to believe. Thank you, Father, for meeting us where we are, just as Jesus did with the disciples—showing His scars to quiet their doubts, speaking words of peace to calm their fears, and giving them space to wrestle with what seemed the impossible. Please transform us daily through an ever-increasing belief in your resurrection. Help us to trust you more, to believe you more deeply, and to follow you more faithfully each day. In your precious name we pray, Amen.

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! [Mark 9:24]

Written by John Sherrill, a contemporary author.

It’s Monday, the day after Easter.  Yesterday, when the children and grandchildren left, my wife, Tib, and I went through the usual post-holiday letdown. We coped with it as we always do–cleaning up. I collected left-behind jellybeans before they could be trod into the rug, picked up a ball of colored foil where someone had missed a wastebasket, found a half-eaten chocolate rabbit under one of the kids’ beds. Tib gathered the wicker baskets and carried them up to the attic, then got out the vacuum cleaner and attacked the escaped Easter grass.  How did the shiny green strands get so far from the bedrooms where we had unpacked the baskets? I plucked a couple from the back of the sofa in the living room, found one on my sweater sleeve, even extracted one from the butter dish. But Tib and I didn’t give up; we searched and swept until eventually we had picked up the very last one. And then last night, as I started upstairs to bed, a green sliver winked at me from the riser. It’s been the same this morning. I’ve found three strands already in places where I’d already looked. I was getting exasperated with the stuff until I thought, Wait! Aren’t these the little tokens I used all last week to assure me that–whatever the grief or frustration or disappointment–Easter will come? Maybe I should change my attitude about these elusive strips of grass mysteriously popping up at unexpected times and places. Last week, I chose these spots as forecasts of the Easter message. Suppose I let the grass choose for me now. Suppose in the future, each time I catch sight of a piece of it, I let it remind me that Easter is not a day. It’s a promise.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. [Romans 8:11]

Written by Noelle Kirchner, a contemporary writer.

Almighty God, today we rejoice with all of heaven: Jesus is risen! The grave could not hold Him, death could not defeat Him, and sin has lost its power forever. Because He lives, we have hope; because He conquered death, we have victory; because He reigns, we have nothing to fear.  Fill our hearts with resurrection power, renew our spirits with Your love, and let us walk boldly in the freedom Christ has won for us. May our lives declare the truth: He is risen! He is risen indeed! In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen!

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. [Matthew 28:6]

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?

A 19th-century African American spiritual, that was the first spiritual included in a major American hymnal (in 1940).

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. [Acts 2:23]

Written by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

From one viewpoint the death of Jesus was a tragedy. Here was a Man who had gone about doing good and urging people to turn to God—and yet His life came to an abrupt end because some people saw Him as a threat to their way of life. But from another viewpoint, the death of Jesus was the greatest event in human history—and the reason is because through His death we can be saved. You see, only one thing separates us from God, and that is our sin. But sin is very serious, because it means we aren’t only separated from God right now, but we will be separated from Him forever…How can our sins be removed? How can the gulf between us and God be bridged? We can’t do it ourselves; no matter how good we are, we can never measure up to God’s standard, which is perfection. Our only hope is for God to intervene and save us—and that is what happened on Good Friday! By His death on the cross, Jesus became the final sacrifice for our sins. We deserved to die for our sins—but Christ died in our place. Yes, we call it Good Friday because on that day our salvation became a reality. What happened then was truly good—and Jesus did it out of love. Don’t turn away from His love, but by a simple prayer of faith open your heart and life to Him today. Find peace with God today.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 6:23]

Painted by Margot Wallace from the Village Church

Written by the team at Spoken Gospel, an organization that supports Bible readers in understanding the Bible.

1600 years ago Christians began calling the last days of Jesus’ life “Holy Week.” “Maundy” comes from a Latin word that means covenant. Maundy Thursday remembers the day Jesus shared a final meal with his disciples and gave them a new covenant… Maundy Thursday is good news because Jesus announces that the darkness and disappointment of these final hours will lead to freedom and a Kingdom. Just as bread cannot be eaten until it’s broken and wine cannot be drunk unless it’s poured, a covenant cannot be made without blood…On this day Jesus promises that he will bear the cost for our covenant of freedom. Just as Israel was freed from slavery by the blood of a lamb, we are freed from slavery by Jesus’ blood. He is the firstborn son who was lost so that we are no longer captive to this world’s powers, temptations, sins, and consequences. Because of Maundy Thursday we are free citizens of Jesus’ new eternal Kingdom. So, I pray that on this Maundy Thursday you will accept Jesus’ body and blood as a new covenant—God’s promise to free you and bring you into his Kingdom,

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,  and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  [1 Corinthians 11:23-26]

Written by Margot Wallace from the Village Church

For me, Easter is a time for renewal of faith, a refreshing of the Earth, and a rebirthing of nature in all her majesty!  Jesus Christ came to Earth to teach us God’s ways and then stooped down to a humiliating death on the cross. But he stooped to conquer, much as the doldrums of Winter are always overcome by Springtime. He rose again in triumph over sin, death, and Satan. His resurrection is the guarantee of the resurrection of all who believe in Him. It is like the light appearing at the end of the tunnel, dispersing the total darkness that engulfs us. The resurrection enables us to see our way forward. Why do I have faith in this hopeful view? I am sure of it because the Holy Spirit has brought the atmosphere and love of heaven to us here and now!

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us [Romans 5:5]

Written by James S. Stewart (1783-1858), a Baptist minister and county judge.

We take a Red Cross, and with it symbolize the ministry of healing. Our poets and hymn-writers sing to us of “the wonderous cross,” “the blessed cross.” But all this ought not to hide from us the fact that originally the cross was a thing unspeakable, shameful, and degrading. “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree,” said Paul, quoting Deuteronomy. That was how Jewish feeling expressed it; and Roman sentiment the same. “This cruelest, most hideous of punishments,” said Cicero, using words in which you can almost hear the shudder—“crudelissimum taeterrimumque supplicum.” “Never may it,” he said elsewhere, “come near the bodies of Roman citizens, never near their thoughts or eyes or ears!” Devised in the first instance in semi-barbaric Oriental lands, death by crucifixion was reserved by the Romans for slave and for criminals of the most abandoned kind. It was a fate of utter ignominy…That the Messiah should die such a death was utterly beyond belief. Yet so it was. Everything which Christ ever touched – the cross included – he adorned and transfigured and haloed with splendor and beauty; but let us never forget out of what appalling depths He has set the cross on high.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. [Hebrews 12:2]

Written by Pete Byma, a contemporary pastor.

As this season of Lent continues, we come closer and closer to the dangerous cross. We realize that Jesus Christ paid an enormous price for our salvation. And he did so willingly as he resolutely set out for Jerusalem. As the Anointed One (Messiah), Jesus was obedient to God the Father. As our chief Prophet, Jesus revealed to us the will of God concerning our salvation. As our only High Priest, the one sacrifice of his body paid the penalty for our sins. And today as our eternal King, he governs us through his Word and Spirit, always defending and preserving us for work in his kingdom. God calls us to join in this holy work as prophets, priests, and rulers serving the King. We too are anointed and share in this grand work of redeeming love. As we worship, pray, share his good news, and bring blessing to others, we grow nearer to God and help to bring others into his presence. The words of Jesus in today’s verse remind us that if we shy away from the things of God’s kingdom, we will miss out on the full life God intends for us. If we accept and embrace our Spirit-led and true identity, we will experience everlasting life in Jesus Christ. As we proceed toward becoming more like Christ, we may lose our life as we now know it, but we will gain so much more—eternity with him.

Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. [Luke 17:33]