Daily Devotional For Sunday, April 5, 2026

Good morning and it is Easter? JESUS AROSE FROM THE GRAVE!! Easter is about hope. Easter is about forgiveness for our sins. Without the Resurrection, all of us are still spiritually dead in our sins. We have no hope. 

Some of you may be familiar with the name Lance Armstrong. He is a gold-medal winning cyclist and a Tour-de-France winner. In 1996, he was diagnosed with  metastatic testicular cancer. He eventually had more tumors found in his lungs and brain. He had to endure multiple massive doses of radiation and chemotherapy following his surgeries. He was left bald, weakened, and without a career. But through all of this, he said, he was never hopeless. He said it was hope that got him back on his cycle. It was hope that motivated him to compete in racing without a sponsor. It was hope that pushed him to exercise. He never gave up and he never quit.

When I think of Easter, of the Resurrection, I think of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. You know the story. He, being the youngest of two sons, asked his father for his inheritance. His father gave it to him. He left and wasted his life in a very sinful lifestyle. With all his wealth gone, he found himself in a pigsty starving and even the feed for the pigs looked good to him. He knew as a Jew he had fallen to an all-time low. Jews considered pigs unclean and they were forbidden by God in the Old Testament law to eat their meat. To even be around a pig, meant he was unclean. 

In the midst of all of this, he had an epiphany. Jesus tells the story this way in Luke 15:17-19, “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18) I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, (19) and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant’” (NASB). “When he came to his senses . . .” Meaning – he had a moment of hope because he knew his father’s character.

You know how the story ends. It ends with him coming back to his father in humility, confessing his sin and simply asking his father to let him be around his father’s presence. When the father saw his son coming, he could see the humility and brokenness in his face. He ran to this son, something no Jewish father would ever do to a sinful son. His father ordered His servants to throw a celebration party. Jesus puts it this way in Luke 15:24, “For this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began” (NASB).

It has been said that we can live without food for about 30 days. We can live without water for about 7 days. We can live without oxygen for about 6-7 minutes. But, we can live only about a second without hope. God is not in heaven waiting to hit you with His hand for your sin. He hopes you will repent so that He can give you hope for all eternity. 

When Jesus died on the cross, all the hopes of all the disciples and everyone died also. When word of the Resurrection from the women, even though the testimony of women was culturally unacceptable, Peter and John ran to the tomb. Why? HOPE! Hope is powerful. It can keep a person from committing suicide but it can also make them misty-eyed to the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. 

Reflection Assignment: On Easter Sunday, Peter and John ran to the empty tomb? This Easter, what are you running to in life? Do you hope it is enough to get you through life? Do you have hope that all your sins, failures, mistakes, etc. have been forgiven by Christ? Would you say this Easter you are living in your own tomb of hopelessness or are you living life fully in the hope of your salvation?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I want my hope In You and only in You Lord. This Easter 2026, I am all in for You. Like the prodigal son who came home to his father with hope, I come to You this Easter in hope. I know I do not deserve Your grace, forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation, but I praise You that You welcome me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly