When Fear Closes the Door
Devotions this week are based on Week 1 How Would You Answer (WATCH HERE)
John 20:19 “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear… Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
It is striking that the first Easter evening is not filled with bold celebration but with quiet fear. The disciples have heard reports that Jesus is alive, but they are not yet living in the confidence of that truth. Instead, they are behind locked doors, trying to make sense of what has happened while also protecting themselves from what might happen next. Their fear is not imagined. Jesus was publicly executed, and they are closely associated with Him. In their minds, it is only a matter of time before someone comes for them.
There is something deeply human about this moment. When life feels unstable, we instinctively move toward control. We close doors, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. We limit exposure. We reduce risk. We retreat into spaces that feel manageable. Fear narrows our world, convincing us that safety is found in a place we feel we can control.
Yet the most important detail in this scene is not the locked doors but the fact that Jesus comes through those locked doors. Without knocking or waiting, He enters the very space defined by fear and stands among them. His first words are not correction or instruction but peace. He does not begin by fixing their situation but by giving Himself to them within it.
This moment reveals something essential about how God meets us. He does not wait for fear to subside before He draws near. He does not require clarity or courage before He shows up. He steps directly into the places we try to seal off.
He doesn’t change the circumstances, he rather steps into them with us. King David wrote in Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
The valley remains real, but so does the presence of God. Fear often tells us that we are alone, that we must manage life on our own terms, and that the safest place is behind whatever doors we can control. But the risen Jesus gently interrupts that narrative. He enters our fear and speaks peace, not because everything is resolved but because He is now present.
Today, consider the areas of your life where fear has led you to close off. Perhaps it is a conversation you have been avoiding, a situation you feel unable to control, or a burden you carry quietly. Rather than trying to manage it alone, imagine Jesus stepping into that space. His presence does not always remove the challenge immediately, but it does change how you experience it. You are no longer alone, and that reality begins to loosen fear’s grip.
Reflect: Where in your life have you “locked the door” because of fear? How might it change your perspective to recognize that Jesus is present in that very place?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you see the places where fear has caused me to retreat and close myself off, especially to you. Thank you for stepping into those spaces with your presence and speaking peace. Help me to trust that I am not alone and to open my heart to you even when I feel uncertain. Amen.
Filled with joy and confidence!
Devotions this week are based on Week 7 Temptation to Triumph: Triumph: Death Defeated! (WATCH HERE)
Matthew 28:8-10 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
The women left the tomb “afraid yet filled with joy.” Fear and joy exist together, but joy begins to take the lead.
Fear is real. The women had just experienced something overwhelming. They were expecting a tomb with a stone in front of it. Instead, they found an open tomb with angels appearing to them. And yet, joy was rising because of what they now knew. Jesus was alive!
Then Jesus meets them. Everything changes in that moment. They fall at His feet and worship.
Joy is not the absence of fear. It is the presence of something greater. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” That means joy grows as we focus on who He is and what He has done.
That joy drives life forward.
Jesus’ final words in this passage are clear. “Do not be afraid. Go and tell.”
The resurrection does not just comfort. It commissions. The women do not stay at the tomb. They move forward with purpose.
Romans 6:4 tells us that just as Christ was raised, we too may live a new life. That means your life now has direction. It is no longer about simply getting through the day. It is about living for Him.
In Acts 4:20, Peter and John say, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” That is what confidence in the resurrection does. It compels you. It moves you.
Think of a team that wins a championship. The victory changes everything. There is confidence, energy, and purpose moving forward. They do not live the same way they did before.
That is what the resurrection does for you. You live with the confidence that Jesus has already won. And that confidence shapes how you live and what you say.
Reflect: How has the resurrection changed your sense of purpose? Who is one person you could share hope with this week?
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you have given my life joy and purpose through your resurrection. Help me to live with confidence today. Open my eyes to opportunities to share your hope with others. Give me courage to go and tell. Amen.
Victory Validates Truth
Devotions this week are based on Week 7 Temptation to Triumph: Triumph: Death Defeated! (WATCH HERE)
Matthew 28:5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Before an athletic contest, there can be pundits who give predictions of the outcome and players that boast of a future victory. None of this is meaningless until the contest is over. Only victory will validate the truth of the claim.
At the resurrection of Jesus, the angel adds an important phrase. “Just as He said.” It is easy to slip by this little phrase and focus on the big point, Jesus was alive!. However, do not underestimate this reality: The resurrection is not just a miracle. It is a fulfilled promise.
The reality of the resurrection gives trustworthiness to all of Jesus’ claims and promises. He predicted this outcome in John 2.
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
When Jesus spoke these words, they did not make sense. But after the resurrection, everything clicked. The disciples remembered. They believed.
This is how trust works. When someone keeps their word in something big, it changes how you hear everything else they say. If Jesus was right about His resurrection, then He can be trusted in every promise He makes.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” That is not just a statement about the future. It is a statement about who He is right now. The resurrection proves He was telling the truth.
It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
If Joseph’s tomb held the body of Christ, the Christian faith crumbles. But since Jesus’ is alive, JUST as he said, ALL of Jesus’ and the Bible’s teaching about him are true and trust worthy. Jesus wasn’t just trash talking, he was promising. Jesus predicted His death and resurrection and then delivered on it. Victory validates truth!
Today, if you struggle to believe what God says, come back to the empty tomb. It is the ultimate evidence that His word is trustworthy.
Reflect: What promise of God do you find hardest to believe right now? How does the resurrection strengthen your confidence in that promise?
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you keep your promises. When I struggle to trust, bring me back to the truth of the resurrection. Help me to believe not just with my mind but with my life that your word is reliable and true. Amen.
Life Defeats Death
Devotions this week are based on Week 7 Temptation to Triumph: Triumph: Death Defeated! (WATCH HERE)
Matthew 28:5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
The angel’s words are simple and powerful. “He is not here; He has risen.” Death had fought its hardest, and it still lost.
The fact that Jesus defeated death is incredible. However, the resurrection is not just about Jesus being alive again. It is about what His coming back to life means for you. Paul writes, (Romans 4:25) “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Jesus fully dealt with your sin. Your standing with God has been secured.
Death is the great enemy we all face. It shows up not just at the end of life but throughout it. Brokenness, loss, regret, and fear all carry the weight of death. But 1 Corinthians declares that death has been “swallowed up in victory.”
Picture a fire that has burned everything in its path. It looks unstoppable. But then suddenly, it is extinguished. What once consumed everything is now powerless. That is what Jesus has done to death.
This changes how you live today. You are not trying to earn life. You have been given life. Romans says it is a gift. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23) That means you can live with freedom instead of fear, with hope instead of despair.
Today, when you feel the weight of something that feels like death or are facing the reality of physical death, remind yourself that Jesus has already overcome it. You are living from His victory, not toward it.
Reflect: Where do you feel the weight of death or hopelessness in your life right now? How does knowing Jesus has defeated death change the way you face that situation?
Prayer: Jesus, thank you that you did not stay in the grave. Thank you that your victory over death is my victory too. Help me to live today with the confidence that death does not have the final word in my life. Fill me with your life and your hope. Amen.
When It Feels Like You’ve Lost
Devotions this week are based on Week 7 Temptation to Triumph: Triumph: Death Defeated! (WATCH HERE)
Matthew 27:57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Matthew 28:1-6 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
The women came to the tomb carrying the weight of defeat. Jesus had died. Hope seemed gone. The story felt finished. Matthew tells us they came simply “to look at the tomb.”
That is what defeat does. It draws our eyes to what is over, what is broken, what cannot be changed.
We all have experienced that feeling. It might be a relationship that didn’t work, a decision we regret, or a situation that feels out of our control. Losing leaves us stuck staring at what we cannot fix wishing we could.
The cross was not symbolic. It was final. Jesus had died. According to many before him, he would stay dead.
It’s what happens as a result of sin. Romans reminds us that “the wages of sin is death.” That is the reality when we live apart from Christ. Death is not just physical. It is spiritual. It shows up in guilt, separation form God, and hopelessness.
For the women at the tomb, they would expect nothing different. Death was final. Jesus was dead.
Suddenly everything shifts. The ground shakes. The stone moves. The angel appears and speaks. “He is not here; He has risen!” Jesus’ resurrection interrupts the story. What looked final was not final. What felt like defeat was not defeat.
Sin and death were not going to have the final word. LIFE would!
Think of a game where your team is down with seconds left. Everyone assumes it is over. Then something unexpected happens. A last-second shot goes in. The outcome changes instantly. What felt certain is suddenly overturned.
That is Easter. Only this is not a game. This is life and death. And Jesus wins!
What feels final is not final when Jesus is involved.
Reflect: Where in your life do you feel like the story is already over? What would it look like to invite Jesus into that place of defeat today?
Prayer: Lord, you win! You carried my sin to the cross. You died in my place. YOU came out of the tomb alive. You win! Remind me today that victory wasn’t just for Easter Sunday, but for every day that follows, which includes today! Amen.