We have in front of our house a few wind spinners. They are colorful and stand around 5’ tall, moving in the slightest breeze in different directions. As I was praying about this week’s article and waiting on an answer, I was watching the wind spinners. One spinner has two wheels that turn, but I noticed that only one side spun freely in the breeze and the other side lamely rocked back and forth without ever completely catching the breeze. After a while I had to investigate. A month before, we had relocated the spinner from one area to another. In the move, we had laid the spinner on one side, never noticing that the side got bent out of shape in the process, causing it not to function as created.

As I was trying to bend the spinner back into position, I began to think about 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon [Jesus], for He cares for you.” As I contemplated this, I thought, “If this spinner is out of shape, how can it catch the wind? It can’t. How can it function as it should? It can’t.” I thought about “casting” your cares upon Jesus!  Cast means to throw off or away, to get rid of, to discard. We are instructed literally to not hold onto cares that weigh us down, but to take them off and give them to Jesus. I love how The Passion Translation words this, “Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.” It is okay to be concerned about things but not to be consumed with worry. When it changes your sleep patterns, your joy and patience, and negatively impacts everything around you, it is time to give it to Jesus. It’s like a T-shirt that Karen bought for me. It has a big red cross on the front and says, “I can’t— but I know a guy”. You can’t change your circumstances through worry, but I know a guy—Jesus. He can change things that you can’t, no matter how much you worry and stress about it!

Christian singer Chris Tomlin put it this way, “To cast your cares upon Jesus means to actively surrender your anxieties, worries, and burdens to Him, trusting that He is with you and will sustain you. This concept comes directly from 1 Peter 5:7, which reminds you that God cares for you deeply and intimately.” When worry, fear and stress get you bent out of shape, like our wind spinner, you too cannot function as God created you.

Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” How can you hold onto the peace Jesus gives you if you are wringing your hands in worry and stress? You cannot. Years ago, I was going through some hard things, and I cried out to the Lord, “Why won’t You take this from me?” He answered, “I want to, but you need to let go of it first!” He was right. There was nothing He could do as long as I kept holding onto it tightly! So do as I did—I got before the Lord, lifted up my clenched fists and opened them up to Him, releasing the things that I couldn’t change. I encourage you, too, to cast your cares to Him and leave them there. Refuse to pick them up again and see what the Lord will do for you!

-by Emil Liko 6/5/26

Definition of salvation as in rescue: the act of saving someone from sin or evil: the state of being saved from sin or evil. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 10:9 instructs us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, He comes into your heart! Yes, He does! But what does that really mean? Who did you just invite into your heart? I hope this helps!

When I was 11 years old, I went to Vacation Bible School. One day when my teacher was sick, we went in with the High School crowd. I felt intimidated, so I went to the top of the bleachers and hid behind a beam! Even though I was hidden from view, I could hear what the speaker was saying. He was talking about asking Jesus into your heart. He said, “IF you want this, then pray this prayer right now.” I repeated the prayer, and I meant what it! He then said that Jesus answered that prayer and came to live inside of anyone who prayed it—and because I prayed that prayer, I was now going to heaven. That’s all I knew! Remember, I was 11 years old! I had no idea the magnitude of who was now living inside of me! I knew from Christmas carols that He was the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Lamb of God and the Son of God. I knew Jesus was born of a virgin, crucified for my sins, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Over the years I came to know more and more about Jesus, who He is and who I am in Him. I soon realized that salvation (getting saved) was bigger than I ever imagined! And Jesus was much more than just getting-out-of-hell-free insurance!

Many people have that misconception—salvation is their safety net when they die. Yes, it does give us the right to heaven—we become children of God, our sins are forgiven, by His stripes we are healed. But it is so much more! Salvation is the right to call upon the Lord and know that He will answer. It is the right to have a relationship, a deep heartfelt mind-altering relationship, with Jesus. Salvation gives you the right to command demons to stop, give back, and come out in His name. Salvation gives you the right to become empowered by the Holy Spirit. Salvation is love, peace, security, safety, healing, and authority. Salvation gives you the right to come into the presence of the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth. It gives you the right to worship God, ask of Him, know Him, and understand Him.

Salvation gives you a first-hand look into the spiritual realm. It opens your eyes to see, your ears to hear, your heart to feel that which others cannot. Salvation is the key to unlock things you’ve never understood in God’s Word, the Bible. Salvation unleashes faith to operate in your life to know that which you have not known and to believe that which you have not seen. Salvation gives you the ability to stand and not get weary, to accept trials even though you don’t like them. It takes you places where you never before would have agreed to go and moves you to do things the world would call foolish. Salvation does not kick in at death—it’s a daily reminder of what is and what is yet to come. Salvation is not just insurance. It’s assurance of all the promises of God throughout the entire Bible. Walk daily in your salvation. It’s a right given by God. Salvation is a decision. Salvation is a lifestyle.

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, simply pray the following prayer from your heart: “Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart. Forgive me of all my sins and wash me totally clean. Be the Lord of my life. I give You permission right now to do whatever You need to do to make me the man/woman of God You’ve always called me to be. I thank You, Lord, that my name is now written in Your book of life and when I leave this earth, I will instantly be with You in heaven! Thank you, Jesus, for saving me!

-by Emil Liko 5/31/26

Acts 9:36-41 There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor…she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!” So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. He called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

I have prayed for two people who I saw raised from the dead. But I’ve prayed for many others who weren’t. I asked the Lord why? He said, “I told you to pray for the two, but I never told you to pray for the others!” I was praying in my own “power” which, without the Holy Spirit, is useless! I guess you could say my prayers were dead! Peter didn’t pray for Dorcas until he prayed and got instruction from God.

Acts 16:16-18 is another example. Luke writes: Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

Why the wait? I believe he was waiting on the Holy Spirit’s timing, waiting for the word from the Lord to tell him what to do. When he heard, then he acted! The trick of our enemy, Satan, is to try to get us to do things that the Lord never told us to do. Why? So we will think we failed and our faith will falter, to get us to fall into self-condemnation. Many people around the country call or email us, saying, “I have a prayer request for you.” They continue, “This is what I want you to pray…” and proceed to tell us word for word! We tell them, “If you heard, then you pray!” We can’t pray until God tells us how to pray. First we need to hear. Why? Because we can’t release our faith until we have the faith! When our words become more selective, then our prayers become more effective!

– by Emil Liko 5/22/26

Romans 5:3-4 “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”  Maybe you’re like me! When I used to read verses like this, enduring sounded like a negative thing. Endure means to experience pain and suffering patiently, for a long time without yielding, to bear up under hardship and persecution. I thought, “I just hope that I can endure so I can develop character so that I can find hope! So that I can make it through—I hope!” Sometimes we think it means that we need to reach the depths of brokenness to be able to get through, persevering in order to grow.

But recently God showed me something I’d never seen before: enduring is not about focusing on what we are to learn through the hardship. Sometimes people are just cruel! Or life is not fair! No other reason! Instead, God wants us to look at it as a time to spend in the arms of our Father, enduring the love of God, enduring the revelation of God, while getting to know His heart, hearing Him say, “I’m sorry! I know how much this hurts!”

Romans 5:5, The Passion Translation, has this perspective of the result of enduring: “And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”

When we go through hard times, we are often quick to share the details of the situation, but we forget to share the details of our time with Him through it. We spend so much time looking back at the difficulties, sometimes we miss how much He was with us, loving us through it. Through it, we learn how much Jesus is there for us. Through difficulties, our hearts learn how to love Him back through it. Take time to look back at a hard time until you can point to the Lord and say, “Ohhhh, I see You!”

Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Trials can be the most meaningful times of our lives with the Lord. We grow the most because we choose to obey His word. We choose to hang onto Him through it and not let go. Patience in tribulations produces trust in God at a much deeper level. This develops our character, making us believers in God’s Word which produces in us hope. Hope develops in our thoughts and emotions, convincing us that we will receive the blessings of God, just what He promised us.

The keys that unlock our endurance, and our joy, are knowing and standing on His promises by declaring His word. Believing and agreeing with heaven is where the power is; that’s where the authority comes from. What if our endurance is being stubborn about God? That’s how we become faithful and steadfast while empowered in the partnership of the Holy Spirit. And what if our endurance is being stiff necked and unbending about Satan? Becoming rigid and uncompromising about the things of the enemy?!

There is power when we fully believe through experience what the Lord said He can do, will do and has done for us. Our enduring is agreeing with the words of God in our situation instead of agreeing with the words of the enemy. If we learn to own the scriptures, then we can own the enemy.

By Emil Liko 5/1/26

Many people quote the Bible verse, “God won’t give you more than you can bear!” 1 Corinthians 10:13, right? Wrong! Why is it wrong? Because the Bible never says this! There is no verse in the Bible that says this! Go ahead, try to prove me wrong! People who are going through hard and difficult times try to make sense of what they are going through by saying, “Well, as the Bible says…!” Or people use this to comfort them, “The Lord won’t give you more than you can handle!” which usually only angers the person and makes things worse! Why does it make things worse? It’s simple! It’s just not true! This verse doesn’t exist and is therefore a total misquote and lie!

Revelations 12:10 refers to Satan as the accuser of the believers, accusing them day and night. He is an accuser who loves to accuse God as well, to get people to think it is God bringing death, destruction, sickness, pain, suffering, and torment on them. Satan wants you to believe that God wants to see just how much you can handle on your own! Satan loves for you to think you did something to cause this. And Satan loves for you to think that God doesn’t care and He won’t help you out of your crisis. The problem I have with this lie is that it keeps so many believers in bondage, feeling like failures and mad at God for putting them in this position. 

But 1 Corinthians 10:13 (Complete Jewish Bible) actually reads, “No temptation has seized you beyond what people normallyexperience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure.” It says God will not allow Satan to bring temptation or enticement to sin into our life that is too much for us to say no to. When we are tempted to sin, God will make a way for us to resist it. The Lord was talking about temptation,not the hardships of life! Jesus came to set us free, not to place hardships upon us! In Matthew 23:1-4, Jesus accused the religious leaders of doing this and condemned them for it! 

Instead, Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message Bible), “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it…I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

I myself have found comfort during hard times in Psalm 23:1-4,“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Jesus referred to Himself as the Shepherd and we are His sheep. The purpose of the shepherd was to protect the sheep when they got into trouble or when an enemy tried to attack them. The sheep would “baa”loudly, calling the attention of the shepherd, and he would immediately come to their rescue.

Psalm 46:1, The Passion Translation: “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble—more than enough and always available whenever I need you.“ So whenever life gets too hard, don’t run away from the Lord—run to Him. The Lord will pick you up and place you in His lap, hold you tightly and help you get through it! He has done it for me! He will do it for you!

By Emil Liko 4/24/26

John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” I’m sure that when many of you just read this verse, you moaned, “I have heard this so many times!” Please keep on reading! We live on an acreage with hundreds of trees around our house. Many branches have fallen over the years, but some are still partially attached to the tree. They are barely hanging on and even though they’re just dangling, some of the leaves are still green. These branches are easily swayed in all directions when the wind blows. Many people who stop on the roadside say they are Christians, but their lives are swayed this way and that as they struggle through life and wonder where God is. They’re angry and distressed and lost. When we ask them where Jesus is in their hearts, it turns out they have only a nominal investment in God. Jesus doesn’t want you to miss out by just barely hanging onto Him.

The Passion Translation explains further, “I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest…For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine…As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless.”

It’s time to stop and ask, “Lord, what part of my life is disconnected from You? Where has my life withered without You?” Why is this so important to the Lord? Consider what Jesus says in John 15:9, “I love each of you with the same love that the Father loves me.” That amazing statement got my attention! The same love with which the Father loves Jesus is the same love with which Jesus loves you and me! He wants us directly connected to love that is not short of anything! Does the love of the Father fall short with Jesus? No! Does the love of the Father grow weak over time? No! Does the love of the Father ever fail Jesus? No! The same for you! The Lord will never disconnect or neglect any portion of His love for you! Ever! You can’t sin your way or disappoint your way out of His love! Only one thing can separate you from the love of God–by dying without Him. John 3:16-18 Message, “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life…Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”

Don’t miss out on His love. Experience it personally, going beyond a knowledge of doctrine to an intimate experience of His love. How? Jesus tells us in John 15:10, “I continually live nourished and empowered by [My Father’s] love. My purpose for telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!”

To sum it all up: God so loved…that He doesn’t want you to miss out on it!

-by Emil Liko 4/17/26

The other day I decided to clean out our basement. I came across a box of painting supplies. As I looked through the brushes, scrapers and rollers, I began to recall the life I had when I was a house painter.  When Karen and I were the senior pastors of a church we planted in Idaho, people in our congregation who knew I had painted in the past would tell me, “You should go around town and paint people’s houses who can’t do it for themselves!” Their focus became more fixed on my former profession than on my new life as a pastor. They meant well, thinking that my past work would serve the community better than my new work. I did help many people paint, but one day the Lord said, “No one is getting set free by your painting. I called you to preach and to teach and to counsel people for Me!” So, I gave away all my equipment and quit referring to myself as a former painter. I now focused on the new path the Lord had us on.

The side mirrors on your car have the words, “Things in the mirror are closer than they appear.” This is so true of our past as well– following so closely behind us, just waiting for us to return to the old ways, instead of following our new ways. Jeremiah 29:11, Passion Translation: Here’s what Yahweh [the Lord] says to you: “I know all about the marvelous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. My intention is not to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope.”

When I was a younger Christian and life got hard, there was my old friend, my past life, standing with open arms, calling me back, and gladly accepted its comfort!  I drank to get drunk to forget my problems. One day, I was recounting my “good old glory days” to a group of truckers, and I cussed so bad they told me I offended them! That got my attention!  I realized they weren’t the good old days, just old days! Why was I so easily persuaded to go back? I decided then, “I’m not going back anymore.”

1 Kings 19:19-21 tells the story of Elisha, a man called by God to a new life, to be His prophet. Elisha was a farmer with oxen and a plow. So right there, right then, Elisha decided, “I am going to follow the new life God is giving me. There is no turning back and I am going to make sure to remove all temptation of going back to my old life.” How did he do this? He had a BBQ! He slaughtered the oxen, chopped up his plow, and used the wood to have a huge BBQ with his family and friends! He burned everything of his past life that could tempt him back to it, and headed down the road to his new life, plowing hard rocky hearts to bring a harvest for God! Never looking back!

Maybe you’ve been trying to return to your old life that wasn’t good for you but it’s not working anymore. Maybe you’re like the fishermen in Matthew 5:4-7. They fished all night without any luck. Then Jesus provided a catch so huge that their boats began to sink. They couldn’t deny the miracle so when Jesus said, “Follow Me,” they did! After three years walking with Him, what did they do as soon as Jesus was crucified? John 21:1-13: They thought, “We’re no longer evangelists, healers, and deliverers! Let’s go back to our old lives and fish.” Again, a night without a single fish. Again, Jesus provided a huge miraculous catch! When they got to Jesus on the shore, He was already cooking fish on a fire, but He told Peter to go get a few of the fish he had just caught. Why? Jesus had Peter bring Him their “old way of life” and burned it up in front of them, because they were never to return to it again!

-by Emil Liko 4/10/26

Matthew 28:5-7 (The Passion Translation) The women were breathless and terrified, until the angel said to them, “There’s no reason to be afraid. I know you’re here looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here—he has risen victoriously, just as he said! Come inside the tomb and see the place where our Lord was lying. Then run and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead! I give you his message: ‘I am going on ahead of you to Galilee, and you will see me there.’” (The Message Bible ends the verse with the angel saying, “That’s the message.”)

The most powerful message ever delivered! The most powerful message fulfilled! Jesus was crucified­­—beaten, nailed to a cross, murdered—all for our sins! He was taken down from the cross and placed inside a tomb. A huge boulder was sealed over the opening with Roman guards stationed in front to see that it wasn’t disturbed. Just as it was written by the prophets of the Old Testament, word for word! (Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.) Why were their words so important then and now? The Old Testament prophecies and the New Testament fulfillment came together in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Undeniable proof! I had a drafting teacher in High School. Every day he would have us repeat, “Your pencil never forgets!” Meaning, once you write it down, you can’t forget it! We used to mock him for saying it, but all these years later, it has proven true in my life.

The prophets understood what my teacher hammered into us, “Write it down and you’ll never forget!” So when Jesus kept saying, “The Son of Man [referring to Himself] will suffer and be crucified and on the third day will rise from the dead,” the disciples would have known and memorized those Old Testament prophesies. It was in writing that YES, Jesus would be back, resurrected in 3 days! It is written! He will rise! But when it actually took place, how could they have forgotten?! I love verse 6, “He is not here. He was raised, just as he said!” The angel was saying, “Remember?!” But that’s not all! The angel then says, “He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. That’s the message.” Why did he say, “That’s the message?” Simple! Dead people don’t pass on messages to us!

John 1:1 (Amplified Classic) In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.

Jesus is the Word. The words of Jesus and the deeds of Jesus were written down. It is as He said. Believe it, because it is written! Jesus gave us His Word: He loves you! He will forgive you for the asking! He will save you if you ask! How do I know? Open your Bible. Everything is written down! Read His Word for yourself! Apply it to your life! If the Bible says you are forgiven, then you are forgiven! If it says Jesus loves you, that’s because Jesus loves you! If it says He was dead and He is alive, sitting at the right hand of His Father, then that is where He is! Take Him at his Word!

The Angel came from Heaven with a message: Nothing to see here! There is no body in here. Jesus is not here. He’s risen. You can come in and see where he used to be, but He is gone! This boulder in front of this tomb couldn’t stop Him because death could not hold onto Him. Jesus is alive!

On our Easter Sunday, we celebrate that the Word, Jesus, walked out of the tomb just as He said He would! So open your Bible and let the Word come alive inside of you! The tomb is empty because He is alive and His Word is alive! Hallelujah!

-by Emil Liko 4/3/26

John 20:24-29 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

After Jesus rose from the grave, He came through the wall into the house where the disciples were gathered. Even though He had risen from the dead to life, Jesus still bore the wounds of being crucified. He told Thomas, “Put your fingers into the nail holes in My hands. Put your finger into the hole in My side!” His wounds were real! His crucifixion was real! His resurrection was real! With real visible proof! Proof that Thomas could not doubt! And Thomas believed!

1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of His followers at the same time…….

Jesus had to come back with convincing proof, not just for His disciples including Thomas, but also for the 500 people to whom He later appeared. Others may have been of the same mindset as Thomas, “Unless I stick my finger into the holes in His hands and His side, I will not believe it!” Jesus could not come back like nothing had happened to Him! Otherwise, there would be rumors, and the religious leaders would have been able to persuade people that it was all a hoax–just as easily as they had persuaded the crowd to demand that Barabbas be released and to crucify Jesus (see Matthew 27:15–26). Jesus had to be resurrected with the evidence of evil that was done against Him for our sin. Jesus was resurrected with the convincing proof of not only the crucifixion, but also of His resurrection.

Can you imagine being part of the crowd of 500 seeing the nail holes in Jesus’ hands and the hole in His side? Seeing Him standing there with the nail holes in His feet (Psalm 22:16)? Jesus overcame the grave; Jesus overcame death; and Jesus overcame all doubt of those who witnessed the proof, who would then believe, “Truly He is the Christ!”

People argue that the Bible can’t be true because it was written by many different people. Some say it was not God-inspired but the imaginations of the many authors. I can see where they can try to go with that, but too many people saw the proof of the nail holes in Jesus’ hands and feet and the hole in His side! There is no poking holes in this story! He is risen! Hallelujah!

-by Emil Liko 3/27/26

With Easter only a few weeks away, I asked Karen, “What do you want to do for Easter? Any family plans to get together? If not, do we want to buy something special to eat? Or is there some place special you want to go to after church for dinner?” I love Easter Sunday! Jesus resurrected! The stone rolled away! The empty tomb! His salvation is here! Rejoice! Woohoo! I AM FORGIVEN because of Easter! All of a sudden, I realized my thoughts were only on Easter Sunday! I began to think about all that Jesus did for us so we could celebrate Sunday with friends, family, special food, going to church!

My mind went to the 4-5 days leading up to Easter. And then I got out my Bible and turned to Isaiah chapter 53. My eyes fell immediately on verse 6, which I memorized as a child: “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” But the Lord had me go back to verses 3-4: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows acquainted with grief…He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” It hit me so hard—a Man of sorrows! A prophecy written 700 years before Jesus was born! Before Jesus was crucified and died!

At Easter, we focus on two days out of the entire life of Jesus: Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But God the Son walked on the earth for 33 YEARS. It’s true we don’t know a lot about the first 30 years before He began His public ministry, but we know what He endured those last 3 years by reading about His life in the first 4 books of the New Testament: Confronting the religious leaders who were bound by tradition and man-made rules, who tried to stone Him, throw Him off a cliff, then plotted His death. Loving the people, the crowds who one day loved Him for His miracles and the next day left Him because of the truth He spoke. He was misunderstood by his family and even his disciples misunderstood His mission. His words were continually twisted. He was hated, mocked and rejected. He suffered deep grief and wept over the things we weep over…death of our friends, rejection when we try to tell people truth and they refuse to consider it, betrayal by those closest to us. Finally He wept over Jerusalem, because they failed to respond to, or even recognize, the One sent to save His people, to reveal to them the character of the Father, to give them the true source of peace.

Maybe you’re in a state of personal anguish today. There’s something that is causing you a great deal of pain. Jesus has been there. He has walked in your shoes. Don’t think that God is disconnected from what you’re facing. Jesus has faced it. Today, the risen and living Jesus can enter into your suffering. He has experienced it. He understands. You’re not alone. Talk to Him. Let Him in to your pain, your grief, your sorrow.

“He was wounded for OUR transgressions, He was bruised for OUR iniquities; the chastisement for OUR peace was upon Him, and by His stripes WE are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Another translation says it more plainly, “He was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. He was beaten so WE could be whole. He was whipped so WE could be healed.” He endured years of sorrow to get to the cross. Why? He couldn’t stop thinking about YOU and ME.

-by Emil Liko 3/20/26