A Savior Is Risen: An Easter Devotional (40 Daily Devotions for Lent)

By Susan Hill

Do less. Connect more. This beautiful 40-day devotional for the Lenten and Easter season offers biblical reflections and full-color springtime photography to take you from burnout to burning a little brighter as you celebrate new life, fresh starts, and everyday redemptions.

It's a distracted world out there. Maybe you find yourself scrolling more than savoring, texting more than resting, and rushing instead of taking a deep breath. The things you thought would bring connection make you feel more disconnected than ever, with a good dose of exhaustion thrown in. It's time for a reset.

A Savior Is Risen is a 40-day journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter morning, a call for you to quiet your mind and soul as you focus on Jesus and His resurrection.

In this gorgeous devotional, you are invited to:

• Experience the Easter season with fresh eyes and an expectant heart
• Practice a modern-day fast from the things distracting you from God
• Reflect on Jesus' life and Resurrection
• Draw closer to God through silence and reflection
• Let go of stress and embrace grace

 

Each day's entry includes:

• A word that embodies the spirit of Easter
• A brief reflection on integrating that word into your life
• A Scripture passage for meditation
• A prayer to bring peace to your mind
• Bright springtime photography that captures the beauty of new life

 

A Savior Is Risen is ideal for anyone wanting permission to slow down, as a gift for someone looking for spiritual renewal, or as a beautiful book to display as a reminder of God's promises. So grab your morning coffee or afternoon chai, and feel your spirit settle as you immerse yourself the ultimate new beginning God has given us all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Jan 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9780310463221

Susan Hill

Susan Hill is a writer and Bible teacher with an MA in theology and a BS in journalism. She and her husband, John, live in Nashville, Tennessee, with two unruly goldendoodles. 

Book preview

Introduction

It’s impossible to overstate the significance of Easter. After all, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the foundation of the Christian faith. But, if we’re honest, the magnitude of it all is challenging to wrap our minds around. To attempt to understand the depths in one sitting would be like taking a sip of water from a fire hydrant—it’s too much! To engage fully, we need time to prepare our hearts and minds. The good news is that the Lenten season provides that opportunity.

A Savior Is Risen invites you to slow down and focus on your faith. Spending just a few minutes each day will allow you to read a scripture, ponder the meaning, and reflect on how it impacts your life. As you focus your thoughts on God’s redemptive story, by Easter Sunday you’ll be ready to celebrate the risen Savior like never before.

You might choose to use a journal during these forty days to record new thoughts and insights, or perhaps you’d rather just read along. There’s no way to do it wrong—the goal is to fix your gaze on Jesus. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, find your favorite chair, and let’s get started!

ONE

Simplicity

One thing I ask from the L

ORD

; this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the L

ORD

all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the L

ORD

and to seek him in his temple.

PSALM 27:4

Numerous things compete for our time and attention. Our days are filled with family responsibilities, tasks at work, errands, chores, and a constant stream of alerts coming to our phones, leaving us feeling pulled in several directions. Distraction is the new normal. Many of the things we are juggling are undoubtedly good things—but the pace is exhausting. Maybe it’s time to scale back. Simplifying doesn’t mean ignoring our responsibilities or backing out on commitments. It simply means refocusing our attention on God.

If the thought of simplifying makes you nervous, you’re not alone. In the Gospel of Luke, two sisters named Mary and Martha were hosting Jesus in their home. Martha was exhausted from her never-ending list of tasks, and she was irritated with her sister, Mary, who was just sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him teach. But when Martha complained to Jesus about her sister, Jesus gave her a response she didn’t expect.

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her’ (Luke 10:41–42).

If you’re wanting to simplify, Jesus encourages you to focus your gaze on one thing—Him! As you focus on Jesus, you’ll be better equipped to care for your people and meet your responsibilities.

Lord, teach me to prioritize my schedule in a way that reflects You as my main priority.

TWO

Quiet

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

PSALM 23:2–3

Spring brings the promise of warmer temperatures, blooming flowers, and fresh foliage. When winter clouds hide the sun, when the trees are bare, the birds have gone silent, and it’s cold outside, it seems unlikely that anything new is preparing to bloom. For a time, nature is quiet. To the naked eye, it appears that nothing is happening. But below the surface, a cycle is in motion, preparing new growth to appear in due season. In the quiet days of winter, growth and change are taking place.

Spiritually speaking, you, too, need quiet time to grow. Moments of stillness and silence are vital, because they give you time to evaluate your faith. They allow you the opportunity to contemplate where you’ve been and imagine where you want to go. Maybe you’re someone who embraces the hustle and the rapid pace most of us have grown