Pg 27-28
Luke 22:40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
This is Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemene, the most difficult hour of His entire life here on earth. This was the moment of His final decision to save all mankind by suffering on the cross, and even worse than that, He was separated from the Father, the first time ever, because of OUR sins!
Jesus told us to pray. He gave us the example of how we are to live connected with Him. He showed us victory in action.
If you want to know how…
Luke 22:41-43 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Joyce mentions pg 27, “When we are born again, we are not told to stop thinking. We are just told to start thinking a new way.”
“When we are born again, we are not told to stop deciding, to stop desiring, we are just told to surrender our will to God and decide to do what He desires, according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.” (And I would add, in accordance with the Scriptures…ALWAYS. The Holy Spirit will not lead us contrary to the written Word.)
So, back to Jesus, and us…
He kneeled down and prayed. He submitted His will to the Father’s will, and then an angel was sent to him to strengthen Him.
That looks like what we were told to do…
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We pray, we kneel, we submit to the Father’s will, and we resist the devil, or any temptation or thought that is contrary to God’s Word and then we are sent an angel to push back the devil from us, or even just our own selfishness. And we are lifted up back into His Presence and experience His peace.
Luke 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Jesus really suffered in that garden, as well as on the cross. It was a real struggle. It really cost Him something. So when we think it’s too hard to follow Him, too hard to do what He says, too hard to break from the world, too hard to break from sin or self or pride…this of this verse:
Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
What we have suffered, is not even close to what He suffered for us. Heaven is worth it! Giving others a reason to live for Him is worth it!
So…the question for each of us to ask is this…
QUESTION
Are we willing to surrender?
10%, 20%, 40%, 50%? What about 80% or 90%? Honestly, anything less than 100% is not what He wants. He wants ALL of us!
ALL IN! Not sure what that looks like, but little by little, He is revealing this to me, and it’s WAY more than I thought. I would have told you I was already giving Him 90%, but in reality, it was probably more like 70% or even lower. I WANT TO BE ALL IN…100%…
Next Week
Pg 28-29 – Testing the Emotions
In December of 2017 I made a resolution to go ALL IN and focus on what it means TO FOLLOW JESUS. This year has been the first of my 56 years that I’m seeing a New Year’s resolution through to the end 😊
The example of Jesus in the Garden is so overwhelmingly more significant than any trial I have had to face that any negative emotions that start in my mind, I see as Satan’s spiritual attacks. There is just NO reason to hold on to them. After everything that I’ve been forgiven for, how could I possibly view another human being’s actions as inexcusable. Jesus would be separated from God during His death, for the first time ever. He willingly chose to do God’s will because He loved us that much! With His resurrection, I don’t ever have to face that. And most negative emotions are just temptations to turn away from God and focus on myself. NOPE! I’m all in, I surrender!
God is the creator of all GOOD things. When good things go bad, look for the hand of evil. When you’ve been drawn toward evil, away from God, don’t beat yourself up. Realize that you’re a human being against a powerful and experienced spiritual being. We are out of our league, on our own. When I feel the beginnings of negativity, despair, anger, etc., I physically remove myself to a place I can get on my knees and go to God. Prayer, confession, repentance, a request for help, and gratitude for being who He is and His lovingkindness and willingness to help ME!
Philippians 4 1-13 is the reminder to go to God in prayer and petition in every situation and learning to be content regardless of the circumstance.
I’m listening to a great series of sermons that talk about replacing Vice with Virtue from The Porch – a ministry directed to a younger generation, but I still find immense value in it.
https://www.theporch.live/messages/5244#messagesfromthisseries
In this series they talk about:
1. Pride & Humility
2. Laziness & Discipline
3. Entitlement & Gratitude
4. Greed & Generosity
5. Anger & Forgiveness
6. Lust & Self-Control
7. Drunkenness & Soberness
I am looking forward to watching that series Elisa. Thank you for that link.