Picture the scene: the Garden of Gethsemane, eleven weary men, Jesus having just completed heart-wrenching prayer of submission to His Father”™s will, the sound of an approaching crowd with the clank of swords and clubs with torches held high for light, led by Judas Iscariot. (NASB) Matthew 26:48-50 “Now he who was betraying Him gave […]
Jesus faced persecution, pain and death but that wasn”™t His biggest sorrow. His sorrow was deeper than what He knew He would be experiencing. His sorrow was the coming separation from His Father, His sorrow was the coming sin He would be experiencing. Jesus did all of this out of His love for you! Jesus […]
How do Christians deal with pain-filled circumstances? Following the example Jesus gave us on the night of His betrayal would be an excellent place to begin. (NASB) Matthew 26:42-44 “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “˜My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”™ 43 […]
To pray as Jesus prayed on the night of His betrayal: (NASB) Matthew 26:42 “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
Jesus asked three disciples to “˜watch and pray”™ while He went a little further, falling on His face to pray in the velvet blackness of night deep in the Garden of Gethsemane. They slept. (NASB) Matthew 26:40 “And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “˜So, you men could […]
When Jesus has asked you to watch and pray”¦how have you responded? Has He found you sleeping? If your answer is “˜Yes”™”¦then you have an opportunity to change. You can choose to do as He asks or you can say “˜No”™ to Him. When we ignore the Lord Jesus Christ, we are walking away from […]
In John 12:24 (NIV), Jesus predicted His death when He said, “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane He was preparing to become […]
What had Jesus never before experienced? He had never experienced separation from God the Father! He had never experienced sin! How appalling that must have been for Him. How did Jesus handle this coming difficult and excruciating experience? Matthew tells us: (NASB) Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His […]
Jesus faced deep, distressing sorrow. How did He do it? How did He survive? He turned to the Source from which He would have release. Did it mean that He would be instantly cured or instantly taken out of the distressing events? No, it did not. He turned to His Father in prayer in submission […]
(NIV) Psalm 116:1-7 “I LOVE the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. 3The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and […]