Hope in Times of Despair

But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luke 23:49)

Those who knew and loved Jesus stood at a distance trying to assimilate what they were seeing. However, what appears to be the worst they could have imagined, is in actuality the very best that can possibly be! Is not this life for many of us?

We stand in a bereaved silence, stunned, staring at a particular circumstance that has crossed the path of our lives and quite literally taken our breath away. How can something so devastating turn out to be good? Though we know God has good plans, the “why’s?” of life often echo loudly in our minds, drowning out any thoughts of a higher purpose for good, oftentimes leaving us bereft of hope.

Paul’s words shout out to us:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

“Now” we suffer from incomplete knowledge. It will only be when “now” becomes “then” that we shall understand fully and have all of our questions completely answered. The “in part” that we can comprehend and hold on to is His faithfulness to us, love for us, and intentions toward us. God always has our best interest at heart!

The message of the Old Testament reminds us:

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.(Deuteronomy 7:9)

Throughout our seeming devastation, God is in the business of making beauty from our ashes. Indeed, Jesus’ “job description” covers that very issue. We are told by the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion–to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Jesus Himself reads these very words from a scroll handed to Him in the synagogue, proclaiming to His hearers that this words have been fulfilled in their hearing:

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

Jesus came to bring good news, bind up the brokenhearted, free the captive, proclaim God’s favor, comfort the mourning, bring beauty out of ashes, and restore gladness.–all of this coming our way by way of the cross.

What appeared as devastation to the onlookers mentioned in today’s verses all actuality become life to the full.

Take It to Heart

Sometimes it is hard for us to understand the God’s higher purposes for good when calamities occur. We must hold on to the promise of God’s Word that He will use these things for our good and for His glory. God has a plan and it is for always for our good!

“Faith raises the soul above the difficulty, straight to God Himself, and enables one to stand still. We gain nothing by our restless and anxious efforts … It is therefore true wisdom, in all times of difficulty and perplexity, to stand still–to wait only upon God, and He will assuredly open a way for us.” (C.H. Mackintosh)

“To the child of God, there is no such thing as an accident. He travels an appointed way … Accidents may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his way; but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God’s hidden providence.” (A.W. Tozer)

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Jesus Died for Us!

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others–one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
 

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

(John 19:17-22)
 

The cross–an instrument of the most dreadful and agonizing torture, commonly used among the Romans for slaves and criminals. Persons sentenced to crucifixion were first scourged, and then compelled to bear their own cross to the place of execution. Crucifixion was reserved for the worst and most hardened of criminals and a sign was usually placed on the chest of or over the head of the one being executed. What humiliation Christ endured as our substitute.
 

Jesus was reckoned a sinner and counted a curse for our sakes–He was the mightiest sin offering ever to be seen–bearing our disgrace In the book of Hebrews we find this summation:

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.(Hebrews 13:11-13)
 

We must choose to follow Jesus regardless of the humiliation or suffering that being His disciple might entail. We may be stretched past our “safe” confinements of traditions and ceremonies or friends and family or location and lands. We may be deserted by all, persecuted for our doctrine and practice, and yet be willing to stand alone. As we carry our crosses, we embrace His right over our lives and in so doing take hold of the life that is truly life.

Whatever cross He calls us to, we must remember that He bore His cross first. He died among the criminals fulfilling the prophecy found in Isaiah:

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
 

How incredible that the words Pilate chose to place on the cross of our Lord would be the exact proclamation God would have the world to know! How symbolic that those words were nailed to the wood on which Jesus bore ours sins. How like God to use someone like Pilate to accomplish His purpose!
 

“JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” the proclamation read. Christ came to be a King, and as a King He lived and suffered and died for His subjects. The sign eliminates any confusion about who He is. The myriads who pass by, those who witness the crucifixion, see that Jesus really did suffer. and that He was not at the last moment released, or another punished in His stead, or His death taken away by miraculous intervention.
 

Jesus’ vicarious death blotted out the ordinances of the law which was held against us.

Paul tells us Christ nailed them to the cross:

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)
 

Take It to Heart

“The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ.

To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive–He would contradict His nature if He did.

The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm … Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.” (Oswald Chambers)

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God's Plan Unfolding

It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
(John 19:14-16)

All Jewish feasts have their preparation days in order for people to be ready mentally, spiritually, and physically. On these days, no regular work is done in order to focus totally on preparation. Jesus’ death occurred prior to the special Sabbath known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The children of Israel were to abstain from all leavened bread for seven days. To prevent any accidental consumption, they were to empty their homes of any leaven or leaven products.

Scripture includes strict instructions:
“‘These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”
(Leviticus 23:4-7)

“For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” (Exodus 12:19-20)

Yeast in the Bible is symbolic of sin. The absence of yeast represents the picture that those who are under the safety of the shed blood of the Passover lamb are free from the corruption of sin before a holy God.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
(1 Corinthians 5:7-8)

It is important to note that Jesus died on the day the Israelites were to rid their lives of leaven (sin). This was the day they were to leave their wanderings behind them. The great God in Heaven allowed the perfect Lamb of God to take upon Him all the sin of the world so that those who would believe on Him would be safe under His shed blood:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)

Sadly, many of the Jews did not want Jesus to be their King. In our verses for today we find them raising their fierce, relentless, obstinate cry in a demand for death of Jesus. They shout to Pilate: “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” They want no part of Him. Only His blood will satisfy them and only His blood will fully satisfy God’s righteous requirement for the payment of their sin.

Had not our Lord been thus rejected, we would have been forever rejected by God. As Christ was made sin for us and crucified, in like manner we are to crucify the sin in our lives. Christ was put to death for our offences–the Righteous One for the unrighteous. He is our substitution. Our punishment was laid upon Him and by His wounds we are healed.

He has set us free! Paul tells us:
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25)

This was a part of God’s plan! Isaiah clearly foretold of God’s amazing plan to redeem us to Himself:
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10)

 

 

Take It to Heart

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

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King of the Jews

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” 

(John 18:33-34)

In an effort to remove Jesus from the raucous of the rabble so that he could ply Him with his own queries, Pilate summons Jesus inside his palace. Holiness has been summoned into defilement. Is that not a perfect description of what Jesus does every time He is asked to enter a heart at the point of salvation? Pure, holy, blameless, and set apart from sinners He enters into a heart filled with sin and depravity–saving, cleansing, and empowering that heart to be like Him.

The writer of Hebrews gives us the following description of our great High Priest and Savior, Jesus:
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need–one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (Hebrews 7:23-26)

C.S. Lewis paints a vivid description of what he found when he examined his own heart, which is not too dissimilar to any one of us: “A zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears and a harem of fondled hatreds.”

He also wrote: “Man is now a horror to God and to himself and a creature ill-adapted to the universe not because God made him so but because he has made himself so by the abuse of his free will.”

I find it interesting that all four gospels record Pilate asking the same question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” He obviously had a desire to know if Jesus professed to be the king of this ancient people over whom he and his soldiers now ruled. Considering our Lord’s humble appearance, Pilate possibly assumed that Jesus was merely a mock Messiah–simply setting Himself up over the throngs of people who adored Him. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus replying to Pilate with the same words: “Yes, it is as you say”.

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. (Matthew 27:11)

“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
(Mark 15:2)

So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. (Luke 23:3)

A few verses later in John 18 we find similar words from Jesus, yet with a stipulation for those willing to hear Him–we must be on the side of truth:
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)

 

Take It to Heart

The Roman historian Suetonius has noted that a rumor was prevalent throughout the East at this time in history that a king was about to arise among the Jews who would obtain dominion over the world. This rumor no doubt originated from Jewish prophesies.

I cannot help but be reminded of the Magi’s statement as they sought to visit Jesus at His birth:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)

Jesus’ entire life was lived within the framework of his role as the King of the Jews. It is precisely because of it that He saves us!

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What Is In Your Heart?

So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
 

“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
 

Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
 

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

(John 18:29-32)
 

There was certainly no love lost between Pilate and these hypocritically pious Jews. Pilate was not the least bit duped by their false pretense–he saw right through their charade. Matthew’s gospel tells us Pilate was aware of the motives behind these Jewish leaders’ actions:

For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. (Matthew 27:18)
 

Pilate was well aware of these leaders envy and fear over Jesus’ growing popularity and following. He had witnessed the love, acclaim, and wild enthusiasm the Jewish nation had for their King. Certainly he had heard about–if not been privy to see–the great throngs assembled together shouting “Hosanna”, and waving palm branches (symbols of victory) at Jesus’ triumphal entry, and ascribing Messianic titles to Him.

John tells us earlier in his gospel:

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13)
 

But it was the Jewish leaders in our verses for today causing this annoying raucous for Pilate, not the masses. These leaders wanted Jesus dead and if possible, they wanted the deed done by the hands of the Romans. They wanted to keep everything legal in the eyes of man, always desirous of justifying their external behavior. Never mind that their hearts were hardened and dead.
 

Yet the Jewish leader’s flawed actions were merely the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic words–another confirmation that our Lord was exactly who He said He was!
 

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:17-19)
 

Take It to Heart

What the Jewish leaders failed to realize is that God values what is in the heart over the pretense of righteous actions. He always judges on the basis of why we do what we do.

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
(Proverbs 16:2)

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
(2 Chronicles 16:9)

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

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Fear

Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
 

“You are not one of his disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter.
 

He replied, “I am not.”
 

It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.  As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?”

 

He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
 

One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. 

(John 18:15-18, 25-27)
 

Here we have an account of Peter’s denial of Jesus. This particular part of the story is actually recorded in all four gospels.

The other gospel accounts are as follows:

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. (Matthew 26:57-58)
 

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.(Mark 14:53-54)

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them.
(Luke 22:54-55)

Peter was anxious to see what would happen to his Master, yet not brave or bold enough to stay by His side. What mixed feelings must have been going on within him! Loving the Lord Jesus, afraid to show his true loyalty, ashamed of his disloyalty. And so he finds himself choosing the very unprofitable middle ground between what he knows to be the right thing to do and what fear and cowardice prevent him from doing.

When we find ourselves doing a dance between two choices–seeking to stay the middle course for fear of others or for fear of our own skin–we are poised to fall. After being so self-confident that he would never deny the Lord, Peter does exactly that. Isn’t that the way it goes? We place ourselves in positions we should never be in, and fear, self-confidence, pride, or whatever blows in on us and we come spiraling down, doing things we never thought possible.
 

In lieu of being self-confident, Peter ought to have been humble; instead of sleeping, he should have been praying; instead of flitting around the fire with the enemy, he should have placed himself out of temptation’s reach.
 

Paul tells us we are to flee temptation and pursue righteousness. In order to do that we need to know ourselves! We need to identify what temptations are most alluring to us and will cause us to fall. We must know where we are most tempted and seek to avoid placing ourselves where we are likely to tumble down. No one is above falling.
 

Certainly, the sound of the early morning rooster crowing was a harsh and bitter sound to Peter’s ears. A jolt of painful lightening must have pierced his heart. He had done something he had vehemently proclaimed he would never do. He had turned his back on his Lord.

Earlier in John we find Peter basking in strong confidence:

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

(John 13:37)
 

He genuinely misgauged his own resolve. Unfortunately this is a misstep we all seem to wrestle with! We can all see ourselves in Peter.

 

Take It to Heart

I am reminded of the words in Hebrews telling us to keep our focus fixed on the Master:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

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By His Wounds We Are Healed

Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. 

(John 18:12-14)
 

“They bound Him.” Seriously? How do you bind the One who spoke creation into being? How do you bind the great “I AM”? How do you bind the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form? How do you bind Omnipotence in the flesh?

“They bound Him” simply because Jesus allowed them to bind Him. He allowed Himself to be a passive sufferer and He allowed His enemies to work their will. He allowed Himself to the object of spite and hatred. He suffered while He served. To free mankind from bondage, He became bound and we owe our liberty to His bondage.

The prophet Isaiah tells us:

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.(Isaiah 53:3-5)
 

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. (Isaiah 53:7-8)
 

Take It to Heart

“We see the Son of God taken prisoner and led away bound like a malefactor, arraigned before wicked and unjust judges, insulted and treated with contempt. And yet this unresisting prisoner had only to will His deliverance, and He would at once have been free. He had only to command the confusion of His enemies, and they would at once have been confounded. Above all He was One who knew full well that Annas and Caiaphas, and all their companions, would one day stand before His judgment seat and receive an eternal sentence. He knew all these things, and yet condescended to be treated as a malefactor without resisting.”
(John Charles Ryle)
 

Jesus is our great deliverer!

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Betrayed

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
 

But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. 

(Luke 22:47-51)
 

In these verses we see the angry crowd led by one of Jesus’ own disciples – Judas. Judas, one of Jesus’ closest friends, betrays Him with a kiss. How ironic! To us, a kiss is generally a sweet sign of love, and in Bible times it was an act of friendship. Yet Judas desecrates and abuses it. Hmmm … I wonder how often we desecrate and abuse what is sweet and good?
 

“Man sees your actions, but God, your motives.”
(Thomas a Kempis)
 

“Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.”

(Charles Spurgeon)
 

God is looking for obedient behavior from His children stemming from proper motives! I am reminded of David’s words to his son Solomon regarding the building of the temple:

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. (1 Chronicles 28:9-10)
 

Have you ever noticed that there are simply no secrets hidden from Jesus? Knowing full well who was to betray Him, Jesus was aware of Judas’ “secret” sign which would show the crowd accompanying him exactly who they were looking for to arrest.

I am reminded of God’s words in Jeremiah:

Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:24)
 

Nothing is outside the realm of God’s omniscience–nothing!
 

I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. (Isaiah 45:5-7)
 

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46:10)

 

Take It to Heart

“Jesus is the One who shows us the paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world. It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender … God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.”

(Dan Allender, Breaking the Idols of You)

Beth Yoe Devotionals

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JesusOnline Ministries

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Don't Fall Asleep!

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

 

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
 

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
 

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

(Matthew 26:40-45)
 

Ever been depressed over circumstances differing greatly from what was hoped or perhaps even prayed for? If so, you are in good company. These disciples, exhausted from sorrow, were experiencing such despair. Much more than just mere followers of Jesus, these guys were Jesus' most trusted friends. But they were tired!
 

Oftentimes, we too are so discouraged over a situation that we choose to retreat in sleep, under the comfort of the comforter, when in reality our comfort must come from the Comforter!

Jesus cries out to us: “Why are you sleeping?”
 

“He speaks as one amazed to see them so stupid. How small a thing it was that he expected from them–only to keep watch with him. If he had bid them do some great thing, or die with him, they thought they could have done it; and yet they could not do it, when he desired them to keep watch with him … Yet, He considered their frame, and did not chide them, for he remembered that they were but flesh.” (Matthew Henry)
 

Friend, this is our hour! Jesus admonishes us to watch and pray, emphasizing the weakness of the flesh even though our spirits are so well-intentioned!
 

Paul warns:

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)
 

He adds in the book of Ephesians:

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18)
 

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to always be praying and alert, not only when the enemy attacks, but on all occasions.
 

“Labor to get a deep sense of the majesty of God, and of his mercy, upon thy mind, that thy prayers may be fervent and earnest; and God will bless thee.” (C.H. Bogatzky)

 

Take It to Heart

Let all of our trials lead us to earnest prayer. May we pray from the heart! As we call upon the Lord, He will hear us and He will help us.
 

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)

Beth Yoe Devotionals

Copyright © 2014

JesusOnline Ministries

P. O. Box 6017

Great Falls, MT 59405

======

Peter Allan C. Mariano

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God's Strength

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 
(Luke 22:43-44)
 

Here we see a ministering angel sent to strengthen our Lord as He prays in anguish.

The word translated “anguish” is from the Greek word agonia meaning: “A contest, conflict; stress, agony intense inner tension. It has in mind the intense anxiety, dread, or tension one experiences in anticipation of a conflict, as a soldier before a battle or an athlete before a match. It denotes Jesus’ anguished state of mind in Gethsemane prior to the crucifixion. He is filled with dreaded anticipation, not fright or panic, as He faces the epic battle on which man’s salvation rests. In the ultimate conflict of the ages, Jesus will emerge as the Victor” (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids).
 

I love the fact that God sent an angel to strengthen our Lord!

I am reminded of Psalm 91:

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. (Psalm 91:11)

 

I also love the example Jesus models for us to follow when our own time of anguish arrives–He earnestly sought His Father in prayer. God was His refuge–as He is ours. While Christ was not delivered from His sufferings, He was strengthened and supported under them. We are always given the grace sufficient to meet every difficulty God allowed us to face.

Oftentimes during trials and calamities it is difficult to remember the promises of God. I have found Psalm 91 to be a very helpful passage of scripture to turn to. Indeed, I have found it to be so profitable in my life I have committed it to memory. I call it the “I will” Psalm of God. In the sixteen verses of this psalm we find the word “will” used over 20 times! It points to God as being our faithful refuge, fortress, and protector as we rest in His shadow–even through our anguishing trials.

This wonderful psalm ends with these encouraging words:

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)
 

God rescues, protects, and answers. He is with us in trouble. He delivers and honors and satisfies. Who could ask for greater promises than these?
 

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:17-18)

 

Take It to Heart

“Somehow in the wonder-working providence of God, our worst problems become our best pulpits. God turns our tragedies into testimonies and our emergencies into evangelism. Our testimonies are forged and crafted in the trials of life, our pain has an evangelistic purpose, our problems become His pulpits, and the things that happen to us turn out for the furtherance of the gospel.”
(Robert J. Morgan)
 

“God always gives His very best to those who leave the choice with Him.” (Hudson Taylor)

 

“How it pays to take one step at a time with God!”
(Isobel Kuhn)
 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9)

Beth Yoe Devotionals

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JesusOnline Ministries

P. O. Box 6017

Great Falls, MT 59405

======

Peter Allan C. Mariano

Links2Prosperity Enterprises 

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Embracing God's Will

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:41-42)

 

In our verses for today we see Jesus fleshing out what He taught His disciples on prayer:

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10)
 

I am reminded of Paul’s words to us in Romans regarding God’s will for our lives:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
 

God’s will for our lives is always good and pleasing and perfect–whether we are able to ascertain that through our emotions and feelings or any other of our senses. God has prepared profitable, useful and beneficial things for each one of us and it is His desire for us to walk in them:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.(Ephesians 2:10)
 

When we do not submit to God’s will for our lives, we do ourselves much disservice. Our prayers should echo that of King David:

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. (Psalms 143:10)
 

Like Jesus, David’s prayers were solidly based on his trust in God. David not only wanted to be shown God’s will for his life but also to be taught how to stand firm in it–knowing with certainty God’s way was for his ultimate good and for the good of others. In our frailty, being both lame and blind (not to mention dull), we would often choose wrong paths simply because of ease and comfort not to mention fleshly desires and lust.
 

“Enable me to do what is pleasing to you; give me that grace that is necessary to the right knowledge of your will, and an acceptable obedience to it, that we may neither displease God in anything we do nor be displeased at anything God does.” (Matthew Henry)
 

I am presently reading a wonderful book entitled 50 People Every Christian Should Know by Warren Wiersbe. In discussing the life of the famous hymn writer Fanny Crosby–blinded at the age of six weeks old by a doctor’s careless treatment–we are able to see her wonderful perspective on God’s will for her life: “‘It seemed intended by the blessed Providence of God that I should be blind all my life,’ she wrote in her delightful autobiography Fanny Crosby’s Life Story, ‘and I thank Him for the dispensation.’

The doctor who destroyed her sight never forgave himself and moved from the area, but Fanny Crosby held no ill will toward him. ‘If I could meet him now,’ she wrote, ‘I would say ‘Thank you, thank you’–over and over again–for making me blind.’ In fact, she claimed that if she could have her sight restored, she would not attempt it. She felt that her blindness was God’s gift to her so that she could write songs for his glory. ‘I could not have written thousands of hymns,’ she said, ‘if I had been hindered by the distractions of seeing all the interesting and beautiful objects that would have been presented to my notice.’”
 

What an amazing testimony! How often I flee from the difficult–seeking relief–desiring ease–rather than embracing what is allowed in order for God to make me into the image of His Son. Filled and empowered by His Spirit, how much better to prefer our lives to be beautiful songs played for His glory than to delve into the pleasures of this world for such a short time. It would do us well to remember this when we are tempted to kick against His way.

 

Take It to Heart

“Somehow in the wonder-working providence of God, our worst problems become our best pulpits. God turns our tragedies into testimonies and our emergencies into evangelism. Our testimonies are forged and crafted in the trials of life, our pain has an evangelistic purpose, our problems become His pulpits, and the things that happen to us turn out for the furtherance of the gospel.”
(Robert J. Morgan)
 

“God always gives His very best to those who leave the choice with Him.”

(Hudson Taylor)
 

“How it pays to take one step at a time with God!” (Isobel Kuhn)
 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Beth Yoe Devotionals

Copyright © 2014

JesusOnline Ministries

P. O. Box 6017

Great Falls, MT 59405

======

Peter Allan C. Mariano

Links2Prosperity Enterprises 

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Search Me, O God!

But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”  (Luke 22:33-34)

 

We must be on guard against the presumption of our actions lest, like Peter, we fail. Peter, as confident as he was in his own heart, was not, ready to go to prison and death with Jesus. Our hearts are untrustworthy. Let’s give Peter credit; this occurred prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit’s power.

The flesh is flawed at best, nevertheless we are to be on guard against the deceitfulness of our own hearts:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”
(Jeremiah 17:9-10)
 

The Lord is the only true discerner of man’s heart, of each person’s innermost thoughts and motives. This is particularly important for us to acknowledge in the spiritual realm.
 

“Private loop-holes, sinful lusts, can hide themselves at times so well as to seem quite dead; but if we grow careless, they spring up again on a favourable occasion, and sometimes appear in a spiritual shape, and take a fine spiritual name.

Thus, though the flesh exceedingly likes sensual indulgences, yet to flatter its lust of pride, and the vanity of being thought a perfect man, it will sometimes endure great mortification. Therefore we ought always to be jealous of ourselves, and guard as much against self-righteousness as licentiousness; for the flesh is never more fleshly and dangerous than when it has the most spiritual appearance, and covers its lusts with the holiness and spirituality of angels.” (K. H. Von Bogatzky)

 

Take It to Heart

How do we go about searching and guarding our hearts so as to equip ourselves for the high calling of discipleship? Like King David we must ask God to continually search our hearts and point out to us what needs to go and what needs to be fanned into flames.

We must seek His ways fully through the diligent study and application of His Word, through prayer, through praise and thanksgiving, and through hiding His Word in our hearts.
 

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

 

“The wiser we are in our own conceits, the more negligent are we in prayer, the more destitute of true wisdom and faith; for the Lord gives sight only to the blind, and to the babes, who pray for it. Therefore the deepest humblings go before the greatest blessings. O my blessed Saviour! Since I am always blind and ignorant of myself, if I am not guided by thine eyes, I desire always to look up to thee, and do everything under thy direction.” (K. H. Von Bogatzky)
 

“Assist and teach me how to pray; incline my nature to obey; what thou abhorrest let me flee; and only love what pleases thee.” (K. H. Von Bogatzky)
 

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15)

Beth Yoe Devotionals

Copyright © 2014

JesusOnline Ministries

P. O. Box 6017

Great Falls, MT 59405

======

Peter Allan C. Mariano

Links2Prosperity Enterprises 

Web Marketing : Web Content : Web Design

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