Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 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.” 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. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

–Luke 22.39-46 (NIV)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

–2 Peter 1.3-4 (NIV)

In today’s passages we learn from the Master himself how to handle the darkest times of our lives. The prospect of bearing the sins of the whole world so our exile and alienation from God can finally come to an end was so great for Jesus that he literally began to sweat blood! But we miss the dynamics of the story if we focus on this phenomenon.

Notice carefully that Jesus went to God in prayer for strength to bear his upcoming ordeal, an ordeal none of us could possibly bear. Yes, he asked God to take away the cup of his wrath but ultimately did what he had come to earth to do. And notice that Jesus also exhorted his disciples to do likewise. He told them to wake up, to pray, so that they would not be overcome by temptation. Jesus is essentially telling the disciples (and us) that in prayer we have all we need to help us cope with our dark hours. We have the very power of God in prayer.

Yet they did not listen. All of his disciples deserted Christ in his great hour of need. Peter went on to deny his Lord, the same man for whom he had vowed to die hours earlier in a moment of faux bravado when circumstances did not demand that he put his money where his mouth was. And we often do not listen to our Lord’s advice to go to God in prayer during our darkest hours. Why is that?

Peter tells us in today’s passage that we have been given everything we need to live lives that are pleasing to God. Yet we often go through life as if we are powerless. Why is that? I suspect one reason is that this is an affront to our human pride. We still like to kid ourselves that we are strong enough and able enough to meet every challenge in our lives. I suspect another reason is that many of us simply do not know God well enough to trust him to be good to his word. These are formidable obstacles indeed. But neither is too formidable for God to break down when we ask him to help us do so in prayer!

Prayer did not make Jesus immune from agonizing over having to bear the sins of the world on the cross, but it did keep him from giving into the temptation of not finishing his life-saving mission. It kept him faithful to the Father’s will to the very end. Neither will prayer make us immune from life’s dark hours or our agonizing over them. What prayer will do, however, is tap us into God’s power to meet life’s dark moments with grace and dignity and even joy. We no longer have to walk around with a stiff upper lip, pretending that we are immune to sorrow and hurt and suffering. No, there will be sorrow and hurt and suffering in our lives. But we can meet it all with the very power of God, the same power Jesus tapped when he faced his darkest hour, when we go to him with a humble heart in prayer and ask him to help us because we know we are helpless without him.

What about you? Are you humble enough to want to tap the very power of God in prayer to help you live your life with meaning and purpose, with grace and power sufficient for every circumstance of life, or are you still trying to play the farcical game of self-help? Scripture makes it very clear that God wants us to come to him in humility and faith so that he can help us. After all, when God came into this world as the man, Jesus, he reminded us that despite our willful alienation from him, he would rather call us back to him than accuse us. Jesus’ incarnation reminds us that God would rather love us than judge us. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

From Christianity Today.

Work that is unproductive, food and drink that don’t fill or quench, money that doesn’t last. The Israelites, to quote a much later poet, can’t get no satisfaction. God tells them that life is a treadmill of diminishing returns because they have neglected the temple, and the only way to enjoy the sort of productive, satisfying existence he intends for them is to spend time in that holy place once more.

An excellent and insightful article. Read it all.

From Biblegateway.com. This reflection touched my heart and so I post an excerpt from it for you. May your heart be touched as well.

God is much more interested in our motive for giving than in the gift itself. If that motive is tainted with greed, the gift simply does not count. A powerful way to guard against greed is to choose joy over greed. Giving with joy is Kingdom giving! Before you give, ask yourself, “What’s in it for me?”  If the answer is “nothing,” then go ahead and give the gift.

When our children were in middle school, we owned what I affectionately called a “Mini-Gym.” It was a set of bar bells, a weight lifting bench and a few free weights. Both Jered and Danna loved their “gym” and used it almost every day. When Christmas rolled around, we learned that two of their good friends, Jeff and Jeremy, were not going to have much of a Christmas because their dad had lost his job. Jered came up with a plan. “Mom,” he said, “Danna and I have talked about it. We think that Jeff and Jeremy would love to have the gym. But we don’t want them to know we gave it to them, because they might be embarrassed. What do you think?” I thought I was in the presence of two joyful givers and quickly joined them in their plan.

Read the reflection.

Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

–Isaiah 7.10-16 (NIV)

Today’s passage continues to shed more light on God’s intentions for our relationship with him. It is a continuation of yesterday’s reflection.

We saw yesterday that things which appear hopeless and overwhelming to us are no problem for God. The problem is that more often than not we don’t believe this or trust God to act in our best interests. Instead, we prefer to play God and take matters into our own hands because we think we know better than God what is good and bad for us.

Heh.

In today’s passage, we are again reminded that we need not (and should not) worry or fall into despair when things go terribly wrong because God really is in charge and has promised to be with us in any and every situation. God through the prophet Isaiah tells the evil king Ahaz to ask God for a sign so that Ahaz’s fears will be calmed and his trust in God’s omnipotent and sovereign power will be restored. But good old Ahaz refused.

How wonderfully stupid and human of him!

Never one to be deterred or denied, God proceeds to offer Ahaz a sign anyway. He promises a son, Immanuel, to be born of a virgin. Immanuel means “God with us” and is a powerful reminder to us not to lose hope, even in the most dire of circumstances because God is in charge and is with us always. This, in turn, reminds us that God loves us if we will only let him. That’s not always easy, is it? In fact, it is downright hard!

I can testify to the truth of Immanuel (I know him as Jesus) as can countless other Christians over time and across cultures. In fact, I am right now going through another life-changing event that has shaken my entire household. But instead of falling into fear and despair over what has been thrust upon me, I have chosen to trust God in the midst of this upheaval and I have been rewarded with a sense of calm, joy, and hope. So has my wife.

It has taken me a long time–and I am still not there completely yet–but I am learning to trust in God, to really believe that he knows what is best for me and wants me to have what he wants for me. I don’t always understand how and why God works in the ways that he does, but I trust nevertheless because he is Creator and I am but one of his creatures, and the proof of God’s sovereign power and great love for me is in the pudding of my life.

We can’t learn to swim unless we get into the water. We can’t learn how to be courageous unless we are put in a situation that requires it. We can’t learn to love by reading about it. We have to take the chance. We have to jump in and experience it ourselves. It is the same with our relationship with God. We’ll never know he is sovereign and in charge and wants the best for us if we don’t give him a chance to demonstrate that in our lives. Go back and read the story of Abraham and Isaac through this lens to see what I mean. It will shed new light on an ostensibly distasteful and puzzling story.

God also demonstrated to me his great promise of Immanuel when my mother died of a stroke two years ago. As I watched her die over a three day period, it was heartbreaking–and potentially faith-destroying. But as I watched her lying there, struggling to breathe and actively dying–this woman who had birthed me, raised me, and loved me better than any mother ever could–I also watched my beloved wife love mom by swabbing out her mouth to help make her more comfortable in her final hours.

In addition, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I kept reminding myself of the hope and promise we have as Christians. I kept reminding myself that death will not have the final say. This ugly and awful scene I was watching had already been conquered by a love more powerful than even death itself, that mom would soon be in the loving arms of the Lord whom she loved and who loved her and gave himself for her.

Again with the Spirit’s help, I reminded myself of the promise of New Creation when mom would be resurrected from the dead and given a new and glorious body, one that would not wear out on her or let her down the way her mortal body had done. Was any of this easy? No. Did it take away the pain of watching my beloved mother die? Certainly not.

What it did do, however, was to give me hope and sustain me during this terrible time because I knew this scene in the hospital was not the final scene of mom’s life. She had much better things awaiting her and that really did cause me not to lose heart or hope. It really was the only antidote that could prevent me from falling into despair and utter sorrow.

And notice carefully. I didn’t ask God for a sign, but he gave me a couple anyway. He helped me to focus on the Christian hope and promise during those three awful days, and he blessed me with a wife who so lovingly ministered to mom in her last hours. I could see the very hand of Christ in the form of my wife ministering to his broken and sick disciple lying helplessly and in great weakness. God indeed gave me a sign, but I had to be looking for it before I could see it.

That same power is available to us all if we will only accept it. But it comes at a cost–the cost of our proud, independent, and self-reliant self. We will have to put all that to death with the help of God’s Spirit living in us so that we can begin to live as he created and calls us to live. This doesn’t make us immune to life’s tragedies. But it gives us the power to deal with them with hope and joy that cannot be taken from us, even by the gates of Hell.

What about you? Are you looking for God’s signs in your life that will let you know he loves you, is with you, and is really in charge of everything so that you will not fall into despair and hopelessness? I pray that blessing for you and your loved ones this Advent season.

When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind [emphasis mine]. Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“‘It will not take place,
it will not happen,
for the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.’”

–Isaiah 7.1-9 (NIV)

From today’s passage we get further insight into God’s intentions for our relationship with him. If you are a fan of political intrigue and international machinations, this story is for you.

Ahaz, the king of Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel with Jerusalem as its capital) gets word that the king of Israel (the northern kingdom of Israel, which was also called Israel, or Ephraim, or Samaria after its capital) had teamed up with Aram (modern day Syria) to destroy Judah. As the text tells us, this news struck Ahaz and his people with great fear and this is where the story gets interesting because later we are told that instead of calling on God to help him and his people, apparently Ahaz decided to try to take matters into his own hands by seeking out foreign alliances to help prevent this from happening. This, in turn, prompted God to issue the chilling last line of the passage: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Behind all this trouble lurks the impending threat of the Assyrian Empire which would eventually conquer Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria, Ephraim, Israel).

Here we clearly see God’s expectations for us. When it hits the fan in this life, we are not to take matters into our own hands. We are not to be afraid. Instead we are to remain calm because nothing is too big for God even if it looks overwhelming to us! Instead, we are to seek out God’s will and guidance before we act.

Notice the dynamics behind this. God is essentially saying to us that he knows better than we do about what is good for us and how we are to act as human beings. He has the eternal and omniscient perspective on things. We don’t. We also have to believe that God has our best interests at heart, but that will never happen if we do not know God or know about his track record l us and his people.

And so we see the same dilemma again in this story that got us kicked out of paradise in the first place. Who do we think is God, ourselves or the real God? We will eventually have to answer this question because sooner or later we all will have to make a decision about how to handle dire situations in our lives. Do we believe God is smarter than we are? Do we believe him to know what is in our best interest more than we do? As long as we answer “no” to these questions, we will remain alienated and separated from God because he loves us enough to give us the freedom to choose what kind of relationship we have (or don’t have) with him. True love can do no other because true love must always be given and accepted freely and never with compunction. That means too that God loves us enough to let us suffer the consequences as well as the rewards for our decisions. That is why we often hear such stern warnings throughout the Bible–you know, the kind of warning a parent gives to her child when she sees the child heading down a destructive path. God is not some mean ogre, bent on suppressing us or making sure we don’t have any fun. Instead, God is inviting us to have a life-giving relationship with him, a relationship not of equals but between Creator and creature.

Is your ego small enough to want that kind of relationship?

The next time you face circumstances in your life that make your heart shake, will you turn to God for guidance and trust that he will do so according to his good will and purposes for you or will you try to take matters into your own hands and go it alone? I am not talking about sitting on your duff and wringing your hands, waiting for God to speak audibly to you before you act. I am talking about asking God for his guidance and then doing your part. For example, if you are unemployed and seeking work, it is entirely appropriate to ask God to grant you work. But you have to do your part. You cannot sit around and wait for a job to fall in your lap. You have to update your resume and get out and apply for jobs that you want. When you do, and when you ask for God to show you the job he wants you to have, you will not be disappointed if you wait for God and his good time. But that requires faith and trust, faith and trust that can only be had by knowing God and having a daily relationship with him.

If you only attempt to cultivate a relationship with God when it hits the fan in your life, you likely will be disappointed in the kind of relationship with which you end up. After all, who wants to have a relationship of convenience? I don’t know many people who do and I am quite certain God does not. But if you really want to live your life with meaning and purpose, if you really want to have power to deal with all that can go wrong in your life, you will not be disappointed if you put your best efforts into developing a relationship with God. Prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship are all common means of grace to help you have what your heart desires–if it desires a real and meaningful relationship with God.

And if you ever wonder if God really wants a relationship with you, read passages like Isaiah above and then think of all that God suffered for you when he became human and hung on the cross to forever end your exile from him. Remember that he promises to give you his Holy Spirit to live in you and help you in good times and bad. When you remember this, you will certainly know that he indeed wants you to have a real relationship with him. After all, that’s one of the main reasons why he created you.