For thought and meditation

[rl69]

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.—Luke 9:51 (http://harvest.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=4f108f827aed8d503b5fca9fa&id=f3c27e3579&e=3dd732485b)It offends me when movies about the life of Christ present Him as losing control, almost as though everything was going great until one of His disciples betrayed Him, and He was taken against His will and crucified.

This was always the plan of God from the very beginning. Jesus spoke of it frequently. He would tell His disciples, in effect, “Guys, listen to what I’m saying. I am going to be betrayed. I am going to be crucified. And I am going to rise again on the third day.” Somehow this went right over their heads. They just didn’t get it.

Jesus did not go into Jerusalem as a helpless victim; He went as a conquering victor in full control of the circumstances. And here is the amazing thing: He knew what was ahead.

I think all of us, at one time or another, have wished we could have known what the future was. We’ve thought, “If I would have known this, I would have never done that.” But there are times when I’m glad I don’t know what is ahead. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Jesus knew everything. That is why, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Bible says He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood and said, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/x-apple-data-detectors://2)).

So the Bible says He “steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/x-apple-data-detectors://3)). He would let nothing or no one stop Him from His course.

Why? He knew there was no other way we could be forgiven of our sins. He knew there was no other way we could come into a relationship with Him. So He went to the cross for you and me.

[Blackwater]

Wow! What a huge amount of wisdom and fact in today's message! And it tends to give me a little more faith that we might yet last a little while longer before the Apocalypse. My greatest sin has always been loving THIS world a little TOO much. I suspect that's a common one, though? The image of the disciples as not wanting to believe what Christ told them, despite walking with him daily, and hearing his words all the time, reflects what I see today in the humanity all around us. So many of us have come to believe whatever we want to, rather than what we are told is to come. PC theology declares that we CAN and OUGHT to imagine whatever we want, and act as if it were real, and somehow, it'll magically come to pass. I think PC theology is the worst thing that's ever hit this nation and the people of earth, EVER! It completely reverses all that Christ told us, and gave us good instruction and direction for our lives.

Christ never faltered. In Gethsemane, He sweat blood pleading for his job to change, but it didn't, and He always said, "Not my will but thine be done." What a shining and perfect example He set for us! If we could divest ourselves of our pridefulness, our indignance, and our anger and passions, we MIGHT be able to kind'a sort'a do something similar, but I doubt it, personally. He literally purchased our redemption AND our ability to repent when we err, all at the same time!

What a wonderful and loving Lord we serve!

[USMC87]

Amen!