April 7, 2023 … Agony Before Ecstasy …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2023 - Day 97 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Kristian Stanfill  singing … Jesus Paid It All … poignantly and powerfully  singing of how Jesus sacrificed His all on the Cross, shedding His blood that those who believe on Him as Lord can live forever.   

The Garden Trees by Vincent Van Gogh ... 

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Highlight Passage: … Luke 22:44 [NLT] … 

44 He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. … 

… In great agony, facing His imminent crucifixion, Jesus sweats drops of blood the night before our Lord’s death on the cross.                              

Highlight Passage (Context): …  Luke 22:39-44 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

… Jesus confronts his iImminent death on the cross with prayer and great agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.                          .                     

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Reference Passage: … Isaiah 53 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Over 700 years before Christ, God, prophesies, thru Isaiah, Christ’s cruel and unjust death on a cross to save mankind for our sins.  

Reference Passage: … Matthew 26:36-46 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus challenges His disciples to watch while the Lord prayed in agony in the Garden before His betrayal.        

Reference Passage: … Mark 14:32-42 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus challenges His disciples to watch while the Lord prayed in agony in the Garden before His betrayal       

Reference Passage: … Hebrews 12:2 [NLT] … 

2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion Who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 

… God, thru the Author of Hebrews, shows that Jesus was willing to endure the agony of the cross so that mankind can be saved of our sins and He could return to ecstasy pf the God-Head.                                                                                                                   

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Lisa M Samoa … AT THIS LINK … writes of seeing a series of paintings in a gallery in Scotland, like the one in the photo, where Vincent Van Gogh depicts what is said to be the olive trees in the garden of Gethsemane.  And the ODB author was struck by the many flecks of red on the trees, which art historians  wonder if Van Gogh was reflecting on Jesus sweating His blood in agony over what He was about to face on the cross.        

And if my readers have taken in the linked song and the Scriptures above, I pray - on this “Good Friday,” all born-again Christians reflect on the agony Jesus went thru in that Garden as He was about to die - in horrible agony - so that God’s plan to save all who would believe on Him would find an eternity of ecstasy with our Lord in heaven.  Truly this was GOOD  FRIDAY.                                                          

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for Your agony so that believers, like me, could find our eternal ecstasy with You.   

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to experience the joy of today as our GOOD Friday.       …  Amen               . 

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.