April 6, 2008 … Jesus’ Admonition In Gethsemane

Passage of the Day: Matthew 26: 40 – 41 … 40 Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?" He asked Peter. 41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

PARALLEL SCRIPTURE: Mark 14: 37 - 38 Then He returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," He said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

PARALLEL SCRIPTURE: Luke 22: 45 - 46 When He rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 "Why are you sleeping?" He asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

My Journal for Today: Today I have supplied not only the text from Matt. 26 concerning the failure of Jesus’ three comrades, but also the parallel versions of this incident in Mark 14 and Luke 22. In these passages (note: these were written by men who were not at the scene) we read of the obvious disappointment of Christ when He found the men, His inner circle of chosen disciples, sleeping at their charged post. And in this moment of confrontation, Jesus gives a warning to His disciples (and by God’s Spirit to all believers) about our vigilance and the avoidance of temptation.

I think we can all identify and empathize with the very human weakness and failure of Peter, James, and John to remain vigilant in prayer as Jesus had asked them to be. They were confused, frustrated, and tired men; and any one of these conditions can make any believer vulnerable to the temptation of our mortal, sin-ridden heart (again, always remembering Jer. 17: 9). In today’s life and culture, I certainly have trouble focusing on the discipline of vigilance and prayer in my devotional and/or worship life. How many times do we arrive at church on Sunday morning or for our daily devotional with our minds/hearts going in 40 directions because of all the events and demands that have occurred before we settle into corporate or personal worship? And because of it, the temptation to relent to the “tyranny of the urgent,” we can only have half-hearted worship with our Lord.

Just a couple of days ago (go back to my devotional journal entry for April 4) I wrote of my personal confession for having missed a prayer meeting at our church for which I had been committed to participate because I simply overslept. Like Jesus’ three companions – His friends – I fell prey to my own inept desires and temptations; and I failed to stand watch and pray the way I had desired to do. I think we’re all vulnerable to our flesh in this way; and that’s why this passage today has such personal relevance for me.

The Apostle Paul, using his own past failures to help believers identify with such failures, recognized our tendency to let our flesh dominate our vigilance when he penned Romans 7: 14 – 23 [please take the time to seek out, read, and meditate on this passage]. However, in verses 24 – 25 of Romans 7, as well as all of Romans 8, Paul triumphantly declares where Christians can ALWAYS find the strength and power to be vigilant and to become overcomers as was our Lord (read John 16: 33 and then 2nd Cor. 12: 9).

SCRIPTURE: John 16: 33 [Jesus] "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

SCRIPTURE: 2nd Cor. 12: 9 But He [Jesus] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”

Yes, the same Holy Spirit, my indwelling Lord, the Third Person of the Trinity, Who allowed Jesus to be vigilant and strong, … to be the Overcomer of the world, … is the same Spirit Who resides in my heart (and yours, if you have received His saving and enabling grace). And all I have to do, as Paul wrote about in Romans 8, is to recognize and receive God’s grace, which, in turn, will allow my weak flesh and deceit-ridden heart to be able to deny self, and as Jesus also charge His disciples in Luke 9: 23, … to take up my Lord’s cross [yes, even where I am today], and to follow Him in prayer or into spiritual warfare, … allowing me to do what He challenged his three Disciples to do, … and that is to “watch and pray.” And as we read passages like 1st Cor. 10: 13 and Phil. 3: 13 – 14, we realize that we can do just that!

My Prayer Today: Praise You, Lord! Pour out Your grace, dear Jesus, especially when I wane in the flesh. Amen

April 4, 2011 … Jesus’ Struggle in Gethsemane

Passage of the Day: Matthew 26: 37- 38 … 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then He said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me."

My Journal for Today: Today’s passage takes us to Christ’s time at Gethsemane, where I believe, as depicted in Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of The Christ, Jesus had one final spiritual battle with His arch enemy, Satan. However, unlike the encounter reported in the wilderness in Matthew 4 or Luke 4, Jesus did not have his full ministry and life ahead of Him. No, this time, His walk on this earth and His ministry were almost completely behind Him, … except what lay before Him on the cross at Golgotha. This time in the garden, battling His flesh and Satan, was to be one of His fiercest battles yet; and the way He dealt with this spiritual encounter is a model for all of us.

In Matt. 4 and Luke 4, we read of how our Lord used God’s word, the Sword of the Spirit, to slash away at the ploys and temptations of Satan. But here, in the Gethsemane encounter, we read how Christ took what I call “the high ground” in battle; and that is prayer. And Christ’s attitude in taking the high ground was one of total submission to His Father. The high ground is always the best place to be in battle; because there we can see the enemy more easily and we can hold the advantage of Godly perspective, rather than relying on the internal, lower, perspective of our own selves. But when we come to that high place on the spiritual battlefields of life, totally surrendered to God, He will lead us in the battles.

I just love the scriptural picture of taking the high ground of prayer in battle in Exodus 17, verses 8 – 13, where Moses had to lead God’s people in battle the Amalekites. Read this and take note of the submissive posture of Moses as he took the high ground for the battle …

SCRIPTURE: Exod. 17: 8 - 13 ... 8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Somewhat like Moses, needing the support of other believers Aaron and Hur, Jesus, in today’s passage, also asked His friends, Peter, James, and John to wait and pray with Him there in the Garden. And it’s always a good strategy in spiritual battle to have a cohort of warriors to stand with you as you head to the high ground of prayer. However, we know from this passage in Matt. 26 that Jesus’ friends were not up to the task; and they failed our Lord by falling asleep on their watch. The surrendered will of these warriors was just not where it needed to be to help Jesus in this time of trial. With Moses, however, in the passage from Exod. 17, Aaron and Hur were up to the task; and they provided the vigilance and support needed for Moses to be in submission to God’s will; and the victory was God’s. But, interestingly enough, though it looked bad for Peter, James, and John in their faithlessness and lack of vigilance, God’s will also prevailed in the end with Jesus, Who was in total surrender to the will of God, the Father, establishing God’s eternal victory on the cross, and our Lord’s prayer in the garden, from the highest ground possible, was fully adequate to defeat Satan as the Christ marched to the cross.

I believe Jesus, in His relationship with believers is constantly asking us to stand watch in prayer with Him. That was the essence of Paul’s exhortation (from God’s Spirit) in 1Thes. 5: 17 … to live in an attitude of prayer continually. Yes, our prayer vigilance is continually needed as we wear God’s full armor and we wield His Spirit Sword in battle. We read in Eph. 6: 13 – 18 of wearing God’s full armor and carrying His Spirit Sword into battle, first and foremost in prayer (see v. 18). This requires us to be surrendered to God’s will and humble to receive His grace so that we can have the strength of will required to take the high ground and be vigilant to hold it with our prayer. Jesus has warned us, as He did His three close friends and relatives, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." [reading ahead to Matt. 26: 41] And I don’t know about you; but I don’t want to fail my Savior, let alone myself, my family, and my brothers/sisters in Christ. So, I strive to be on watch and vigilant as I follow Jesus in battle.

And I pray that I can (that we all can) stand in prayer on the high ground and be vigilant enough to watch for the enemy as we battle him daily. The irony for me is that today I have been an absolute failure (see my confession below); and my first prayer, upon awaking this morning, was to claim God’s promise of 1st John 1: 9 [I’m sure you know that one by now], confessing my slothful sin and asking for cleansing and restoration as I know our Lord can/will do when we pray humbly for restoration. Jesus did it for Peter when he failed; and I know He’ll do it for me.

A Hypocrite’s Note: What an irony of stinging conviction! I’m posting this self-convicting message today as a complete hypocrite. This very morning I had made a commitment to join a number of my church brothers/sisters in a prayer vigil which began on April first, called ”21 Days of Prayer.” This prayer emphasis was to bring a cohort of prayer warriors to gather early in the mornings at our church for the 21 Days prior to Easter to pray for our God to bring His power to bear on a lot of the challenges we face in spiritual warfare in our church, our community, and our culture. But this morning I woke up, not setting my alarm to be at our designated church prayer vigil, and like Jesus’ inner circle of disciples, I was a no-show, falling asleep on His charge to watch and pray. And right now I’m feeling a bit like James, John, and Peter must’ve felt, getting the stinging rebuke of their Messiah. If I were Aaron or Hur, I would have failed my brother, Moses, and the battle Joshua was to fight would have been lost. So let me register my prayer of contrition today.

My Prayer Today: Lord, forgive me for my failure to stand on the high ground of prayer with my brothers and sisters in Christ this morning. But Lord, take me that high-ground right now; and help me to hold it – for You – the rest of today and the remaining length of this prayer vigil at our Church. Help me, Lord, to be in continual prayer to be ever vigilant. Amen

2010 – December 15 – Deadly Spiritual Warfare

Study from God’s Word… The entire letter from Paul which we traditionally attribute to him writing as a Roman prisoner to the church at Ephesus, i.e., Ephesians, Chapters 1 – 6 … Passage for Reflection: Ephesians 6: 12 … NIV For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

My Journal for Today: Isn’t it interesting that today many people, especially young people, can imagine – or even obsessively play games – in “cyberspace,” living as an avatar and trying to overcome the evil warriors they see in the cybernetic world of their computer; YET, they cannot – or don’t choose to – believe that there is a world of truly powerful forces, which we cannot see, but live in the spiritual realm to do battle and to be a force against God in our spiritual lives.

To depict the reality of this spiritual warfare, which goes on even as I type this, Paul exhorted the Ephesian Christians, and you/me by extension, to be ready for and arm ourselves, spiritually, for the warfare which we all face everyday in this life, depicted by today’s highlight text. But then Paul goes on to portray the armament, weapons, and strategies we need in our daily battles with our spiritual enemies, … Satan, the world, and our own flesh, … formidable foes against which we must be prepared.

To help us do that, Paul painted a word picture of the “full armor of God” in Ephesians 6, which are those elements of defensive armament such as the belt of truth (our integrity), the breastplate of righteousness (our purity), the sandals of peace (our surety), the shield of faith (our certainty), and our helmet of salvation (our sanity), all of which, when properly worn, protect us against any/all of our spiritual enemies in the daily battles we’ll face in life.

Then we must take up our only offensive weapon against these spiritual forces and that is the sword of the spirit, which in Eph. 6: 17, we read is the world of God. And just as Jesus used this same weapon as the God-Man (see, Matt. 4 or Luke 4) against His spiritual arch-enemy, Satan, we can – and must – wield a ready, sharpened, and practiced sword, wielding it as God had charged Joshua as His warrior in Joshua 1: 8 or as the author of Psalm 119: 9-11 said he had to use God’s sword – i.e., God’s word – as his weapon against his own sinfulness.

And finally in this passage of Ephesians 6, we read of the primary battle strategy we have as Christian warriors; and that is taking the high ground, which is prayer. If we don’t use our prayer strategy at all times in life (see 1st Thess. 5: 17), we will be fighting the battles from the lowlands with our enemies taking the high ground. BUT … anytime we wear our full armor, and take our sharpened and well-practiced sword to the high ground in prayer, we will be in a position to not only do battle effectively, but to win against our enemies just as Christ did against Satan on that mountaintop in the wilderness (again in Luke 4 or Matt 4).

I hope you’re well versed and well dressed for today’s battle, my dear one. Because to deny that you’re going to be in a battle or to dismiss all of this as biblical fantasy is playing right into the hands of our spiritual enemies, many of whom, as Satan, are far more powerful than are we with our deceitful hearts (see Jer. 17: 9). Everyday I get ready for battle by dressing myself, mentally and spiritually, checking to determine if any of the elements of my armor are weak, being sure that I have my sword sharpened and ready for battle, and going to the high ground in prayer to get myself into the posture and place I need to be for battle.

How about you; are you ready for battle today?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, my armor is in place; and I carry Your mighty sword. Now, I’m here on this pinnacle of prayer, ready to do battle. And I follow You, my Captain, ready to be victorious in Your Name and for Your glory. Amen

2010 – October 9 – Workers Prepared for Battle

Study from God’s Word… Nehemiah, Chapters 4 – 6 … Passage for Reflection: Nehemiah: 4: 17 – 18 … NIV Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.

My Journal for Today: Today I was taken, in my Bible reading in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, to a passage that means a lot to me from the 4th Chapter of Nehemiah, … the story of how Nehemiah implemented a wall-building and battle strategy which was the epitome of spiritual multitasking. He convinced the builders to also become vigilant for attacks and to wear their armor and carry their swords at all times, even when they went out for water (and some think that this phrase in Hebrew, verse 22 of Nehemiah 4, could mean even when they were in the shower or out, taking a leak – don’t you just love God’s sense of humor in the Bible).

In other words, the workers, who were working for God’s project, i.e., His task of building the walls of God’s
Temple, were to not only to be workers, but they were to be ready warriors as well. And that is the same picture that the Apostle Paul used when he penned the famous spiritual warfare passage in Ephesians 6: 10 – 18, exhorting God’s people, the Christians, to ALWAYS be wearing the full armor of God [Eph. 6: 13-17a and carrying the sword of the Spirit [Eph. 6: 17b] so that God’s army, we Christians, can be vigilant and stand against our spiritual enemies (i.e., Satan, the world, and our own flesh) whenever the battle come to us, … which it will on a daily – even momentary – basis.

Those of you who follow my devotional blogging probably know that I lead a ministry called Battle Plan Ministry [BPM] [website linked here] for Christians who’re dealing with past patterns of habitual sexual sin. In our BPM discipleship training, we put a heavy emphasis on the battle strategies taught by Nehemiah and by the Apostle Paul, … that we MUST recognize that we’re in a constant – daily, even momentary – battle with our common spiritual enemies (again, Satan, His world, and our own flesh); and we MUST be constantly vigilant, wearing the full armor of God and carrying a well-sharpened and well- practiced sword of the Spirit (which, of course, is God’s word). Without this armament and weaponry, we would be extremely vulnerable to some very powerful and ever-present spiritual enemies who want to take us down in battle. Satan knows that he cannot have the soul of a Christian; but if he can take away the validity of our testimony and weaken the witness of a warrior for God, he can render the Christian almost useless in the warfare any Christian stands for in battle.

Therefore, we need to take up the strategy Nehemiah used and the Apostle Paul advocated in our daily spiritual task of building up the walls around our “temple,” which is, of course, our own hearts, since that is where God, the Holy Spirit, resides. And I have it on good authority, i.e., nothing less than God’s own word, that when we do become trained and experienced Christian warriors, always wearing His full armor and ever carrying a sharpened and well-practiced Sword of the Spirit, we can – and will – become like our model in battle, Jesus Christ, who showed us how to do battle in those powerful encounters with Satan (read about it in the first verses of Matthew 4 or Luke 4). Yes, I know that Satan was dealing with God in the flesh in his encounter with Christ in the wilderness; but Jesus showed all of us how to be prepared and how to do battle with our arch spiritual enemy.

We have to be – as Jesus was – on the high ground for battle, being covered by prayer in the Spirit (see also Eph. 6: 18); and then we need to ALWAYS carry and utilize our only offensive weapon against our enemies when we’re confronted by spiritual warfare; and that is to whip out and wield the sword of the Spirit, i.e., God’s word. But this implies that we are well-practiced and have well-sharpened our swords; and that implies getting God’s word deeply into our hearts (as you can read about in God’s prescription for our dealing with God’s word – i.e., see Joshua 1: 8 and Ps. 119: 9-11); so that we can whip out that sword at any time, as Jesus did in the wilderness against Satan, and wield the one weapon which our spiritual enemies cannot handle, … and that is the truth of God.

I could go on with this a lot more, as I do in being the “drill sergeant” and discipleship leader for BPM. But all of us need to heed Nehemiah’s builder/warrior strategy in today’s highlight passage. So, my dear one, if your armor for defense is not tuned up and being worn – all the time; and … if you’re not an accomplished swordsman with God’s word; and, … if you’re not continually on the high-ground with prayer, in the Spirit, you’re going to find yourself vulnerable on the battlefields of life, my friend. Oh how I hope you pray with me that we can all become ready wall builders and spiritual warriors for God as we rebuild the walls of His temple, … our very hearts.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be ever ready for battle, wearing your full armor, carrying Your well-practiced Sword, and going to the high ground of prayer daily for the battles I know I will encounter as I keep rebuilding the walls of Your Temple, … my heart. Amen

2010 – August 5 – Silence Before God

Study from God’s Word… Habakkuk, Chapters 1 – 3 (the entire book) … Passage for Reflection: Habakkuk 2: 20 … NIV But the Lord is in His holy temple; let the earth be silent before Him.

My Journal for Today: In the days of the prophets, about whom I’ve been reading recently from The Daily Bible in Chronological Order and LaGard Smith’s The Daily Bible Devotional, men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and in today’s passage, Habakkuk, all were perplexed by why God would use such an oppressive, evil people, as God was prophesying in the Babylonians, to bring God’s justice down on His own, chosen people in Israel and Judah. And Habakkuk joined in the clamoring by taking his loud complaints to God. And God, knowing Habakkuk’s prophetic heart, listened mercifully and patiently to the very personal concerns of this believer. And then – finally – Habakkuk, at the end of Chapter 1, and goes to a high place to listen to God.

And it’s in this attitude of being silent and seeking truth that we get our life lesson for today.
Haven’t we all been in the place of doubt or despair when all we are led to do in prayer or in consultation with other believers is to rail against the evil in our times or to clamor, in our hearts or in accord with others, going to God with our loud complaints. But when are we going to go to that high place and silently listen to the One Who is in total control of what is going on in our world.

It was in that posture of solitude, Habakkuk going to the high-ground of listening prayer, that God revealed to this prophet His truth. And we read about God’s response to Habakkuk in Chapter two of the book by Habakkuk’s name. And then … in Chapter three, we read how the light bulb of revelation shines in Habakkuk’s realization that God ALWAYS loves him and His children; and as Habakkuk learned we must choose to let God be God when we are not. [And it seems like I come back to that realization a lot myself by going deep into God’s word this year.]

But the lesson today is in the value of contemplative solitude, … going to some quiet place, especially in an attitude of prayer to be in a humble, submissive attitude, … doing all we can to listen for God’s truth.

For any who read my journal entries here daily, that is where I try to go EVERY MORNING; and conceptually I call it “the high ground of prayer.” And I learned a long time ago, that I can’t perceive (i.e., “hear”) God’s truth when I’m in a clamoring, self-determined attitude. It’s only when I’m willing to consciously go to a place (mentally and spiritually) where I can be on higher ground to be able to get God’s clearer perspective. And it’s only when I go silently to this place, intently seeking God’s perspective on the battle fields of life, I begin to see God’s battle plan for my life; and I quietly yield.

When we’re down in the trenches of everyday battle, especially when we’re listening to the opinions and loud expressions of other selfish sinners, our minds cannot get God’s perspective on life and living. It’s only when we’re able to choose submissive silence before our God that He’s able to penetrate our willfulness and prideful selfishness to give us His perspective on the battles of life.

Right now, today, I’ve come to God, much as did Habakkuk, asking God why He would allow an activist judge in California to rule against God’s concept of marriage [something that literally happened yesterday. However, by going, QUIETLY, to my high ground of listening solitude and prayer, God has assured me that He has all of this, not only under His view, but in HIS control. And like Habakkuk sing in his song of praise, in Hab. 3: 17 – 18 [linked], I’m not going to let some activist judge, who’s trying to unravel God’s institution of marriage, to steal my joy. No, … in solitude here at this high ground of devotion, I’m going to choose to turn these matters, which are out of my control, over to God, Who is in total control. And like Habakkuk in that latter passage, I will praise my God forever.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You are the God of all justice; and Your will be done. Amen