We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique— they are the gateway into life for us.

It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane. In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man. He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God— Satan could not touch Him there. But Satan’s assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man. If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15). Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation— “. . . the devil . . . departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan’s final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.

The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.

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April 5, 2011

Journal Entry for Today

Lord, like many others, I suspect, I take my “spiritual temperature” based on my feelings. If I “feel” close to You then I am close to You. If I “feel” sanctified then I think that perhaps I am sanctified.  If I “feel” a warm glow and am emotionally drawn to call on you, with tears in my eyes and your name on my lips, I “feel” like I am connected. But as I think about my emotional swings, and my capacity to misinterpret and misunderstand, it occurs to me that I should not be so daring as to leave my sense of connection to my emotions or feelings.

And God says…”On the boat, the disciples cried out during the storm on the boat. Were they in any more or less peril as they cried out? When Peter denied Christ out of his fear, was Christ any less the Messiah? When Mary and Martha cried out to Jesus that their brother would have lived if Jesus had been there…..did their brother come alive anyway, in spite of their feelings? You trust your fickle, undependable and chaotic feelings to gauge my whereabouts in your life, over My word. How do you “feel” about my promise to never leave you or forsake you; or the promise that nothing can separate you from MY love? What part of my promise to meet all your needs is untrue or conditional on your goodness? “

“Be in the word, recall and write my promises on your heart, and find Me there, not in your feelings.”

If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, “. . . he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.

One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5). We should intercede in accordance with what God says He will give us, namely, “life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey His mind to us regarding the people for whom we intercede.

Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors.

A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.

Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle-we must be spiritually real.

If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.

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March 29 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

It has occurred to me that I am not to wait on the Lord in the sense that I stand still waiting on Him to show up so that I can finally move or take some action, but that I am to live fully and completely expecting Him to show up at every turn. I am to step out in faith expecting Him to be there all the time, at every turn.  I am to live life fully even though there are great big question marks in the future of my life. Whenever I try to answer all the questions or address all the uncertainties before I move, I am not allowing God room to operate in my life. 

And God Says…”You try to control the uncertainty in your life so that you will not be required to live by faith. You would rather live by sight and certainty than by faith.  You want to be sure before you step out into service or change. Where is the faith in that? Without faith it is impossible to please Me, without faith you cannot access our relationship.”

“Your faith will grow as you expect Me to intercept your life day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute. With a growing and developing faith, you will grow confident in our relationship and trust Me even more. And as a result your life can become a life of faith, hope and joy as you trust in Me. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight. If you are to live life in joy and happiness and peace, you are to live moving forward step by step believing that I have your next step in My control and care.”

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A Beautiful Musical Interlude for relection and prayer:

Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.

To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.

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March 25, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I am learning that my service is not what I believe to be right and proper…or even what needs to be done to help others. If I am to be a servant of God and others, once again I must give myself up.  God will give me the direction. He will direct me and provide the outcomes He desires. I am not even to judge the outcome; was that person helped, did he or she come to Christ,  did we attract larger numbers of attendees to church, did we collect a larger offering, what did the homeless man do with the money I gave him? All these questions I would ask were designed to allow me to judge the value of my service, work or offerings. God is teaching me that I am not to even consider the outcomes; my role is to simply be obedient to His direction. He is responsible for the result.

And God says…”Trust in Me in all your ways and do not rely on your own understanding …..My ways are not your ways. I am the potter you are the clay, is the clay to ask the potter the future outcome? Keep your eyes on Jesus, trust in Me and watch as I weave remarkable outcomes in your life and the lives of others over time. But do not try to understand the bits and pieces of this life and then evaluate your impact by the “good” you think you do. We will discuss your service when we are together in eternity. Simply rest in Me, be available and follow the only two commandments Jesus gave you; love Me with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else belongs to Me.”

If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”

Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “. . . the friend of the bridegroom . . . rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness-at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.

Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).

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March 24, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

It occurs to me that much of our (and my) religious energy is spent trying to make things …”right”. Trying to …do the right thing, make things right for those around me and create a better place in this world for myself.

And God says…”It is not wrong to try to do the right thing…but I came to give you life and life more abundantly. You have the life more abundantly as you give your life, your trying and your ideas of what is right and “better” to Me. You can stop your striving and trying and focus your energy on Me. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.