304th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Jesus and the "Cup" Con't.- Matthew 26: 39,42.

The reason Jesus shows reluctance to drink this cup, is because what it symbolized. The Cup holds all the sin committed from the time of Adam until Jesus comes again, at this time in the Garden of Gethsemane until now we are still waiting for Jesus' return. The sin is only half of what that Cup holds, it also holds God's righteous wrath due as a cost of those sins. This is something most Christians do not think about. Sins have consequences that are linked to those sins, and even if we are forgiven those sins, the consequences still remain. The Bible teaches that "The wages of sin is death". Even if we ask God to forgive all our sins, we still die. Death is the consequence of sin. In order to understand God's wrath, and how it works, you need a good understanding of the Old Testament. Most Christians do not like to read the Old Testament, because they say it is gory! There is a lot of gore in it that's true, but there is also a lot of love and forgiveness in there as well. It is through reading the Old Testament, that you start to understand why it takes God so long to pass judgment on the sinful people. God is hoping that the people come to their senses and ask God for forgiveness and change their ways. This is why it took so long for the Messiah to come the first time. We know what the "Cup" contains, now we are going to look at why Jesus was not looking forward to drinking it. In the next post.

303rd Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Matthew 26: 39,42.

Matthew 26: 39, 42; Mark 14: 36; Luke 22:42.
O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.
This was spoken by Jesus on the night just before He was to be betrayed. I believe that the significance of what this "Cup" symbolizes to Christians, has been minimized over the years, to something we read, and don't think much about. If Jesus chose not to drink this "Cup", things would be much different here, and follower's of Jesus would not exist! The Gospel of John, gives the most complete account of what happened on Maundy Thursday, starting with Chapter 13, and going to Chapter 18. Jesus talks about being Glorified, several times within those chapters, and speaks of completing the task as already finished. When Jesus gets to the Garden of Gethsemane, all of a sudden His manner changes. He leaves his disciples, takes a few of his closest disciples with Him and goes a little deeper into the Garden to Pray. Jesus is pleading with His Father to let this cup pass from Me. Why would He ask this? This Night and the following days are what Jesus was brought into the world to accomplish. Jesus had known this for some time. We will look into this why, in my next post.

302nd Post Promises Jesus Made to His Follower's Con't. - His Own Prayers -Matthew 11: 25 -26.

Matthew 11: 25 - 26; Luke 10:21.
I thank You Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father for it seemed good in your sight.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 years into His earthly Ministry. Jesus is very busy, preaching, teaching, and healing. This passage occurs soon after John the Baptist's disciples bring Jesus John's question, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we search for another?" Jesus sent out the disciples two by two to minister to the people. Doubt among the people, including His own group seemed to be growing. It was at this time that Jesus spoke the passage mentioned above. Jesus is living in the time of the Gentiles, that the prophet Daniel had foreseen, and spoken about. We also are living in the time of the Gentiles, this will be the case until the anti-christ stands outside the rebuilt Jewish temple and declares "he is god!" During this time the words of Isaiah are in effect, "Seeing, they won't see, and hearing they won't understand." Only the people that recognized that Jesus was Who He said He was, would be able to hear and understand the truth. This is the same today. In order to understand what Jesus said and taught, you must believe He is the Son of God and Messiah! After 302, posts you must have some idea as to who He is. Are you ready to follow Him yet?? The choice is yours.

301st Post Jesus Promises to His Follower's Concerning Prayer Con't. - Matthew 26: 40 - 41.

Matthew 26: 40 - 41; Mark 14: 38; Luke 22: 46.
What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
This was spoken by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His betrayal. Jesus has taken His most trusted disciples away from the rest and asked them to watch and pray with Jesus as He struggled with the "Cup". Jesus being God, knew what was going to happen, the disciples did not. To the disciples, it was just another "Passover" feast. They knew Jesus seemed to be acting strangely, but could not understand why. If you look at chapters 13 - 17 of John, Jesus was very concerned with them, and kept telling them that when He leaves to love one another. Then, here in the Garden, Jesus is reprimanding them for sleeping. This shows the stress, Jesus was under. Jesus totally understood what was about to happen. He asked His trusted disciples to watch and pray with Him, for support. The disciples could not understand what was happening, so they did not understand why Jesus was getting short with them. Later when most of these disciples face their own last moments on earth, will they understand why Jesus acted the way He did, and will have to remember that the time Jesus needed them the most, they failed Him. This is an important lesson, when someone asks you to watch and pray with them, in order for them to ask you that, they are dealing with something very serious. How will you react?

300th Post Jesus Said Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Peace and Rest Con't. - Matthew 10: 28 - 31.

Matthew 10: 28 - 31; Luke 12: 3 - 7.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 years into His earthly Ministry. Jesus is telling us, not to fear evil men or even the devil. They can only kill your body, once. But Fear God who created the heavens and the earth, and hell itself. He (God) has the power to kill both body and soul in hell. The word fear here is not the meaning of being afraid, but of reverence. We are to remember that God is in control, and we are subject to His will. This is why Jesus talks about the price of sparrows and the hairs on your head. God created both, and care for both. Jesus talks about the the hairs on your head being numbered; if God knows you that well, you have much value in His eyes. God sent His Son to die for us, so that not one of us should be lost. All we have to do is believe in Him, and let the Holy Spirit living in us change our lives. Only you can change your position, and you do this by asking Jesus into your heart. Have you done this yet? There is still time.

299th Post Jesus Said Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Comment on Peace and Rest Con't.

In the previous post we looked at God's definition of peace, that was the first part of this promise the second part is rest. God's definition of this word is also different from the world's. The world says that rest is relaxation. Jesus told His follower's "Come to me all that are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest." This also is a passage that gives believer's trouble. On the surface it sounds very good, we come to Jesus and we will be free from burdens. Is that really what Jesus is saying here? The rest of that passage reads "My yoke is easy your burden is light." It has probably been generations since a lot of us had family that worked the land. This works to our disadvantage when trying to understand this passage. Many of us read the word yoke, but have no idea of the meaning. If you are familiar with yokes, you know that they can come to fit one animal, or many. Some of you might be familiar with yokes that fit two or more. If you are, you know that there is a particular order that you hook your animals in. You have a strong and a weaker. This means one of the animals is the lead animal. This is the point Jesus was trying to make. Notice in the passage He says "My yoke". That means you are harnessed to Jesus, and He is the lead. This is very hard for us, because control is something we relish in. Notice when we become "Christians" we say we are follower's of Jesus. Who is leading? If you are a practicing "Christian" you are following not leading. In what position are you in?

298th Post Jesus Said Promises Made to His Followers - New Section on Peace and Rest - Comment.

This is a new Topic and we start with an introduction to this topic entitled Peace and Rest. God's definition of peace and rest is different than the world's. When the world talks about peace, it means a time of calm with no tribulation. When God talks about peace, it means calm while going through tribulations. This is where a lot of believer's have trouble, because they want to apply the world's definition to God's. They believe God is offering peace without tribulation. For God to offer that we would have to be living in a perfect world. This is a promise to come, but this is not what we have now. We live in a fallen world, and because of that, we have to live with the consequences of that situation. That means we will have sickness and death, famine and drought. To live at peace through this situation is the real gift. To receive this gift of peace, requires belief and trust on our parts. This is easier said than done. James 1:2 tells us to count all of our tribulations joy and to thank God for them. I don't know about you, but when I have been given tribulations, the first thing that comes to my mind is not "Thank you God!, you can give me more, I love it!" This takes walking with God for a time, before you are able to accept everything that happens as a gift from God. In Chapter 15 of John, we learned that as believer's we are branches connected to the true vine, and the vine dresser has to prune us from time to time in order to produce more fruit. When you are living according to God's will, you accept these prunings without complaint, when you have achieved this you are living in God's peace.