October 28
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
-MATTHEW 26:39
nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
-MATTHEW 26:39
His sweat mingled with His tears, and He wrestled with Himself three times before He could settle the issue, but once it was settled, He gave no resistance, and within a few hours everything was accomplished.
Oh! That is where we are lacking today! How long will we kick and struggle against the pricks? How long will we argue and complain against God and resist His dealings with us? If we have to die in order to truly live, let us be about the business of dying! If we must be crucified in order to have Resurrection Life, then let us just submit to it and get it over with!
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
CHIP BROGDEN is a best-selling author, teacher, and former pastor who shares "real, simple, truth" about a Christ-centered faith that is based on relationship, not religion. Learn more »
Amen Chip
There are ONLY 2 Paths:
1) SELF DESTRUCTION
2) GLORIFICATION
Then there is where the VAST..VAST MASSES OF HUMANITY PREFER TO SPEND THEIR DAYS..WEEKS..AND YEARS
3) IN THE MIDDLE BETWEEN THESE 2 PATHS.
“You lose your life, to find your life” Matt 10:39. It is that simple and yet as He increases more and more we find what real life is all about in Christ.
Hi everyone,
I agree with the principal of Christ’s obedience but I disagree he was trying to come to terms with not wanting to die on the cross. I believe the powers of darkness were so overwhelming in the garden (trying ot kill him before he could get to the cross) that Jesus, in his humanity, thought he was going to die in the garden BEFORE getting to the cross. Matt 26 v 38. The cup he wanted to pass from him was death in the garden. YET ,even though he knew that the cross was the plan and purpose of God’s salvation for all of mankind, he was willing to to let it all go and say not my will but your will be done. Heb 5 v 7 says he was saved from death, if it was not death in the garden what death was it?
I find this far more satifying and glorifying to our mighty saviour than the suggestion that he had some momentary ,moral weakness in the garden. He would have had to apologise to Peter if that was so as he rebuked Peter when Peter tried to tell him he must be arrested and die.
The scripture tells us he set his face as a flint towards Jerusalem. He was determind, he longed to get to the cross, to embrace it, to accomplice salvation. No! my Jesus did not have a lapse of intent in the garden, he was fearful in case he could not get there and die before the appointed time. YET, even so, in total obedience to His Father he was willing to submit to the Father’s will. God bless
Debbie
“Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (Jn. 18:11). Here, Jesus clearly said the Cup referred to dying on the Cross, and afterwards, that He would indeed drink it. So the Cup he wanted to pass cannot be His death in the Garden as you suggest. He drank the only Cup He referred to, and it was always in reference to dying on the Cross. The fact that He prayed three times and overcame is certainly not a sign of moral weakness, but of moral and spiritual strength. However, your suggestion that He was “fearful in case he could not get there and die before the appointed time” is a little too much for me; it suggests that Jesus didn’t know what was going on, or didn’t have reliance on His Father, or had something to be afraid of. The simplest interpretation is the best. But I thank you for your comment.
Yes you are right ‘fearful’ was the wrong word to use. I should have stuck to the scriptural phrase ‘exceeding sorrowful.’ I think we will have to agree to differ and let the Lord lead in this one. 🙂
I think this is the simplest explanation! God Bless.
“Wrestled with Himself”….how often do we “wrestle with ourselves” when temptation comes along, and especially when it is something that makes us “feel GOOOOOOD”…? When we KNOW to do right, even though it is not necessarily a “sin” as such, but it is God’s will for US to do or not to do, and as we stand at the crossroads of decision, how often do we “wrestle with ourselves” over the direction we will take? – or dangerously, simply STOP wrestling with ourselves and give in to the temptation? The wrestling comes with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When we stop wrestling, we have quenched the Spirit, hardening our hearts against the will of God, and conviction of sin. We kick against the pricks, as Paul did before he humbled his heart, chose GOD’S way and submitted to the will of God. Sometimes it takes a real struggle, especially when we have been yielding to our temptations for a long time, but when we just take that step towards God we feel such elation, such joy that THIS TIME we overcame, because we CAN do ALL things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us…..didn’t He experience the same suffering and yield to the will of the Father? Let US have the same mind as He did – He came not to do His own will, but the will of the Father, and HIS eyes were on the joy that was set before Him. OUR table has been prepared by our loving Father – will we come and sup from it? The less we resist and wrestle with ourselves the harder it becomes to resist because we do not exercise the spiritual muscles we have been given to resist and yield to God’s will. Jesus overcame temptation by three things – the Word of God, knowing the will of God, and obeying the Holy Spirit’s prompting.
When we kick against the pricks WE are the ones who are hurt……freedom and joy comes from our obedience…
It is a matter of faith and spiritulla understanding what you are about to be or gain out of sufferings, most us can not understand the voice og God then it is had to walk along. God Bless
So thankful for the book “Embrace the Cross”. Was so hungry to understand what He meant that I devoured it. The Cross has become a Living Reality. Resisting, running away less, letting Him draw me more and more. Someone said, “Love Him, love the Cross; No Cross, no Him.”