The battle in the Garden

My husband recently shared a thought he had re: the time Jesus spent in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night He would be arrested; and the thought still has stuck with me to this day. Which is a shocker because I'm notorious for having a short term memory. Ask me what I wore in kindergarten and I can tell you in great detail but what did I say last Sunday at church? Couldn't tell ya.

Joey (that would be my handsome husband) said that he thinks the time Jesus experienced in the garden was far more difficult for Jesus to endure than the actual journey to the cross. The reason being, that the Bible notes an Angel came to strengthen Jesus in the garden, however there is no mention of that during Jesus' time on the cross.

That makes so much sense to me. The victory, in my opinion, was won in the Garden. In that moment, as Jesus is praying to God, He is asking God to take the cup from Him, if it is possible. But then of course He says 'not my will, but yours be done.'

All Heaven must have stood still in that moment, awaiting what God would do. Would the pain be too much for God to handle, unable to watch His Son in extreme sorrow, knowing what lay ahead for Him on the cross? Would God indeed take the cup and just call Jesus home? What would happen to us, man kind, if He altered the plan right then and there. He is God, He certainly could have done that.

But instead, He sent an Angel to strengthen His Son. Knowing it had to be done, a sacrifice had to be offered. And not just any sacrifice would do...

This Children's Bible has been blessing our socks off this week. There is a portion that describes what happened to Jesus in the Garden that is just so powerful:

'"Papa! Father!" Jesus cried. And He fell to the ground. "Is there any other way to get your children back? To heal their hearts? To get rid of the poison?" But Jesus knew - there was no other way. All the poison of sin was going to have to go into His own heart. God was going to pour into Jesus' heart all the sadness and brokenness in people's hearts. He was going to pour into Jesus' body all the sickness in people's bodies. God was going to have to blame His Son for everything that had gone wrong. It would crush Jesus.'

Wow. Now if that does not clearly explain Gethsemane, I don't know what does. Can you even imagine what Jesus felt like? Can you even imagine?

I know times when I have felt overwhelmed with my own self, analyzing things and over thinking everything...then I think of my sin, then I can look back at the times I've been broken, rejected, hurt & betrayed. I can think of times that I have fought sickness. I can vividly recall feelings of insecurity and of shame. But for me, those things have taken place throughout my entire existence, not all at once. Had I been overwhelmed with everthing all at once, I don't think I'd be alive. Nor would you.

So here is Jesus, with every single thing I've faced, stinging His heart. But what you can't wrap your head around, is that every single thing you have faced is stinging His heart as well. And every thing any human that has graced this planet or will grace this planet, stinging...

And so He is overwhelmed...He says in Matthew 26, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death." He felt He could die, right there in the Garden. And we can understand why.

So it leads me to think again of Joey's thought, the battle was the hardest in the Garden. Because once He left the Garden, He had a resolve. He had asked His Father to take the cup, but He did not. Instead, Jesus was given strength in that moment. And I believe, it's the strength that carried Him the rest of the way.

Sometimes God does not take the problem from us, no matter how strong our faith is. But instead, He strengthens us for the duration of the journey through that difficulty. We know why God did not take the cup from Jesus, because He loved us, and it was the only way for us to be with Him for eternity. Jesus did not question God in the Garden. He accepted His will. I, for one, am so glad He did. Sunday's a comin.

The love of a friend

Maundy Thursday. Holy Thursday. The Thursday before Easter that we remember the Passover supper, the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples before being crucified. I can't fully wrap my head around such a meal; there are so many intricate details that go into a Passover meal that an in depth study of it would be extremely fascinating. Let's not forget that Jesus Himself was Jewish, therefore He held to Jewish tradition when it came to such things. The meaning behind the customs and traditions are so interesting.

But tonight, my heart feels overwhelmed at the thought of this last supper, not too mention the events about to unfold at the Mt. of Olives. I imagine a Jesus, unable to really eat during supper, being fully human and yet fully God, but feeling extremely heavy. The fullness of what He was about to experience has not even hit Him yet, as the Garden experience still lies ahead. But here He is at the Passover meal, attempting to break the news to His followers, His disciples, his companions, His friends.

He loved the disciples. Imagine how close He felt to them, having experienced such tremendous joy over the course of the short ministry that had taken place up to this point. The joy of healing people, the joy of seeing people set free from demonic possession, the joy of seeing a life restored, the joy of re-birth coming over people; all the joys shared amongst the group only drew them that much closer. Jesus loved them dearly. In fact, I love how Jesus prays to God for them in John 17. He says, "while I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name." Meaning He protected them, He provided for them, He took close watch of them...He kept them. I love that.

Imagine the scene for a moment, if you will. Picture it happening to you. You are surrounded by a group of people that you dearly love; a group of people that have not left your side since you stepped out and began what God had called you to do. A people that look to you for every answer, every worry, every hope and every dream. And now imagine that you have to tell them that this is the last time you will eat with them here on this earth. You have to tell them, in fact, that you are going to die. Can you even for one second feel what the disciples were feeling? Can you allow yourself to feel the despair and confusion that must have overwhelmed all those in attendance that night? And Jesus. He loves them. He knows this news is shattering their very core and yet He knows it is essential to God's plan of redemption for their very souls, the very souls He has grown to love and feels the need to pray for in John 17. (It's great to note that Jesus prays for us as well in John 17, He prays for all those that would believe. Pretty cool.)

I read something tonight that just brought this meal to a different light for me. We have the best Children's Bible I've ever read, in my humble opinion of course! It just seems that every story brings scripture to light in such a way that it blesses me each time I read it with the girls. Tonight was no exception & I want to share this portion regarding the last supper:

Then Jesus picked up some bread and broke it. He gave it to His friends. He picked up a cup of wine and thanked God for it. He poured it out and shared it.

"My body is like this bread. It will break," Jesus told them. "This cup of wine is like my blood. It will pour out. But this is how God will rescue the whole world. My life will break and God's broken world will mend. My heart will tear apart - and your hearts will heal. Just as the passover lamb died, so now I will die instead of you. My blood will wash away all of your sins. And you'll be clean on the inside - in your hearts. So whenever you eat and drink, remember," Jesus said, "I've rescued you."

Jesus knew it was nearly time for him to leave the world and go back to God. "I won't be with you long," He said. "You are going to be very sad. But God's helper will come. And then you'll be filled up with a forever happiness that won't ever leave. So don't be afraid. You are my friends and I love you."

I just love that. I love the picture it paints. He loved His friends. He loved us. And so He left us with a ceremonial way to remember Him, communion.

Love caused Him to do that. Love for His Father. Love for His friends. Love for you. And love for me.

On this Thursday before Easter, may that love overwhelm us...there is nothing like the love of a friend. Jesus is my friend. And I guess there is plenty of Him to go around for you too ;)

Living a Crucified life?

Galatians 2:20-21 says, "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die."

What does that actually mean? To be crucified with Christ? My old self, what is "my old self" anyway? Because sometimes I still feel like my same self, with all my negative talk/thoughts/actions. So how do I crucify myself with Christ? How? How.

Jesus could have come down off the cross if He had so chose too. He easily could have called the whole thing off. A shout, heck even a whisper would have been all it would have took for legions of Angels to surround Jesus and pull Him down. Nobody forced Him to stay there, not the Romans, the heckling of the people, and no, not even the nails. After all, He held within Himself the very power of God. NOTHING could keep Him on that cross. Not one thing. Well, that's not entirely true, because in actuality it was ONLY one thing that kept Him there, LOVE.

John 3:16, a famous and yet so powerful verse, "For God so loved the World..." And that's why He stayed. He loved us. He loved me, in spite of me. He loved me before I was even a flutter in my mother's tummy. He loved me, with full knowledge that I would have days entrenched in "my old self." Regardless of me, He still loved me. Wow! The un-conditional love displayed at Calvary is the very reason that I strive to be crucified with Christ, daily. He already died the death necessary for my sins; the sacrifice has been made - all the sin, all the hurt, all the bondage, all the addiction, all the bitterness, all the anger, all the rage, all the envy, all the sickness, all the lack, ALL the stuff, it's already been crucified with Christ. When He died that brutal death on the cross, all of that stuff died with Him. The potential for our freedom was given at Calvary. But it's not until we accept Christ and choose to crucify our own selves, that we can claim that freedom for our own.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things become new."

What an interesting accompaniment that verse is to the original verse I read in Galatians. I'm seeing a theme here folks. In Christ = new life.

So if I am in Christ, and I have this new life, why oh why would I ever allow the old self to live again? Unfortunately though, we do. We let the old man creep in ever so slightly. Perhaps we get overwhelmed with the cares of this world; we carry everyone's burdens to the extent that it literally weighs so heavy on our hearts that we begin to bend under the pressure of their lives. It could be a family member, a friend, someone you are helping or ministering to. If we are not careful, we get weary. And when we get weary, we let our guard down. And the crucified life we strive to live slowly and subtly begins to fade away.

The same goes for those in a tremendous battle of life. Perhaps you face overwhelming challenges today or you are up against life altering decisions. The weight of that can become so heavy, that again, slowly and subtly, the crucified life we strive to live begins to fade away. Whatever the "stuff" is that is trying to steal your crucifixion today, don't let it. Don't even give it another second of your time. It's not worthy of your worry. No matter how extreme the situation is, it's not worthy of your worry. We have got to live this life Heaven minded, simply passing through this place. Nothing from our old self is worth sacrificing our spot in Heaven for, nothing. NOT ONE THING. Living a life that is crucified with Christ is not always easy, Jesus never said it would be. But the benefits of living that life far outweigh the other option.

I get to live a life full of peace, a life full of joy, a life full of trust. The stuff that God allows me to do in this life is so crazy exciting that sometimes I want to remind God of who I am in case He forgot and gave me someone else's life. I certainly don't deserve this one He has given me. But for whatever reason, He let's me live it. So for as long as I have breath in my lungs here on Earth, as long as there is a beat in my heart, here on this place called Earth, then I will continue to strive to live a life that is crucified with Christ. I choose to leave all the stuff that Christ took to the cross at the cross. What a deal? Man, think about the deal we get. It's crazy! We ask God to forgive us and He does. We ask God to restore us, and He does. We ask God to provide for us, and He does. We ask God to heal us, and He does.

I read something so great by Angie Smith in a book called "Mended, pieces of a life made whole," that I want to share with you. She says, "There is such a difference between religion and relationship. I could not have survived without the latter, I assure you. Because, you see, the thing about the nails in this life is that they are temporary. We choose to bear them because we know that we will lay our crowns at His feet in the blink of an eye. We will join Him for eternity, and will worship the One Who was scarred on our behalf."

This life is just a moment. So I encourage you today with this thought, a crucified life may not always be an easy life. You may sincerely have to sacrifice some difficult things to live a crucified life. You may have to put your own will and your own desires on the shelf in order to live a Godly life. But take heart in this, the very love that kept King Jesus on the cross is the very love that will literally hold you in Heaven soon and very soon. It will be worth it all. Any sacrifice you make to live that crucified life will indeed be worth it all. It it wasn't, Jesus would not have had do be crucified. But He knew something that we didn't...He knew Heaven. And He knew we needed to be there. And so we will. Amen and amen.