Friday... He was definitely an example.

Mark 14:38 (NKJV), "Watch and pray, lest you enter temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

Friday... He was definitely an example.

Jesus on this Good Friday definitely was an example for us. He knew where our battles are won.

Now on the day before, Jesus had brought his disciples together to encourage them. They had heard all that He had said but they still didn't really understand what was about to happen. And that is true of us in so many situations. Yes, what we call the Last Supper was a very special time but after it the real battle began.

We in our humanness have so many temptations and Jesus had a human side. He knew what needed to be done by them and by Him to face what was about to happen. His Spiritual side knew there was a battle in His human side that needed to be won. So they all headed to a Garden.

I just read Ecclesiastes 3 and in verse 8b (MSG) Solomon says, "A right time to wage war and another to make peace." and Jesus knew what this time in the Garden was. It was a time of war between His humanness and His Spiritual and here in the Garden He showed us what to do in those times.

The Garden of Gethsemane

Yes, Jesus knew what God's plan was and His humanness it seems was having some problem with it. The Good Friday was going to be a time that no human had ever faced. He was going to go through so much pain and then eventually He was going to take upon Himself all of the sins that had ever been committed and all that would be committed and God His Father was going to turn His back on Him. And He also knew what His disciple were going to go through so they all came to the Garden for a battle.

Now Jesus says to them in Mark 14:38 (NKJV), "Watch and pray, lest you enter temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." Yes, our humanness can get in the way. That is where Satan knows he has a chance. Satan is not all-knowing like God but he is really smart. We cannot handle him alone. We need help and that is one of the reasons why God sent His Son, Jesus to earth. And Satan knew he had a chance with Jesus being also human.

So Jesus took His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane but they were worn out physically and so was He. Verse 32 (NLT) says, "and Jesus said, 'Sit here while I go and pray." Verse 34 says, "He told them, 'My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

Verse 35, "He went a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it is possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. Verse 36, "'Abba, Father' he cried out, 'everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me, Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.'" And there was the battle.

Now three times he went back and found the disciples asleep. There humanness took control. And Jesus knew there would be a major problem for them to handle what they were about to face. And he knows the same in us. Our humanness is where we lose our spiritual battles with Satan. He knows us and so does God. He created us. And he knows how to win the battles of our temptations.

Mark 14:38 (NKJV) says, "Watch and pray, lest you enter temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." Prayer is where the battle is fought and where God can win.

Read the rest of Mark 14 and see what happens. See how Jesus handled it and what happened to the diusciples.

I don't know what you are going through. I am human, but God does. I can encourage you and help you by sharing God's Word but the battle of temptation starts with prayer. Let God's Spirit lead you through. But it starts by connecting with Him through prayer. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Monday... He did it by Himself

Isaiah 44:24b (AMP), "I am the Lord, Maker of all things. Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself." Monday... He did it by Himself. Many have a tendency to think very highly of themselves and what they can do. Oh we do have great ability but we are not the source. Yes it is important to have self-confidence but we are limited. The prophet Isaiah in 44:9-10 (NLT) says, "How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don't know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit?" Now later in verse 24 (AMP) he writes, "For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says, 'I am the Lord, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself.'" I love that. "By Myself." Now we do need confidence but we are foolish to ma...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Today's Beginning

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