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

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute.

Proverbs 19:2 (NLT), "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute. This time of the year is so exciting. We get our paycheck from work and then we head to the store or Amazon and buy and buy and buy all those presents and then our check is gone Proverbs 19:2 (NLT) says, "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." But buying gifts can be so much fun and seeing how happy they are when opening those presents makes us feel so good. But then verse 3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then they are angry at the Lord." Now for some that is their life. They get money and they spend it on their wants with no thought of what needs to be paid. An important lesson that we have learned is just because you have money in the bank doesn't mean you must spend it. But our enthusiasm takes over. But the problem is when it is gone and there is no money to pay th...

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