Greetings,
Have you ever thought that you have had enough,You couldn't handle any more,the affliction was more than you could bear,the trial of fire was beyond your capabilities to get through it?The Biblical quote pertaining to what Jesus asked His Father was from Matt:Ch.26v39"O my Father,if it be possible,let this cup pass from me:nevertheless not as I will,but as thou wilt."This passage comes from the night in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus knew they were coming for Him to die on the cross for our sins.In verse41 Jesus says to His disciples"Watch and pray,that ye enter not into temptation:the spirit is indeed willing,but the flesh is weak."Verse42"O my Father,if this cup may not pass away from Me,except I drink it,thy will be done."It is important to note that the HUMAN Jesus knew what His "flesh body"was going to go through and did what?Asked His Father to take this task from Him if it was possible!From time to time I have been beating myself up for being weak,lacking faith,not trusting God enough to see me through the consequences to my body of radiation and chemotherapy in order to reach my body's healing point.My "flesh" is beginning to feel the debilitating effects of the treatment.The Holy Spirit put on my heart to go to these passages in the Bible;certainly NOT to compare my trial with what Jesus went through for us,however,to understand that even God the Son,because He was made "flesh",as us,and knew what His body was about to go through asked to be released from His trial of fire.God the Father,however,had the big picture in mind;His Son's death on the cross would bring eternal life to all who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
What is the big picture for me?I believe it's very easy to praise our God when things are going smoothly.How much praise do we give God when we hit the rough patch?What are our prayers then?how strong is our faith?Do we fortify our foundation of His love for us by studying His word?Can we see the blessings our affliction can become if we turn our situation over to Him;and let Him show us the way to walk through our fire?I know that God is with me,I have experienced too many spiritual awakenings during this trial to think otherwise,however,my spirit is willing ,my flesh is weak.The Holy Spirit reminded me of all the things I have been led to do from the beginning of this affliction; starting a journal focusing on finding God's immaculate word through the Bible, writing a blog to share my experiences[I/you do not walk alone],teaching a weekly morning class sharing my "walk"both earthly and spiritual with others.In other words,I need to STOP beating myself up for my weaknesses and see the strength of God's love for me to carry me through.God is leading me to have my affliction be a blessing to others by showing me this life is nothing compared to eternal life with Him.
I/we need to recognize all disease is from sin.We are all going to leave this earthly life.We Christians have the faith of knowing God cannot lie and Jesus said '"I go to prepare a mansion for you in my Fathers house."I hope that you who read this letter can relate to my frailties as a human being with it's doubts and fears however,more importantly ,to take into your spiritual heart the truth of the necessary sacrifice that Jesus completed for us;even though His "flesh" was weak He stood firm on His Fathers' will.I/we need to remember our big picture;to prepare ourselves through God's word in order to spend eternity with Him.
Until next time,with Christian love,Joe
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