Gethsemane

In Matthew, it says "Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray'".. In Luke 22 and John 18 it mentions this was the place he usually withdrew with his disciples. It was a place of solitude, a place to escape the maddening crowds, get quiet and pray.

Jesus had a secret place,
away from the loud and noisy crowd,
where He would seek the Father's face..
Often He stayed all night and prayed -
with heavenly power He was endowed..

We need a garden such as this,
a place to come when the day is done..
a sacred place of solitude and bliss,
to safely rest from earthly stress..
to know the Father, Spirit and Son..

We all need a special place like that, and we need to go there often.

God's Perspective

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted.." (Isaiah 6:1)

King Uzziah reigned over Israel over 50 years. That's hard for us to relate to since in our country Presidents serve 4 years.. 8 if they're elected again. But that's it. We don't have Presidents who stay in office longer that that. But Uzziah was the only king most people in Israel had ever known. Not only that, he was a great king. The Bible records "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord". He also did a lot to make Israel a better place to live. Second Chronicles 26 records his many, varied accomplishments. Then after 52 years of stability and peace, Israels great leader passes away. You can imagine how everyone felt, the cloud of uncertainty, the sadness.

Then in the middle of that confusing time, God gives Isaiah a vision. He sees things from God's perspective. God's not standing up walking around heaven, in some kind of panic, wondering what He's going to do now that Uzziah is dead. God's isn't even standing, he's sitting down on His throne. In other words, He's still in control! If only we could keep that perspective when we start to panic about things on earth. It's a safe bet that God's still sitting on the throne, high and exalted. We should realize that truth, and then cry out with the angelic hosts..

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the whole earth is full of His glory!"

First Love

"I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place" (Rev 2:2-5)

Sounds like a good church at first. They were hard-working, didn't tolerate evil men, they persevered in the midst of adversity, and they even tested those who claimed to be apostles, just to make sure their doctrine was sound. But Jesus told them plainly REPENT! They'd done all the right things, but they'd forgotten the most important thing of all- loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.. You could say they made their church and their doctrines more important than the relationship they had with Christ. And Jesus made no bones about it, unless that changed, He would come and "remove their lampstand". In other words, their church would be taken away. From God's perspective, if you don't love Him first, then you shouldn't "play church".

Lord, hear our prayer- Help us love you more than anything or anyone, always!

Taking Refuge

"O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

Everyone finds refuge in something. For some it's sports, watching or playing their favorite game or maybe even reading a good book. In these things we find safe haven. Nothing bothers us when we've escaped into our refuge of choice. But God wants us to find our refuge in Him, to run into His arms when we need a place to escape to. His Word says "blessed is the man" who does this. What does it mean to be "blessed". It means to "be so happy as to be envied".. I'm learning how true that is. The more I take refuge in Christ, the happier I am. And of course, the reverse is true. When I drift away from His presence, life gets pretty miserable.

Politics of the day

Often I find myself caught up in some worthless political debate. Seems everyone has an opinion, and everyone thinks they're right. In prayer, God's told me time and time again to avoid such foolish chatter. The reality is, unless the people of this world fall on their knees, repent and turn back to God, it doesn't matter who gets elected! The end result is, without such a revival, we're quickly headed for judgment. God in His mercy has waited and waited. Instead of repentance, He sees violence, immorality and every evil imaginable. When His hand of judgment falls it will be swift and sure. Even if every person bands together, kicks out every corrupt politician and elects a near perfect governing body, it won't matter. Politicians can't change the hearts of people. And that's the real issue, the world has abandoned itself to wholesale evil. God cannot and will not sit idly by forever. His hand of judgment will fall soon.

Miner Story

In the land of coal, the story's told, of mining men, so brave and bold,
who spent their days beneath the ground outside a small West Virginia town..

As the locals say, one fateful day, as the miners started to earn their pay -
the walls of the coal collapsed on the men. Nine were found to be trapped within..

News of the nine trapped in the mine, reached the town in a moment of time.
Everyone left their daily routine to rescue the men from the fearful scene..

With hearts so loyal, with sweat and toil, eight were freed from the blackened soil.
Still one miner remained within, but no one there could rescue him..

When an expert team arrived at the scene, they realized the need for a drilling machine,
a special device to pierce the ground, but such a device could not be found..

The media heard what had occurred, the word went out and the nation was stirred.
Everyone listened throughout the land, watching them try to save the man..

Deep in the nest of the rugged west, a company heard of the miner's distress.
They'd made a machine for just such work, one that would bore through rock or dirt..

They sent it by flight to arrive overnight, along with a crew to the mining site..
Though the cost was truly immense, the company did it at their expense..

With speed and skill, they began to drill, they rescued the man trapped in the hill..
As he emerged to the morning air, he noticed the people standing there..

He saw his mother, his father and brothers, the camera-men and hundreds of others.
He saw the machine that rescued him, over the mine where he just had been..

He didn't know why, but he started to cry, as he looked at the people standing by..
They heard him say 'How can this be?' 'Why was all this done for me?'

All that was done, to simply save the one, might be a work of fiction neatly spun..
But one thing I know & this is very true - like the miner, you're worth saving too!

Kingdom is Near

The last teaching Jesus gave was about His Second Coming. There are thousands of books on the subject, but most of them are based on the Revelation of John or the book of Daniel. Both books use apocalyptic imagery and both can be difficult to interpret. But the sermon Jesus gave was very straightforward. It's also interesting to note, the same message was recorded in 3 of the 4 gospels, in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

All versions start with Jesus talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus said "when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near..". He goes on to say "there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". (Luke 21:20,23-24)

Jesus plainly states, Jerusalem will be destroyed and the Jews will be scattered to different nations. That event happened when Rome leveled the city in 70 AD and the Jews were exiled. For over 1900 years they were a people without a nation. Then in 1948, they were returned to their homeland. Well, almost. They were given a small section of what used to be their homeland. But they did not have control of Jerusalem.

According to the prophecy of Jesus, the city would be "trampled under foot by the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled". In other words, until control of the city was returned to the Jews. Thank God for the 6-day war in 1967. Several Arab countries tried to attack Israel, but they were soundly and thoroughly defeated. Instead of losing land, the Jews actually took land in that conflict- one of the "spoils of war" was Jerusalem.

After almost 1900 years, not only were the Jews returned to their ancient homeland, they also once again laid claim to the "Holy City".. So why is that significant? Because in that same sermon, Jesus also said this..

"So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place". (Luke 21:32) So within a single generation after Jerusalem is returned to Israel, we will see Christ return. That's not based on someone's interpretation of the books of Daniel or Revelation, those are the words of Jesus. And if Jesus was right about everything else, why would He get this wrong? I mean, He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, the return of Jews to Israel and their reclaiming control of the city. How many times in history has a people reformed a country after 1900 years? It's never happened before. So Jesus just didn't pick a rabit out of the hat. It wasn't a guess. He gave the prophecy and it came true. I have a feeling "this generation won't pass away until ALL these things take place".

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Luke's account here
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