EXCRUCIATINGLY
WONDERFUL
BREAD
39 Jesus
went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said
to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”
41 He
withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father,
if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
43 An
angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he
prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the
ground. 45 When
he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep,
exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Luke 22:39-46 (NIV)
8 We do
not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the
province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to
endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt
the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves
but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he
will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver
us. 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (NIV)
1 Now
when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His
disciples came to him, 2 and he
began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed
are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed
are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people
insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because
of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew
5:1-12 (NIV)
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she
fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died.” 33 When Jesus
saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was
deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where
have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the
Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of
them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this
man from dying?” 38 Jesus, once
more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the
entrance. 39 “Take
away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead
man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you
that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this
for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you
sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man
came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around
his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave
clothes and let him go.” John
11:32-44 (NIV)
3 He was
despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him
not. 4 Surely
he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him
stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought
us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his
mouth. Isaiah 53:3-7 (NIV)
BUTTER
“A Christian is someone who shares
the sufferings of God in the world.” Dietrich
Bonhoeffer
“Life holds for all of us,
from time to time, desolate places. All that was ordinary and secure and
familiar and dependable seems a thousand miles away. Here we are in this
strange wilderness- out of work, ill, robbed of something or someone, banished
from a privilege that once was ours, no longer needed, confused, forsaken. It
is a place of dryness, loneliness, isolation, helplessness, fear. We feel as
though we are walking where no human being was ever meant to walk, a place of dragons. Don't despair. Even though you find no signs, be
sure that thousands have traversed this terrain. When you reach the far side
you will meet them. But there is something that is far more comforting than
that. You are not alone now. Always beside you is Another whose voice you may not hear, whose arm
you may not feel, whose footprint you may not see. Nevertheless His Word is
utterly to be trusted: ‘I cared for you in the wilderness.’” (Hosea 13:5) Elisabeth
Elliot
“Take
courage. We walk in the wilderness today
and in the Promised Land tomorrow.” D.L. Moody
“He who is a
believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now, and to content
him for evermore. The believer is not
the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights are long
from absence of heart-cheering thought, for he finds in Christ such a spring of
joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is content and happy. Put him in a dungeon and he will find good
company; place him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven;
drive him away from friendship, he will meet the ‘friend that sticketh closer
than a brother.’ Blast all his gourds,
and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his
earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart is as insatiable as the grave till
Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fullness in Christ that He
alone is the believer’s all. The true
saint is so completely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus that he
thirsts no more – except it be for deeper draughts of the living fountain.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“We judge things
by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences. If we could do the same we would be perfectly
of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage
for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded
as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their
own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.” John
Newton
HEART SAVOR
·
Some of
the hardest things in my life have created within me some of the richest
blessings.
·
I seek
not to kick against God’s best for my life - though perhaps excruciating - and
look for the wonderful which it inevitably brings forth. To embrace what He allows with joy takes
maturity and relinquishment of will.
Actually, it boils down to simply trusting Him. That He is a loving Father, that He always has
our best interest at heart and that His plan is to conform us to the image of
His Son.
·
God loves
to show His faithfulness to His followers.
