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“’Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.’” [Mark 14:36]

I am awestruck by the honesty of this prayer. Jesus knew what was ahead of Him. Like any man, the trials and torture and crucifixion would have been a fearful experience, but the part that seems to have troubled Him the most was that “cup” of God’s wrath. He would have to drain that “cup” to its bitter dregs, taking upon Himself the sins of the world in their most horrendous punishment … and in the process experiencing a separation from His Father. How that all transpired cannot even be understood by us, it is a mystery that we may never be able to unravel.

Knowing all this, Jesus was honest with His Father. “Father, You can do anything and everything, is there is any other way that salvation can be accomplished apart from my drinking this cup of degradation and wrath?”

The writer of Hebrews tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” [12:2]

“…who for the joy set before him endured the cross.”  That joy was the open door of salvation He would accomplish for us. But understand, there was no joy that night in Gethsemane. This was an hour of darkness and agony. It was a time of honest intercession … “take this cup from me.”

Let’s be authentic in our approach to God and in our pleas. God is not impressed by our pretense that we have it all together, but He will respond to us in our honesty and in our desperation.

I am finishing up the month of February focusing on our spiritual hearts. There are five risk factors contained in the Scriptures that we need to heed. Yesterday it was a warning against hardening our hearts before the LORD (often a failure to remember all that God has done for us.)

Today, it’s guarding against developing a complaining, grumbling, and murmuring spirit. Multiple times in the scriptures we are warned about this.  “Do everything without grumbling ….” [Philippians 2:14, also Exodus 16:3, John 6:43]

Complaining can take the form of fault-finding, murmuring, griping, and grumbling. It can also take the form of taking offense and entitlement. Complaining is a major occupation of our culture. As a society we are much more focused on fault-finding than virtue-finding. We love to complain.

I remember an incident from a few years ago. Our family visited a popular restaurant on a very busy holiday. Our waitress was a delight. She stayed attentive to our needs, updated us on timing of meal delivery, and never seemed “rushed” when it was apparent there was every reason to be.  I was so impressed I praised her by name to the restaurant company in an email.

A few weeks later I got a letter and a special “manager’s gift card” in the mail for $50. When we redeemed it at another meal, a manager quickly came to our table and asked if our “service was better than last time.”

After some confusion and explanation, the manager said the company gave those special manager’s gift cards to the people who complained about their service or meal. He was shocked that someone actually sent in a praise report.

That is a sad commentary on our society. It is even more sad (and risky to our spiritual hearts) when we allow that attitude to invade our spiritual walk.

I wonder who picks out the verse-of-the-day that is sent to my email? I often see patterns–Scriptures that speak of the Incarnation during the Christmas season or Redemption during the Easter Season. But sometimes I can’t find any reason why that verse ended up applied to that day.

Maybe the person who picks out the verse-of-the-day really needed to hear that Scripture and just decided the rest of us should too.

What greeted me this morning was James 1:2-3: “Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” [HCSB]

The NKJV commands us to “count it all joy,” while, the NLT provides another way of looking at James’ command. “When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

No matter how I look at these verses, I doubt very much if I have ever (initially) faced any trial or trouble as an opportunity for great joy. I usually attribute opportunities for great joy to other types of experiences.

Usually, I find the “great joy” when the trial is behind me. I can see how my God was faithful, how my faith grew, how much stronger my endurance. But James is unmistakable. We are not to wait until the end of the trial to count it all joy, we are to count it all joy at the beginning.

Anticipating eagerly how God will prove Himself faithful to us amid the various trials and troubles is the avenue for experiencing the great joy at the beginning.

I have been trying to be quiet before the LORD more in 2024. When I look back on 2023 it appears noisy and busy to me. I would label it a year of struggle. Not necessarily always struggling with bad situations, but a busy kind of struggle that has robbed my soul and spirit of quiet times before the LORD.

As I read Psalm 46 this morning, I came across that all familiar and often-quoted verse 10: “Be still and know that I am God.” 

Would it surprise you to learn that “still” does not mean to be quiet and not talk? The word is raphah, and it means “to cast down, let fall, to let hang down (especially the hands).”

It is used in the sense of not making any effort or putting forth any exertion.  It carries the idea of ceasing all struggle and leaving everything in God’s Hands.

When you read Psalm 46 notice how God is portrayed. He is our refuge, strength, ever-present help. He is the LORD Almighty, our fortress. He works among us; bringing desolations, causing wars to cease, and defeating enemies.

It doesn’t matter if the very mountains fall into the sea or quake mightily … our God is mightier than anything and as verse 11 points out … He is “with us.”

It is only in knowing our God after that fashion that we can cease all struggles, be still, and leave everything in God’s Hands.

My yearly Bible reading plan is arranged so that I read two chapters in the OT, one psalm or proverb, and 1 chapter in the NT. That takes me through the Bible in a year, reading Psalms and Proverbs twice, and the Gospels twice.

My NT chapter this morning was Matthew 8. This is a glorious chapter recording events early in the ministry of Jesus.

Matthew begins with three healings. First the man with leprosy, then the Centurion’s servant (more on this event tomorrow), and finally with Peter’s mother-in-law (which generated people bringing many others to Jesus’ doorstep).

There is a section on the cost of following Jesus. Then suddenly Jesus and the disciples are in a boat in a terrible storm calling out to Jesus to save them. He calms the winds and the sea with simply His word.

Finally, to end the chapter, Matthew reports Jesus delivering two demon-possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes.

Do you see what Matthew did in this chapter. He shows us a marvelous picture of our LORD’s authority. As we read through these events, we see that Jesus has all authority over sickness and death. He has all authority over the natural world. And He has all authority over the spirit world.

He heals by His Word and Touch. He calms nature by His word. He dispatches demons by His Word. PTL.