Day 85: He WILL
Please read the Bible verses for today:
Matthew 20:17-19
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:17-19)
The great thing about only reading a few verses a day is that you get to see things you wouldn't have if you had put on yourself to read a whole chapter in your quiet time. In reading only two verses, the pressure is off to finish Bible reading and get on with your day. In reading only two verses there is a peace and a freedom to hear from Holy Spirit what He wants me to see and learn. So, let's see what He wants us to learn today =)
Each night I read the next days 'reading for the day' so I can rest, thinking on what the Lord has for me. When I read these verses last night, I heard the word 'will' repeated.
"The Son of Man WILL be delivered over to the chief priests..."
"They WILL condemn him to death..."
"...and WILL hand him over to the Gentiles..."
"On the third day he WILL be raised to life!"
Many times my husband will say something like, 'That's great! (in a sarcastic tone) Now there's a crack and it will break and we will have to buy a new one.' My response is always...'Don't say that! It doesn't have to happen." My point? If I had been one of Jesus' disciples and heard Him say, 'WILL' four different times, I would have argued with Him! I would not have wanted to hear those words and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to hear Him say it WILL HAPPEN with certainty. I cannot imagine being one of the disciples and hearing that my Jesus WILL BE 1) handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. My mind would have been so confused that the 'holy men' of the time would be the ones to arrest my Jesus. 2) They will condemn Jesus to death, hand Him over to the Gentiles (which means, Jesus will not be stoned to death, but receive the punishment of crucifixion). 3) He will be mocked, flogged and crucified! And I know myself, I would have been so shocked that I wouldn't have heard the Good News... 4) "On the third day he WILL be raised to life!"
Setting aside for a moment that I would have been shocked and terrified and confused in hearing Jesus' words, what touches my heart is that Jesus was talking about all these horrible things happening to Himself and still said, "WILL." He didn't say, 'might' or 'God willing these things won't happen to me.' He confidently said, 'will' four times. He was determined to obey the Father, however horrible a path He had to walk down, Jesus was determined to obey.
This is why I want to be like Jesus. He asked the Father to guide His path, He looked at the trial He had to face, and still walked down the path-completely obedient to the Father's will. I want to face the trials that come into my life and say, "xyz...WILL happen, and the Father WILL bring me through." I don't want the trials to slow me down or stop me from continuing on my path. I want my walk with Jesus to be a confident one no matter what the road ahead of me brings. I want my faith to be stronger.
Pray with me:
Dear Jesus, thank you for all that you have done and for how you lived your life on earth in perfect obedience to your Father. Help me to live a confident, faithful, and obedient life to the Father. Help me to face my trials as you did- with the assurance that God the Father will be with me and will see me through and will give me the victory! I love you Jesus! You are my hero! Change my heart to be ever faithful. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
The great thing about only reading a few verses a day is that you get to see things you wouldn't have if you had put on yourself to read a whole chapter in your quiet time. In reading only two verses, the pressure is off to finish Bible reading and get on with your day. In reading only two verses there is a peace and a freedom to hear from Holy Spirit what He wants me to see and learn. So, let's see what He wants us to learn today =)
Each night I read the next days 'reading for the day' so I can rest, thinking on what the Lord has for me. When I read these verses last night, I heard the word 'will' repeated.
"The Son of Man WILL be delivered over to the chief priests..."
"They WILL condemn him to death..."
"...and WILL hand him over to the Gentiles..."
"On the third day he WILL be raised to life!"
Many times my husband will say something like, 'That's great! (in a sarcastic tone) Now there's a crack and it will break and we will have to buy a new one.' My response is always...'Don't say that! It doesn't have to happen." My point? If I had been one of Jesus' disciples and heard Him say, 'WILL' four different times, I would have argued with Him! I would not have wanted to hear those words and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to hear Him say it WILL HAPPEN with certainty. I cannot imagine being one of the disciples and hearing that my Jesus WILL BE 1) handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. My mind would have been so confused that the 'holy men' of the time would be the ones to arrest my Jesus. 2) They will condemn Jesus to death, hand Him over to the Gentiles (which means, Jesus will not be stoned to death, but receive the punishment of crucifixion). 3) He will be mocked, flogged and crucified! And I know myself, I would have been so shocked that I wouldn't have heard the Good News... 4) "On the third day he WILL be raised to life!"
Setting aside for a moment that I would have been shocked and terrified and confused in hearing Jesus' words, what touches my heart is that Jesus was talking about all these horrible things happening to Himself and still said, "WILL." He didn't say, 'might' or 'God willing these things won't happen to me.' He confidently said, 'will' four times. He was determined to obey the Father, however horrible a path He had to walk down, Jesus was determined to obey.
This is why I want to be like Jesus. He asked the Father to guide His path, He looked at the trial He had to face, and still walked down the path-completely obedient to the Father's will. I want to face the trials that come into my life and say, "xyz...WILL happen, and the Father WILL bring me through." I don't want the trials to slow me down or stop me from continuing on my path. I want my walk with Jesus to be a confident one no matter what the road ahead of me brings. I want my faith to be stronger.
Pray with me:
Dear Jesus, thank you for all that you have done and for how you lived your life on earth in perfect obedience to your Father. Help me to live a confident, faithful, and obedient life to the Father. Help me to face my trials as you did- with the assurance that God the Father will be with me and will see me through and will give me the victory! I love you Jesus! You are my hero! Change my heart to be ever faithful. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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