"We can go so far with God in the fellowship and comfort of close companions, but a time comes when each true follower is summoned farther still." Beth Moore, David Seeking a Heart Like His.
In our study last week, Bible teacher Beth Moore took us to the scene in the garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus went to the cross.
Matthew 26:38-39 records it for us:
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
These were the final hours for Jesus. He was going to face the cross and his death very soon.
To be honest I had never seen this little nugget of information before, even though I have read this passage so many times.
He went " a little farther" As Beth Moore pointed out the journey to a greater intimacy with God requires that we go a little further.
As I pondered on this picture, I was struck at how I am also called to go further still. If God required His Son to travel that road, I must travel it too. Jesus went ahead purposefully, even as He cried out to His Heavenly Father.
Jesus was honest about His sorrow - He fell with His face to the ground and said the words that signal complete obedience - not my will but yours.
Where is God calling you to go further still? What is your sorrow? Looking for employment? In a bad marriage and you want out? Just received a horrible diagnosis? An illness that won't go away and the doctors have no answer? A dead end job? A child gone astray?
Do you feel alone on this journey? Nobody else understands how it hurts?
Are you willing to take those same steps that Jesus did? Will you submit to your Heavenly Father and answer like Jesus did? Remember that this journey has to be with you and God alone - further still.
Jesus led the way for us - He knows the pain, the loneliness, the betrayal, the overwhelming sorrow.
There is much to gain but we will only receive it as we take those steps forward, no matter how tentative or scary. We must go further still.
In our study last week, Bible teacher Beth Moore took us to the scene in the garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus went to the cross.
Matthew 26:38-39 records it for us:
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
These were the final hours for Jesus. He was going to face the cross and his death very soon.
To be honest I had never seen this little nugget of information before, even though I have read this passage so many times.
He went " a little farther" As Beth Moore pointed out the journey to a greater intimacy with God requires that we go a little further.
As I pondered on this picture, I was struck at how I am also called to go further still. If God required His Son to travel that road, I must travel it too. Jesus went ahead purposefully, even as He cried out to His Heavenly Father.
Jesus was honest about His sorrow - He fell with His face to the ground and said the words that signal complete obedience - not my will but yours.
Where is God calling you to go further still? What is your sorrow? Looking for employment? In a bad marriage and you want out? Just received a horrible diagnosis? An illness that won't go away and the doctors have no answer? A dead end job? A child gone astray?
Do you feel alone on this journey? Nobody else understands how it hurts?
Are you willing to take those same steps that Jesus did? Will you submit to your Heavenly Father and answer like Jesus did? Remember that this journey has to be with you and God alone - further still.
Jesus led the way for us - He knows the pain, the loneliness, the betrayal, the overwhelming sorrow.
There is much to gain but we will only receive it as we take those steps forward, no matter how tentative or scary. We must go further still.
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