By: Dale Weckbacher
Matthew 26:39
He went a little
farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You
will."
NKJV
Jesus provides the greatest example of submitting to God’s
will in His life. In the Garden of
Gethsemane Jesus agonized knowing what he would soon face. As the Son of God, Jesus knew the purpose of
His coming to earth was to suffer the cruel death of crucifixion for scripture
foretold it in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. I
do not believe the account in Matthew 26:39 is an attempt by Jesus to escape
what God had planned for them and is instead him declaring his willingness to
submit to the will of His Father even when it meant intense pain and death.
The early church also shared in the pain of serving Christ
with many giving their lives through martyrdom for their faith. It would have been easy for these early
Christians to deny Christ and spare their lives but these individuals had seen
the risen Lord. Many of them also
experienced the empowering of the Holy Spirit in the upper room and knew that
their faith would be rewarded with eternity in the presence of God.
Perhaps Stephen said it best when he told those stoning him,
Acts 7:59
And they stoned
Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit."
NKJV
Stephen knew that his death for his faith was not the end
but only the opening of the gateway into eternity with Christ.
Even today, many submit to the will of God in their lives at
the risk of their lives. Totalitarian
regimes view Christians as an enemy and believe brutally murdering them and
making them examples, are how to maintain their power. Even in countries with freedom of religion,
terrorist cells exist with one goal, the elimination of those not adopting
their religion such as we saw in the San Bernardino shooting. (1)
As we witness the coarsening and a growing resentment of
Christians in our culture, we must ask ourselves, will I continue to remain
strong in my faith even if it means facing rejection from friends, family, or
even death? Will our faith remain strong
even when coworkers make fun of us at work or tempt us to compromise our faith? Will we remain strong even if submission to
the will of God could cost us our job or business?
If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit we may be
weak in some or all of these scenarios for even though we belong to Christ, we
still dwell on earth in fleshly bodies.
I therefore urge everyone reading this who is a believer in Jesus Christ
as their savior to strengthen their faith by,
1)
Praying continually – This does not mean we are
to go around in meditation like a monk but means praying when we feel prompted
to do so by the Holy Spirit. Last
Saturday I was driving to pick up some breakfast for my wife and me. While stopped at a red light I heard sirens
and noticed a police officer had turned on his lights and was responding to a
call. A week prior to this a police
officer in Phoenix was shot and killed while responding to a robbery. (2) I felt prompted in my heart to say a brief
prayer for the officer, praying that God would protect him as he responded to
the call. I also was detoured due to a
serious accident while driving later in the day and said a prayer in my heart
for those involved in the accident. In
addition to prayers like this, I believe it is important to have a conversation
with God through prayer just as we would have a conversation with our spouse or
a close friend. We live in a world of
mass communication and most of us communicate regularly with others through
social media or texting so why not include God in our daily communication. The best thing is you do not even need a
smart phone to connect with God.
2)
Regular study of the Bible – While we do not
physically have Jesus with us as the Disciples did, we do have something the
Disciples did not have, The Bible. While
the Disciples could only hear from Jesus when physically with Him, we can hear
from Him at any time by reading the Bible.
In fact, due to the marvels of technology we can have God’s word
available to us whenever we need it on our smart phones. I even have an app on my phone with the
Romans Road to salvation to assist me when I have the opportunity to lead
someone to Christ. As Christians face
increased persecution, we must take time to hear from God through His Word.
3)
Regular fellowship with other believers – When
facing struggles or even persecution, it is easy for us to begin feeling like
nobody else is experiencing what we are.
At these times we may even feel that nobody has ever experienced what we
are experiencing. At these times our
fleshly desire may be to withdraw from interaction with others. However, the very people we may be avoiding
may be experiencing, or have experienced, a similar struggle or
persecution. This is why we must resist
the temptation to withdraw at these times and instead engage with other
believers so we can learn from their experiences and receive strength from
knowing that we are not alone.
4)
Be like Joshua – In Joshua 24:15, Joshua
reaffirmed his dedication to serve God no matter what occurred in his
life. He had previously made this
affirmation along with Caleb when going against the majority and declaring that
God would make them victorious against the giants in the Promised Land (Numbers14:6-9). As our culture becomes more and
more deviant and perverted, let us be like Joshua and stand firm for Christ.
Jesus told us that in this life we would experience
trouble. However, in the same verse he
also reminded us that He overcame the world (John 16:33). Jesus resurrection from the dead stands as
proof that in spite of the troubles we face on earth, even the possibility of
death, are overcome by Jesus conquering sin and death through his death burial
and resurrection.
I now want to invite anyone reading this who has not
accepted Jesus as his or her savior to pray with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know
that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).
I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare
you Lord of my life.
You now possess the resurrection power of Christ in your
life, a power that can overcome any evil in the world and even turns death into
entrance into eternity with Christ (Romans 8:11). There is therefore no reason to live in fear
but we must stand firm knowing that in the end, God will rein in this world
(Revelation 21, 22).
1. Markoe, Lauren. San Bernardion Victim Had
Clashed With Shooter Over Israel, Holocaust. religionnews.com. [Online]
Religion News Service, December 7, 2015. [Cited: May 28, 2016.]
religionnews.com/2015/12/07/san-bernardino-victim-had-clashed-with-shooter-over-israel-holocaust/.
2. NBC News.
Phoenix Police Officer David Glasser Killed in Shootout. www.nbcnews.com. [Online]
NBC News, May 20, 2016. [Cited: May 28, 2016.]
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/phoenix-police-officer-david-glasser-killed-shootout-n577321.
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