The Passion Week & Faith

The Passion Week:
Wednesday - No Record of This Day: Perhaps a quiet day at Bethany


Faith:

Have you ever told someone that you lacked faith, or that having faith is hard for you? Has anyone ever confided in you that they lacked faith?

This passage struck a chord with me. How worthy is our heavenly father. Let us fall back into His arms in complete faith, looking to Jesus as our everything.

Every day Christians and non-Christians alike exercise faith without thinking twice. We eat in restaurants, believing the food has not been poisoned. We drop off deposits at the bank, without ever seeing where the money is stored. We go up in elevators, trusting it will not fall back down.

If we have such unquestioning faith in our fellow human beings, who sometimes do fail, how much more should we put all of our faith in God, our loving heavenly Father, whose character and capabilities are beyond question?

In Hebrews 11:6, God's Word tells us, "It is impossible to please God without faith" (NLT). He wants us to trust Him and His Word even more than we trust pilots, airplanes and restaurants. He wants us to take Him at His word.

Not to trust God is the same as treating Him as a liar. That is not a good idea. The Bible says, "God is not a man, that he should lie" (Numbers 23:19, NLT).

God is so totally trustworthy that we can trust Him with our lives in this world and the next.

"He always does just what he says, and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9, NLT).

Tuesday: Passion Week

Tuesday was a big day. I'm not going to be able to link to all the scripture references, so you'll have to do a little more leg-work today if you want to read them all.

Tuesday - Last Day in the Temple, Teaching

Christ's authority challenged - Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8
Parable of two sons - Matthew 21:28-32
Parable of wicked husbandmand - Matthew 21:33-43; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 19:9-16
Parable of the rejected stone - Matthew 21:44; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 19:17-18
Parable of the marriage feast - Matthew 22:1-14
Question of tribute to Caesar - Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26
Question of the resurrection - Matthew 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38
The greatest commandment - Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34
David's Son and Lord - Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:39-44
Denunciation of Scribes and Pharisees - Matthew 23:1-36; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47
Lament over Jerusalem - Matthew 23:37-39
The poor widow's gift - Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4
Greeks (Gentiles) desire to see Jesus - John 12:20-36
Christ rejected by the Jews - John 12:37-50
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE OF COMING EVENTS - Matthew 24 & 25, Mark 13, Luke 21:1-4Parables: The fig tree - Matthew 24:32-35; Mark 13:28-31; Luke 21:29-33The porter - Mark 13:32-37
The master of the house - Matthew 24:43-44
The faithful and evil servants - Matthew 24:45-51
The ten virgins - Matthew 25:1-13
The talents - Matthew 25:14-30
The sheep and goats - Matthew 25:31-46Judas bargains to betray Jesus - Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16; Mark 14:1,2,10,11; Luke 22:1-6

It's a wonderful testimony to the love of Christ that on His last week alive he spent so much time teaching the people. He wasn't out trying to accomplish his "Things I Want to do Before I Die" list. He just wanted the people to understand and draw close to His father. What an amazing example of love.

The Passion Week

This past Sunday I attended Morton church in the morning. They had made a packet outlining the Passion Week. It goes through each day starting with Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Resurrection. I'll pass this information along each day. The week started yesterday on Palm Sunday with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt. This is recorded in all four gospels. Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19.

For me, one of the most touching passages is in Luke 19:41-44 41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.I think this is an awesome picture of Christ's heart for the people. He knew what was coming. He knew what he was going to have to go through at the hands of the people of Jerusalem. Yet he didn't cry for himself. He cried for them. He cried because he knew that they were going to miss the promise. He cried because they were going to reject God's awesome plan of salvation.

He cried for them.


He cried for you.

On Sunday Christ also went to the temple. He then retired to Bethany for the night. Mark 11:11

Monday: Jesus returns to Jerusalem

The fig tree is cursed - Matthew 21:18-19; Mark 11:12-14
Second cleansing of the temple - Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48

Be-U-T-Full

It's so incredibly nice out right now. I may very well have to take off work early today. We have our door wide open, and the temperature is perfect. There's a robin somewhere close, and it's singing away. The sun's shining brightly. There's a decent breeze, but not too bad. Basically, all is well in my neighborhood.

Inner Invincibility

Another good message from Oswald Chambers in his devotional called My Utmost for His Highest.


Whom the Lord loves He chastens . . ." ( Hebrews 12:6 ). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, "Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!" Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light" ( Matthew 11:30 ). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

". . . to those who have no might He increases strength" ( Isaiah 40:29 ). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.

". . . the joy of the Lord is your strength" ( Nehemiah 8:10 ). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.

Brain Teaser

Answers are in the comments. Thanks for playing. :)

Below are five phrases that have been tinkered with. Rearrange the words so that when they are read aloud they will sound very similar to the required phrase. For example "Ducks Sits Hound Fa Mill Ear" = "Does it sound familiar".

crows dose eggs my off pea wind
cab chalk clicks fizz lie lye ox soft
a crowed fall jest lobe Rick oath yell
beef four heap luck Yule
dud rough wharf whorls

Answers tomorrow...maybe...or the next day, but answers will come. Feel free to post your guesses in the comments.

Enjoy

The Right Choices

Here’s another solid teaching from Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.

The Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict (Galatians 5:16, 17, NLT).

Dear friends:

About to open wide, with the menacing drill lowering toward his mouth, a man humorously pleaded with his dentist, "Careful, doc, I can stand anything but pain."

We Americans are especially notorious for avoiding pain at all cost. By nature, every one of us is inclined to take the path of least resistance. The dentist usually injects us with Novocain to keep us from feeling any pain, but we don't like the injection needle because of its momentary sting.

We look for easy exercise programs that won't make us perspire too much or get too tired. Students shortcut their assigned reading by reviewing study notes.

And diets? There always seems to be a new fad for shedding weight without hunger or exercise! Liquid diets, banana diets, carbohydrate diets, protein diets, grapefruit diets, and the list goes on and on and on.

When it comes right down to the basics, we do not like hard work. Even in those areas that we recognize are in our best interest, such as with exercising, dieting, and studying, we avoid developing disciplines to help us.

This is especially true when it comes to the spiritual discipline of prayer. We desperately need prayer, yet many desperately avoid it. What a paradox! All of us would acknowledge the critical importance of regular fellowship with God. But as I travel around the world and speak to Christians everywhere, I meet very few who express a natural inclination for prayer.

That is probably because prayer is not natural, at least for our fleshly, or sinful, nature, even though our spirit, wooed by the Holy Spirit, yearns for communion with God. "The Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict" (Galatians 5:16, 17, NLT).

That translation speaks of "your choices." That is where the battle lies. By faith, we must "choose" to pray. By faith, we must choose to fast. By faith, we must choose to obey God, even though our natural selves may not "feel" like it.

The Bible says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Colossians 3:5, NIV).

We must not be governed by our feelings, which are deceiving. By faith, we must choose to obey God's Word and pray -- not only pray, but let us "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 6:17, KJV).

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright  

Grace

This is an excerpt from an email I received this morning. Is this your understanding of Grace?

God's grace is so powerful and effective, I am having trouble putting it into words. As someone once said, God's grace is better felt than telt. It is also better caught than taught. But we know that God's grace is powerful. It is the power of love. It is the power of hearts made new, of changed affections, of spirits made willing to obey. It is the power to kill darling sins (sins held close to our hearts), and to fully turn us toward God. It is the power to heal, the power to renew, the power to make clean.

If you have felt the burden of sin, and are under the bondage of sin, then God's grace can remove the burden and set you free from bondage. Jesus Christ is rich in grace, and He lavishes it on us without limit. If you need grace, He has it to give. I encourage you to seek Him for His endless supply of grace.