There's Within My Heart a Melody / Luther B. Bridgers
…All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
Discord filled my heart with pain;
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
Stirred the slumbering chords again.
Though sometimes he leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See his footprints all the way.
Soon he's coming back to welcome me
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown;
I shall reign with him on high.
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Open your word to me, I pray. Grant your servant the understanding from your word that you want me to have today, and to apply to my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.” As soon as I finished praying, this song came into my mind:
Open My Eyes, That I May See / Clara H. Scott, 1841-1897
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!
I read Mark 14 (selected verses):
Gethsemane
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
… “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled.
My Understanding: As I read this passage of scripture, I prayed for God to open my eyes to His truth that he had for me today. And, as I read, these words jumped out at me:
“Stay here and keep watch.”
Since I have been reading in the gospel of Mark for my quiet times with the Lord, the Lord Jesus has been having stand out to me many “imperative” statements that he has made.
Imperative – “absolutely necessary or unavoidable; forceful and demanding the obedience and respect of others” (Encarta); vital; crucial; essential; urgent; very important.
I believe the Lord would have me to examine some of the imperative statements today from this passage of scripture in Mark 14. Some of these statements are:
Sit here while I pray – Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” ~ Sometimes God just asks us to be still before him. We get so busy with our lives, our activities, etc. that we often fail to just be still and to know that he is God. Jesus is our intercessor between us and God the Father; he is our mediator. Sometimes we need to just be quiet and to let our mediator speak to the Father for us instead of us doing all the talking. He knows what we need better than we do. We get all anxious about the things of this life and we sometimes pray as though we don’t really believe God is going to answer our prayers, so he says to us, “Sit here while I pray.” We need to allow Jesus to intercede for us while we are still before Him.
Stay here and keep watch – Mark 14:38: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” ~ A watchman, in Biblical times, was a sentry or a guard stationed on a wall or in a watchtower whose job it was to warn of impending danger. The Bible often used that term to describe the prophets of old as watchmen who warned the people of spiritual danger, i.e. of the entrapment of sin, of false teachings and teachers, of coming judgment, against idolatry and spiritual adultery, etc. and who called the people to repentance. A sentry is somebody who is assigned to keep watch and to warn of danger (Encarta). These watchmen had the assignment to watch not only for themselves but also for other people. Jesus has given his followers the same assignment, and that is that we are like sentries on a wall whose job it is to watch out for the danger of sin and entrapment to sin as it heads our way so that we don’t fall into the trap the enemy has set for us and we are able to stand firm on our watch against the forces of the evil one coming against us. In order to do this, we need to be spiritually alert!
Could you not keep watch for one hour? – 2 Timothy 4:6-7: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” ~ Paul wrote this about his own ministry as he saw his earthly ministry coming to a close. Jesus said similar words right before he made this statement to his disciples about them not keeping watch for one hour.
Mark 14:35-36:
“Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’”
“This cup” and “the hour” was the death that Jesus would die for our sins. Paul’s drink offering was the suffering he endured for the sake of his faith in Jesus Christ and for his testimony for him. He was able to say that he “fought the good fight” because he submitted, as well, to the will of the Father and to “the cup” and “the hour” and “the drink offering.” I believe the message Jesus was giving his disciples and us reaches beyond just the hour Jesus was praying, but speaks, as well, of this “hour” of his death that he would die for our sins and of “the hour” of trial that we would also face. The Bible tells us that we will share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. It tells us that we will also be persecuted, rejected, mocked, falsely accused and some of us will even be put to death for our testimony for Jesus Christ. Yet, many, when they come up against such opposition to their faith, instead of watching for one hour, will fall away and will fall into the devil’s trap, so that is why it is imperative that we keep watch for “one hour.”
Are you still sleeping and resting? - While You Were Sleeping / Casting Crowns
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Rise! Let us go! – Ephesians 5:14: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Revelation 3:1-3:
“These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
The scriptures must be fulfilled – The Bible prophesied both in the OT and the NT concerning these last days on the earth, the coming of the beast of Revelation and the antichrist or the false prophet and of a time of severe trial and persecution of the saints of Almighty God as well as of the judgments of God on the earth prior to Jesus’ return. We cannot pray this away no matter how hard we try. This day is coming and it is coming hard and fast and we need to be ready. We can’t count on a pre-trib rapture to save us from it. Many throughout the world have already undergone such suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ. We, in the United States of America, have not generally had to suffer physical beatings, imprisonments and death for our faith in Jesus Christ and our testimony for him, but that time is coming. And, that is all the more reason why we must “keep watch” and not be found sleeping.
We need to learn to rest in Jesus and to allow Him to intercede for us instead of us doing all the talking. It is essential that we “keep watch” for the enemy, for danger, and for temptation to sin, so that we don’t fall into the devil’s trap. It is necessary that we say with Jesus concerning the trials that will come to us in this life, “Yet not what I will, but what you will,” so that we can say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” It is vital that we do not allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep by worldly philosophies and subliminal messages that are intended to brainwash us and to control our thinking so that we don’t hear God’s voice when he speaks to us. It is critical that we “wake up” from our slumber and that we “strengthen what remains and is about to die”, and that we remember what Jesus has taught us, that we obey Him, and that we repent. And, it is imperative that we do all this for this life and for our relationship with Jesus now, today, but also so that we are ready to meet Jesus when our Lord Jesus returns for His bride.
Though sometimes he leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See his footprints all the way.
Soon he's coming back to welcome me
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown;
I shall reign with him on high.
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