When the Cost Seems So High

Matthew 26:42
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Jesus Christ, the only perfect man to ever walk the this earth, fell on His face, cried out to His Father in heaven and asked to be freed of His upcoming duty. In the same overwhelming moment, Jesus fully surrendered everything to the will of His Father. In this same moment, we saw the two wills of Christ, the human and the Divine. Jesus could not turn from the supernatural plan that His Father had for Him, even though He knew how much it was going to cost Him in the flesh. Jesus knew He was submitting to God’s perfect plan for the salvation of all men.

It is certain that we will find times in our lives when we are nearly overwhelmed by the thought of what is ahead. Our flesh will be ready to give in to defeat. It is precisely at these times that we must fall on our faces before Our Heavenly Father and surrender to His will for our lives. At these times, there is no resource to us greater than our prayer for strength. It is in these times that we receive the supernatural blessing that we need to obey God’s calling on our lives.

Our Father in heaven has given us life. He sustains our lives everyday. God, Himself, made the ultimate sacrifice by sending His Son to die for our sins, so that He could grant us eternal life with Him. Our full surrender to the Father is the only appropriate response that we can offer to His calling on our lives.

Let us go to the Father in prayer for the strength that we need to surrender to His plan for our lives, especially when the cost to go on seems so high. Let us rejoice in knowing that we will receive all that we need to overcome anything that is blocking our way to our destinies in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us life in flesh, sustaining our every breath and granting us eternal supernatural life through the atoning sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. We rejoice in knowing that the obedience of the Son to Your will paid the complete price for our salvation. We pray that we will find all the strength that we need to completely surrender to Your will. May we bear the fruit of Your will as we walk in obedience every day of our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One without sin, Jesus Christ.

The Peace and Comfort that Comes from Serving God

Luke 19:42
If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

As Jesus weeped over Jerusalem, He spoke the words in Luke 19 to the Jews, who He knew would reject Him and His offer of salvation. Because they rejected His offer, He transferred His offer to the willing Gentiles.

This principle is carried out in a different way in our daily lives. Jesus prepares us to do His work and asks us to be obedient to His calling. Sometimes He will give us simple urgings in the spirit to do something nice for someone, to pray for someone, to forgive someone or to ask forgiveness from someone. Often His urging may be for a simple act to bring a smile upon the face of another. At other times, His bidding will have much more significant impact. Whatever He asks of us, if we accept His call, we will be given greater things to do for Him. We will experience the peace and comfort that flows from serving Him. If we do not accept His bidding, we will miss the peace He offers and we will miss a portion of the bigger plans that He has for our lives. Sadly, He will move on to find the one who is willing serve Him readily.

Let us not miss the satisfaction of living in the peace and comfort of the Lord. Let us eagerly accept and carry out any task, big or small, that the Lord is asking us to do. Let us discover how simple acts of obedience bring complete peace and comfort into our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to serve You. We rejoice in knowing that You are pleased when we are obedient to Your urging. We pray that You make us sensitive to the work that You call us to do. May we find joy in even the smallest tasks. May it all bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the One that gives us peace at all times and in every way, Jesus Christ.