" 32They went to a place called
Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his
disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He
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."
35Going a little
farther, he fell to the ground and
prayed that if possible the hour might
pass from him.
36"Abba,[a]
Father," he said, "everything is
possible for you. Take this cup from me.
Yet not what I will, but what you will."
37Then 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? 38Watch and pray so that you will
not fall into temptation. The spirit is
willing, but the body is weak."
39Once more he went away and prayed the
same thing. 40When he came back, he
again found them sleeping, because their
eyes were heavy. They did not know what
to say to him.
41Returning 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.
42Rise! Let us go! Here comes my
betrayer!" (Mark 14:32-42)
"I seek not to please Myself but
Him who sent Me." (John 5:30)
Thought:
*Note Next week you will not
be recieving these as Gina & I will be
in St. Petersburg, Russia wrapping up
our adoption of Sasha/Emma. Please join
us in praying that all goes well &
smoothly.
(This
E-Devotional sent in by John Carvalho)
Jeff was sure he was going to
die that night, far away from his
family.
Sgt. Jeff Struecker was
part of the task force sent to Somalia a
decade ago to try to restore order to
the country. His experiences were
depicted in the book and movie Black
Hawk Down.
I have heard him talk
about Somalia on several occasions, all
related to his ministry as a US Army
chaplain. I am amazed by the courage he
and his fellow soldiers showed. I also
count
Jeff as a good friend; we
attend the same chapel at Fort Bragg,
North Carolina.
Jeff and his men
were transporting an injured comrade
back to the main post when another of
his comrades was shot and killed. As
soon as they arrived, they were ordered
back out to help rescue a downed
helicopter.
As Jeff prepared his
vehicle for the trip, his fears began to
overwhelm him. His wife was pregnant
with their first child; would he ever
see that child? Thousands of miles from
home, isolated in a corner of a frantic
airfield, Jeff confessed his fears. He
prayed, God, I don't want to go back out
there, because I know that I am going to
die tonight.
As he prayed those
words, he thought about Jesus' prayer in
the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36).
In that prayer, Christ put aside His own
will and said to His Father in heaven,
"Thy will be done." At that moment,
Christ's sacrifice became so real to
Jeff that he was no longer paralyzed by
his fears. He realized, as Paul did,
that "to live is Christ and to die is
gain" (Philippians 1:21), because death
means heaven. Jeff was able to complete
his mission and eventually return to
base safely.
I hope it will not
take a dangerous situation like Jeff's
for me to appreciate what it took for
Christ to say, "Thy will be done." The
tough situations I have faced have been
much safer. And still, I have sometimes
backed out because of fear.
Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead of
Him, but He refused to back down. His
love for us and His obedience to God
would allow Him no less. How far will
our love and obedience take us?
Questions to consider:
* Have I ever been in a situation
where I feared that my life was in
danger?
* How can such a
situation help me to appreciate Christ's
acknowledgment of His fears in Mark
14:36?
* In what situation right
now do I need to say, "Thy will be
done"?
Jesus helps us face our
fears.
Links: (When avail. copy & paste into
your web browser)
