cry aloud

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago. I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love ceased forever? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.” I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD; I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples. With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Psalm 77:1-15, NRSV)

Have you ever been so weary that you just throw your hands up and shout “I give up!”

We have all been there. We have all been so far down the only way we can look is up! And when we cry out to God, and throw up our hands in surrender, He will always be there to hold our hands and lift us up. Not remove the pain or the situation, but remind us that even in the muck He is walking with us.

He will not leave us to wallow in the mire alone, but will heed our cry and come to our side.

So cry aloud to God so He can hear your pain!

 

endure

Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:12-18, NRSV)

God does not tempt us, but can lead us to places where we can be tempted. He led Jesus to the wilderness, but He resisted and endured, by the strength God had given him.

We to can over come the temptation and not give into sin, through the power that He has given us.

And we might show forth to the world, not our own stature, but the love of God and the strength that He can give for an empowered life.

One that shows the fruit of the Spirit, and the Love of God to all the world!

So endure in the strength you have been given, knowing He is always with you!

a little help

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.” Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (Hebrews 2:10-18, NRSV)

I read this passage and I heard the song, I get by with a little help from my friends…

You see Jesus was our friend. He is our brother, and He is not ashamed to call us sister and brother. To claim us in front of the throne as His!

He came to live among us as one of us. To know what we go through. To face the temptations and trials that we face. So He knows.

And we can know that we can get by, because He is always there to lend us a helping hand and to walk with us through what ever it is we are facing.

He has been there! He knows what you are going through!

And He will help you get by!

a way out

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:1-13, NRSV)

Have you ever felt like you were i a situation where there was no way out?

Well if you actually stopped and thought through it, there was several ways out, just none of them held to the way you wanted out. They probably included someone getting emotionally hurt, or lose of some kind. Sometimes in situations there is no way around things we want to avoid. And so we think there is no way out.

We start to wonder how we got into this place in the first place. How did we wind up here? What could I have done differently that would have not led to this place?

Sometimes it seems we get into things we should have avoided. But could we have avoided them?

Maybe, and this is a just maybe, we wind up in places so we have to rely on God to be there. We have to rely on God because we don’t always have the answers.

But God would never lead us into temptation! God would never lead us to trials!

But do you remember our reading from 2 days ago? God through the Holy Spirit, thrust Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.

And each week we pray, “And lead us not into temptation” We saw what God did to Jesus, and we ask Him, through the leading/teaching of Jesus to not lead us into temptation, but when you do, “deliver us from evil.” And in there is the promise, that God will always provide us a way out, so we may endure what we are going through. Not the easy way out, but His way out.

So remember that He is always with you, and will always give you a way out.

Sleeping…

He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.] When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” (Luke 22:39-46, NRSV)

Pray that you may not come into the time of trial…

What did Jesus mean by this? Most of us pray every week, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” or “Save us from the time of trial…”

We confess that we will face the trials and temptations of this world, because Jesus did so will we. So what did Jesus mean when He said, “pray so that you may not come into the time of trial?”

And how does this impact us today?

I like the question when He returns, “Why are you sleeping?” Have you ever been praying and all of sudden you wake up and wonder when you stopped praying and went to sleep?

I have. I have fallen asleep while praying many a time. Sometimes it is embarrassing. Why? Until now no one even knew! I was embarrassed because I was talking to God and I fell asleep. But I have done this to other friends before too. Sometimes I have been so into the conversation and it was so relaxing I felt like I was taken away.

But you see in this moment in the garden, Jesus is wanting them to pray that they will not be going with Him. They need to be alert, and ready.

Are you alert and ready?

Have you fallen asleep when Jesus has asked you to be at the guard?

Jesus will save us, and will be with us. No matter what the trial, or the temptation. He will always be there. Just listen to Him and heed what He asks of you.