Some People Are On Cruise Control, Just Laying Back Relaxing, God Want You In Full Control, are you going to look at your circumstance or your faith. Never Be At Ease; if we just shut down, we shut everything out of our life.
I have cruise control on my vehicle, but I very seldom use it and my husband always say use the cruise control J.P. He say it saves on this and that and it's good to use cruise control and I always say but I don't want to get relaxed on the highway. How many of us have cruise control on our cars? It’s almost standard these days. How many of you use cruise control? You set the speed, push the button, and kick back and relax. The car does all the work and your foot doesn’t fall asleep, it’s great. And that’s the way many of us want to live our Christian lives. -no work, no sweat, no suffering, life’s grand, let’s just always take the path of least resistance, let’s just do it my way and we’ll get through fine! I’m calling you to get off of that path: -get off the path of your own will and get onto the path of your Father’s will. -commit yourself to godly living, put in the toil, and the heart, and the attitude that says, “I will obey God no matter what.” And you’ve got to know up front that when you do that, some difficulties are going to come into your life.
Let me ask you, do you have a Gethsemane in your life? Are you going through adversities, trials, pressures, difficulties? A place where you’ve wrestled with your will and God’s will? That place of adversity you didn’t choose. It can be a lonely place: -the disciples were right there with Jesus but they were unable to help Him. -you may be surrounded by loving friends, family, church family, and yet feel all alone like you’re sinking. But face it; you know what Gethsemane is all about? It’s not about you it’s about God; it’s about what God has in mind for your life -it’s about His will, and His plan, and His glory -it’s about you giving yourself to God saying, “Okay Father, not My will, but Thine be done. . .it’s not what I would have chosen, but I’m okay with that.” That’s Christ’s example of submission in suffering.
And that’s the prayer of so many Christians who are facing so many challenges: -and today, you might be in that situation, “Father, step in and do a miracle, and make it all come to an end!” -“God, give me a way out!” “Lord, just get me out of this!” -And if done in the right spirit, there’s nothing wrong with that prayer. But notice what else Jesus prays in verse 36- “Not My will, but Thine be done.” That’s what is unique about Gethsemane Experience: It puts down its’ own choices, and preferences, and picks up the will of the Father, and carries the suffering, the trial, the adversity, the cross. And that’s the summons that God gives you today.
Are you willing to follow Christ’s example of submitting to the Father in your trials. If you’re not, let me just tell you, life’s going to get hard for you, harder than you could ever imagine and in the very area where you refuse to submit. So this morning you say, “Alright, I’m going to submit to do what God wants me to do in my Gethsemane today. How can I possibly do that?” Where’s the help you need to endure? Turn over to Hebrews 12:1, 2 (read it) in verse 1 we’re presented with our problem: -we have a hard time running the race with patience or endurance. With constancy, it means to “stay under” -anyone can face a week long trial if they know that at the end of the week it’s going to be over. -but trials often don’t work that way, they go on, and on, and on. . . in fact, there are some trials, of a certain brand that don’t go away in this life.
Set your eyes on Jesus “Looking unto Jesus,” verse 2 says. It means to take your eyes off of something else, and put it onto Jesus. Now why is this so important, this fixing our eyes on Jesus? Because when you’re in the throes of a situation, there is a myriad of things that compete for your attention, -questions you can’t answer, resources you can’t muster, what does the future hold? And then just the daily grind of bearing up, “can I hold out in all of this”? What’s the only thing you can do in those situations?
Take your eyes off all the unknowns and get them on Jesus, the One you know. Why Jesus? Because He’s the Originator and the Completer of our faith.
He’s the One who will preserve our faith. So you set your eyes on Him. Set your eyes on the finish line: Verse 2 says of Jesus, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. . .” What joy was before Jesus? -really, what joy could Jesus possibly see through the cross? I believe the joy before Jesus through the cross was the completion of the Father’s will for man’s salvation, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus saw all that in advance, and that’s where He put His eyes, on the finish line.
And you are going to keep going by doing the same thing. Are you are going to take glory in knowing that in your suffering you’re not just out playing games, coasting through life, wasting it all? You’re living for God’s will. When you cross that finish line, and are made perfect and complete in heaven, and get your reward for a faithful life, you’ll know joy like you’ve never known before and you won’t suffer loss. So in your Gethsemane, set your eyes on the finish line.
Blessings
J.P. Olson
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