“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
~ Abraham Lincoln
2 SAMUEL 24
17When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,c have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”
LUKE 22:46-53
47While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”49When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.51But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
JOURNAL
Jesus cannot be swayed. In surrendering to the path, he is resolute and willingly goes without a fight. Knowing that Jesus is confident in his resolve and has been strengthened by God, he confronts Judas, heals a soldier and rebukes them all in the matter of a moment. The brilliance of Christ and his mixture of strength, wit, humility and power are all on display in this passage.
The same power, resolve and love are within me. It is in accepting God's love and grace that this power in spirit is made alive within. Because of that...I have no excuse...ever. If I do not give my best, surrender to discipline then I am selfish, slothful, manipulative and living in sin. It's not about being something I'm not...its simply about just being me and what God made me to be. When I shrink from that, lose focus and fail to perform then I am rejecting God and all the gifts he has given.
To do that and claim that I am a believer and that I follow God is to slander God's name...his power and his love.
The same power, resolve and love are within me. It is in accepting God's love and grace that this power in spirit is made alive within. Because of that...I have no excuse...ever. If I do not give my best, surrender to discipline then I am selfish, slothful, manipulative and living in sin. It's not about being something I'm not...its simply about just being me and what God made me to be. When I shrink from that, lose focus and fail to perform then I am rejecting God and all the gifts he has given.
To do that and claim that I am a believer and that I follow God is to slander God's name...his power and his love.
He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power.
2 CORINTHIANS 13:3-4