Your Own Personal Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36

"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder."

The word Gethsemane is Greek in orgin; in Hebrew, gat shemanim. It's an ancient oil press; that's the meaning of the name. And a garden bears its name. You could even say that the milling stone that was used to press the oil out of the olives was the Gethsemane Stone. The garden was located on the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus prayed on the night before His death.

In the Garden, Jesus struggled, knowing His impending crucifixion meant separation from His Father. At no other time in the Gospels do we see the Son of God more brokenhearted than in these last few hours of freedom before He is seized by the Temple guards. In fact, Christ was at the point of physical exhaustion in the Garden of Gethsemane. He cried out until His sweat became like drops of blood in the agony at Gethsemane.

Try to imagine the great, immense pressure on the Christ. The weight of the world's sins would soon be consummated at Calvary. And the worst part of Calvary (ie, Golgotha) is that Jesus knew what would happen there; He'd be separated from God.

In anguish, Jesus would cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). As the full weight of humanity’s sin fell upon Christ, the Father withdrew His presence, since He does not remain in the presence of sin. Jesus had never known a moment of separation from the Father, until that very moment when Jesus took on our sin. That rejection was agony for Jesus.

Jesus was willing to be forsaken by God in order that we could be accepted by Him. Talk about the Passion! Who else could loves us to the point separation from the Father and dying a horrific death? No one but the Son of God!

But in Gethsemane, the Son did not plead for release from the pain; instead, He prayed three times that the Father’s will be done.

Have you ever prayed with a brokenness for His will to be done in your life? Giving up your desires and willful ways brings turmoil and pressure to resist because the flesh is at war with the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). But, whatever besetting sin is causing a break in your walk with Christ, take it to Him in prayer.

If we follow Jesus’ example and release ourselves to God’s will, then inner turmoil is calmed by a sense of peaceful contentment. External circumstances may be unchanged, they may even worsen, but in our inward Gethsemane, we have a peace that surpasses all understanding because a loving Father gives it to us (Phil 4:7).

Jesus promised in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Jesus left the garden a prisoner, but at the same time He walked out triumpant because He had submitted to His Father's will.

What about you, Reader? Have you experienced you own personal Gethsemane lately?

I'd like to know more about Jesus: The Plan of Salvation

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

When All Else Fails, He Will Never Fail You

Psalm 27:10
"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up."

A mother is estranged from her son, whom she has not spoken to in over a year. She finds him on Facebook and requests to be a friend. He refuses and she sends him an e-mail, "You're a worthless piece of ----. I never should've had you." The young man gets angry, but quickly resigns himself to his state, reasoning, My mom has always been this way. She hasn't changed one bit.

Even though a person you love might have abused you, mistreated you, or given up on you; even though a parent may have disowned you; even though you may be out on your own, alone and without friends, I want you to know something. Jesus Christ loves you.

But, you say, I've made a mess of my life. Jesus knows, but He still loves you.

But, you say, my family disowned me because I stole from them, abused them, mistreated them, took advantage of them. Jesus knows, but He still loves you.

But, you still don't understand, you might say, I am a drug addict and have burned many bridges. Jesus knows it all and He still loves you.

But, you say, I'm not worthy. You might even think you're a worthless piece of ----. Jesus doesn't think so. He sees your worth. Why else would he die for you on the cross at Calvary?

There are so many "But's" you could interject to keep you from coming to Christ. Here is a truth: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Roman 5:8

That means Jesus didn't wait for you to get your life together and make things right. He took the first step by dying on the cross for your sins. All you have to do is take the next step and believe by faith that what Christ did at Calvary was for your sins and ask Him into your life (Rom 10:9-10).

Then what happens next is another miracle: Christ's Spirit comes to indwell in you (Acts 2:38)! How incredible is that! And to think, you did nothing to warrant this wonderful gift. God not only saves us from our sins but equips us to live for Him through His Spirit (Gal. 2:20).

Indeed, according to God's word, we who are born again in Christ are new creatures (I Cor. 5:17).

To wit, Galatians 4:4-6 states, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

Don't you get it? Once you are His, He is yours as well.

Therefore, comfort yourself in knowing that when you think no one else cares for you or loves you, think on this good report: Jesus loves  you with an eternal love that cannot snatch you away from Him once you are His. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Only trust Jesus Christ.

Come, every soul by sin oppressed,
there's mercy with the Lord;
and He will surely give you rest,
by trusting in His Word.

Only trust Him, only trust Him,
only trust him now.
He will save you, He will save you,
He will save you now.

To God be the glory!

The Plan of Salvation