No more of this!

"No more of this!"  Jesus

Recorded in all four Gospels, there is just something about this incident that fascinates me.  What I am writing is not history but rather it is about a moment in history that, I believe, is more important than we think.  But for the providence of God, everything could have gone south in these moments..

Really read these passages:

Matthew 26:47-54 ESV
While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. [48] Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; seize him." [49] And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" And he kissed him. [50] Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you came to do." Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. [51] And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. [52] Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. [53] Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? [54] But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?"

Mark 14:43-45, 47-50 ESV
And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. [44] Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard." [45] And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi!" And he kissed him. [47] But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. [48] And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? [49] Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled." [50] And they all left him and fled.

Luke 22:47-53 ESV
While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, [48] but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" [49] And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" [50] And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. [51] But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched his ear and healed him. [52] Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? [53] When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

John 18:3-11 ESV
So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. [4] Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" [5] They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. [6] When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. [7] So he asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." [8] Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go." [9] This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: "Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one." [10] Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) [11] So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?"
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Do you see "this"?  Is "this" clearer to you now?  Do you think you could see "IT" in your day to day life - the commonality of your Christianity.  Or do you just ignore "this" and and float through your day doing what you think appropriate?

Oh - what is "this?"  "This," is relying upon your understanding and ability to address life in all it's wonder and woundings.

"This," is, though having many opportunities to grow in your knowledge and understanding, being content to remain in ignorance and to operate by what you "feel" or "think" and not upon the truth which is available for the taking.

"This" is that bad habit we have ot thinking God needs our help with anything.
"This" is engaging "our" solution and not waiting upon the Lord to lead.
"This" is fighting a spiritual battle with fleshly weapons.
"This" is trying to "make up for" one error with a worse one (or one at all).
"This" is wacking off an ear trying to instigate a confrontation so, "things can come to a head."  (Attacking the "faith" those who oppose our faith.)

"This" is pride, hubris, vanity, ignorance, impetuosity, impulsivelness, arrogance, shallowness . . . .

"This," is sin.

We are learning . . . .

Old thoughts and reflections worth remembering!

Written during our wilderness time in Texas

Just thinking about being out here in Texas and not knowing why.  Oh, we thought we had a reason but the sinfullness and duplicity of man put a quick end to that.  So we're out here, away from family and friends, with no idea what God has planned.  But I read too much to be without faith that He is in charge and will indeed work this thing out for our good and His glory.

But I would warn you, when you sense God's leading, take a nap.  Give it a break.  Don't charge forward.  We really ought to have prayed more, gotten more council and really investigated what we were getting into.  Had we done that we might well have chosen to live in our car in Greensboro rather than make the move.

But there is some up sides to this situation.  We have far less, though still too much, junk than we did.  We got to experience the kindness, care and support of family and friends as we prepared to move.  We really know we are loved.  We experience God's providence moment by moment.  We are learning about the sinfulness of our hearts and what He wants us to work on.  We get to miss people which is hard but wonderful.  We get to remember all the blessings of the past and look toward those of the future.  We get to find out new things about each other and our marriage.  We get to trust Him better each day.  We get to be convicted and to repent.  We get to discover new and awesome things about living for Him.

Being here is kind of a left-handed blessing.  The bitter with the sweet.  The good and the bad without the ugly.  Daily we confront small crisis and get to see Him resolve them.  Moment by moment we get to experience His comfort in our anxiety.  Night by night we get to sleep (that's day by day since I work nights.).  We get to enjoy learning to pray more deeply and more wisely.  We get to wait and rest.

Oh, I could complain, and do, but I feel foolish when I look at the sum total of our lives here.

All we thought would be a blessing once we got here went south on us.  It has been and is painful so we're learning to deal with anger and bitterness.  We're also learning to deal with pride, learning to see it from new and different directions.  We are learning to not murmur.  We are learning to trust Him way more than we trust others.  We are learning not to assume, suppose and accept on face value.  We are learning to not settle for anything but His best.  We are learning to pray openly and honestly laying our wants at His feet and holding out for them unless we are shown they are off base.  We are learning that we can not do it on our own.  We are learning that sometimes you just have to push forward.

Oh, I could complain, and do but then I just feel silly and foolish.

We are learning that the best cure for anxiety and worry is serving others.  We are learning that depression does not always win and that you can do more than you think even when the depression is at its worse.  We are learning that panic attacks always fail.  We are learning that we are weak and frail by design. We are learning a lot!

We are learning that you can feel sorry for yourself when appropriate but that it passes as you lean on Him.  We are learning that sadness is not a bad thing as long as it is not over much.  We are learning  that tears are often very appropriate.  We are learning that the disciplines of the faith are crucial.  We are learning that living the life takes practice, consistent practice.  We are learning that orthopraxy is only good with orthodoxy (lol).

We are learning that a little crazy is a good thing.  We are learning to be discriminating in our activities and pleasures.  We are learning that we can be too inundated by the world (this election stuff).  We're learning that what goes in the ear can really mess with the head...not to mention what goes in the eyes.  We are learning that Ruko is a blessing.  We are learning to love radio.

Philippians 4:8 ESV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.