And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” – Matthew 26:37-39 ESV
Warrior;
Singer\songwriter Brandon Heath had a hit song called, “Give me your eyes”. It was a touching song that had a gentleman praying to God. He realizes that he is missing people, he is walking by people in life and NOT seeing their story, NOT seeing their pain, NOT seeing their needs- NOT caring, NOT LOVING THEM. The song is about his prayer to God the Father, he wants to see what God sees. He wants to see through the eyes of a HOLY GOD, a PERFECT GOD as He looks at His broken creation. “All those people goin’ somewhere, why have I never cared? Give me Your eyes for just one second, give me Your eyes so I can see, everything that I keep missing. Give me Your love for humanity, give me Your arms for the broken-hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten. Give me Your eyes so I can see.” Dear Heavenly Father, please give us eyes to see, to see what you see. When you look at me- when you look at what is going on in this world, when you see the chaos in America- when you see people taking a knee to worship at the altar of man and confess sins against mankind, to mankind- What do you see? When you see the hatred, people keeping a record of wrong, people exacting their pound of flesh, based on grievances from our past…? Give me your eyes!
Leader, God is about choices, but He is also about simplicity. He knows the wiles of the enemy, He knows the strategies that our enemy uses to keep us off the GOD TRACK. We must understand that the VIEW that we have, the way we see things, dictates how we live, how we respond to this world and how we VIEW WORLD EVENTS. If you see this world, as the end all, be all- then you will see things one way. If you see this world, as a practice ground, as a way to get you ready for the Kingdom to come- then you will see things a different way. If your view is that you are here to be happy, to raise a family and to make a name for yourself- you will live life one way, and view the events of the day with a certain perspective and your investment of time will be dictated by that view. However, if your view is that we are here to bring glory to God, that we are here to get ready for eternity with God, that we die to ourselves daily and let Christ live in us- then you will view the issues of the day through Godly eyes, and things will LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT. This different view causes us to respond differently and to see the issues of the world, with KINGDOM EYES and have a KINGDOM RESPONSE. We must quit being used by the devil to do the world’s bidding, and get new eyes, GODLY EYES, and respond in a KINGDOM way, with a KINGDOM mindset and with KINGDOM focused thoughts and actions. This is what God means in the 12th chapter of Romans when He says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. We must quit marching for the WORLDS issues and start MARCHING TO A DIFFERENT DRUMBEAT!
Conduit, even though scripture only gives us three times that GOD HIMSELF cried out, He is identified in Isaiah 53 as a MAN OF SORROWS, familiar with grief. Remember, only a small portion of Jesus’ ministry was recorded. But Jesus was not known as the man of joy, He was never at an anti-slavery meeting, He did more for women, than any social engineer and yet, He never went to a woman’s rights rally. However, He did weep, and have much sorrow. There are only 3 recorded times in the Bible that Jesus wept. Jesus cried after seeing the anguish of those he loves, see John 11:28-37. Jesus wept when he saw the sins of humanity, see Luke 13:34 and Luke 19:41-42. Jesus shed tears when praying in the Garden before his crucifixion, see today’s verse. However the author of Hebrews tells us Jesus tears were a regular part of His earthly experience! While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. (Hebrews 5:7) We are called to live an examined life; Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5) Here is your test to see if you are in the faith: How often do you look at the falling of America and weep? When you hear about all the killings in our inner cities of children, every single day- do you weep? When you see the hatred in the political process- do you weep? When you see the racial hypersensitivity do you MARCH, or do you WEEP? Today, are you more like JESUS and weeping for the destruction of our country, or are you like the JEWS and calling on Rome to release a criminal, while Jesus is disregarded, degraded, and discounted? Read Isaiah 53 and see how you stack up to the emotional commitment of Jesus. Are you in the faith? Do you feel what Jesus felt? Oh Lord, give me your eyes, to see what you see and act according to your will and your way! Amen.
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 