Sometimes we are surprised by the strength with which people going through very hard times, face each new day. Have you ever wondered how Jesus could live each new day knowing that what lay ahead for Him was the cross? It is apparent from Jesus’ conversations with His disciples that as He persistently made His way towards Jerusalem, He knew what awaited Him there. Still, He took time to pray; to teach; to heal; to express care and compassion; to rest; and to eat with and enjoy time with friends. Jesus’ life was not on hold as He prepared for what would happen on Good Friday. We know that difficult times could overshadow everything else. We could be robbed of the peace of trusting God as He extends to us the gift of each new day. When we feel uncertain about our strength to deal with what may come next, we can be strengthened by Jesus’ resolve. Our Lord Jesus continued to give of Himself and to engage fully in the days and the steps that led to the cross. Jesus received strength that was needed for His journey and so can we. Recall with me the words of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength.” We can claim this promise and look to our Saviour Jesus Christ as we pray and like Jesus receive strength for each day and each step of the way. We will pause tomorrow March 8th at 1 pm for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER.
Looking to Jesus who gives us strength to live each new day, Pastor Lola
Our God of grace who knows us completely, once again we turn to You. We find hope in Your Son Jesus and the living of His life. This gives us hope for what our lives can be. When we are facing difficult times and when family and friends are facing difficult times, we choose to trust You. The warmth of the sun breaking through on a cloudy day is that for which we pray. When Your Son breaks through and shines light and warmth into our cloud covered days, we are grateful. Whenever we consider that Jesus knew that the cross was before Him, we are astounded by His courage and strength. We see that Jesus kept building relationships and responding to human need. He did not become so obsessed with the reality of the cross that He could think of nothing else. Jesus chose to give Himself fully to those around Him and we want to do the same. At this time, we name before You again those for whom we are praying. We think of their needs and invite Your strength to be sufficient for them. We want to learn more of what it means to trust You for the path ahead. Thank You God that endings can lead to new beginnings. We pray that we will not limit our expectations of what You can and will do. When we reminisce about the past, we find You there. When we look for sufficient strength from You God for today, we find You there. And when we wander down the unknown path of what could be ahead, we also find you there. Never for a single moment do You abandon us. With all the people in our world turning to You in prayer, it is remarkable to us that You hear every whisper and You move with love and grace to answer each prayer. We choose to cling to Jesus for the kind of strength He displayed in living each day with determination on His way to the cross. We utter these words in response, “Hallelujah, what a Saviour,” in Whose Name we pray. AMEN