Stepping in the Light

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35

Jesus placed a premium on solitude and prayer. At times, our daily routines and responsibilities can make it seem impossible to find time to be alone and pray. Undoubtedly, Jesus experienced similar pressures in His life, but He always found a way to make time for what was important to Him. As we look at the number of times it is recorded in scripture that Jesus prayed, we begin to understand that prayer was more than a religious ritual for Him; it was something that He felt He needed to do. If Jesus felt that He needed to pray, how much more do we need to pray? He was the sinless Son of God, part of the Trinity, and yet He needed to pray. He was the active member of the Godhead in creation. He made everything that surrounded Him, and yet, He needed to pray. He had experienced oneness with the Father for all eternity past, and yet, while He was walking this earth and living as a man, He needed to pray. Sometimes Jesus prayed in public, sometimes He prayed with His disciples, but in the text above, we find Him resorting to a solitary place. Jesus wanted to be alone. He wanted to be undisturbed. He did not want any distractions or interruptions. Christ wanted to focus on sharing His heart with the Father. I believe we all need a solitary place. We need to have time when we are alone and uninterrupted so that we can get our hearts in tune with God. Do you have a solitary place?

“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:22

Cutting corners is when we leave small details undone in order to save time, but sometimes the little things are what makes the difference between mediocrity and excellence. If a farmer were trying to save time during harvest, he might not reap all the way into the corner of the field. If he were in a hurry, he might not stop to pick up what he dropped along the way. Because of his haste, he would probably experience a less-than-optimum total harvest, and his profit margins would probably shrink.

In Leviticus, God commanded the Israelites to cut corners, but it wasn’t to save time. It was God’s plan for the poor and the strangers have a way to provide for their families. As they were working in the fields, the Israelites were not to reap in the corners and they were not supposed to go back and pick up the gleanings in the field. This created an opportunity for less fortunate people to come behind them and find something to sustain them, as long as they were willing to go out and reap the corners and pick up the gleanings. Our society is structured differently, but the principle of helping the poor and needy has not changed. Can you think of a way that you could “cut corners” in order to help someone in need?

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20

The Great Commission is the blueprint of action for New Testament Christians. It is the purpose for our existence, and carrying out its directives should be at the top of our priority list. Just before Jesus gave us our marching orders, He made a very important statement. He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Then the Great Commission begins, “Go ye therefore….” Jesus used the word therefore, meaning because. Our obedience to the Great Commission is predicated upon the omnipotence of Jesus Christ. He wants us to know that He has all power in heaven and in earth so that we will have the confidence to carry out His work, even when we cannot see Him. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10), and just before He went back to heaven, He gave us the responsibility to continue His work.

Honoring the Great Commission puts us in position to tap into the resources of the greatest power on earth. The reasoning is clear. Because Jesus has all power, it behooves us to follow His plan. We must spread the gospel to all the world because His power ensures that we will be able to fulfill His will.

“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.” Matthew 27:51

The veil in the temple was a thick curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. This veil was about 60 feet high, 30 feet wide, and four inches thick. The purpose of the veil was to create a separation between a holy God and sinful man. Only the high priest was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies on one day each year, the Day of Atonement. The high priest would make meticulous preparations to enter there and sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant.

There is tremendous significance to the fact that the veil was torn in two at the moment when Jesus yielded up His spirit on the cross. The veil was torn from the top down, indicating that it was an act of God. It was torn into two separate pieces, leaving an opening through which any person could walk. God was showing us that we all have direct access to Him now through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

God is no less holy, and man is no less sinful; but Jesus Himself became the Veil that separates those who refuse to trust Him from God the Father and makes it possible for those who do trust in Jesus to gain access to the Father. As believers in Christ, we now have access to God. How often do we take advantage of this opportunity to approach the throne of grace?

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18:1-5

God’s dealings with mankind in Old Testament times have often been misunderstood. Before we can understand what God is doing, we must first understand Who He Is. Two times in the passage above, God says, “I am the Lord.” God wanted the people to realize that He had the authority to tell them what they could and could not do based on Who He Is, the Creator God. He had the power to create the world out of nothing, and He has the power destroy what He has created. Not only does He have the power to destroy, but He has the right to destroy by virtue of the fact that He is the Creator. God had the right to destroy the earth with a flood because He made it. He had the right to give the land of Canaan to the Israelites and command them to annihilate the inhabitants because He made them. In spite of the fact that God, in His mercy and grace, has chosen to deal so gently with us as Christians, it would do us well to remember that God is the ultimate authority, and His Word must reign supreme in our lives.

“Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Matthew 27:3-5

Judas was a common name at the time of Christ, but after he betrayed the Lord, his name has become synonymous with the word traitor. Judas had gained the trust of all of the disciples. When Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him, none of them suspected Judas. They all said, “Is it I?” The Bible does not thoroughly explain his motives, but we have enough details to assume that Judas betrayed the Lord for the money. In the passage above, we see that Judas changed his mind about the thirty pieces of silver when he saw that Jesus was condemned. When he went to the chief priests and elders to return the money and confess that he was guilty of betraying an innocent person, they would hear nothing of it. “See thou to that,” they responded. The religious leaders had no more concern for Judas’ spiritual condition than they had for Jesus’ innocence; their minds were made up. They wanted to be rid of Jesus, no matter what the cost. Judas is a tragic example of a person who had almost unlimited access to the truth, but failed to let it change his perspective. How well do you know God’s truth and what impact are you allowing it to have in your life? 

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” Matthew 26:53-54

Peter had followed Jesus for more than three years. He had left everything, and had become one of Jesus’ most faithful disciples. He had hoped that Jesus would soon set up His new kingdom in Jerusalem and that he might have a place of prominence in this new world-wide empire. He knew that Jesus was completely good and that He was unlike any other person he had ever met. He had been amazed to hear Jesus’ teaching and astounded by the miracles He performed as they traveled from place to place. Peter was convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that His kingdom would be more noble and worthy than any kingdom before it. Peter was aware that the religious leaders rejected the idea that Jesus was the Christ, but he had hoped that they would eventually come to their senses and proclaim that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. Peter tried to defend Jesus against the mob that came to arrest Him in the garden, but Jesus corrected him. Jesus’ arrest was something that Peter did not want to happen, but it was unavoidable. Scripture must be fulfilled. The Messiah must be cut off for the people (Daniel 9:26). Jesus had prayed in the garden, “Let this cup pass from me,” but it was the Father’s will. Sometimes God allows unavoidable things in our lives, and we must be willing to let Him use them for His glory.

“Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.” Matthew 26:33-35

 We put a great deal of value on self-confidence. We want our leaders to display a great deal of confidence, and when we see their confidence it often inspires confidence in us and gives us a calm reassurance that they are making good decisions and that everything is going to be fine. Peter was confident that he would never deny the Lord, and so were all of the other disciples; but when it came time to put that confidence to the test, they all failed miserably.

The Bible teaches that our confidence should be in God. “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). Our confidence should not be in any person, including ourselves. “For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken” (Proverbs 3:26). “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge” (Proverbs 14:26). God wants us to be confident people, but He wants us to draw our confidence from Him. The disciples’ confidence in themselves eventually became their downfall. Our confidence as Christians should be placed completely in our Heavenly Father and what He can do.

“To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.” Leviticus 11:47

Have you ever wondered why God gave the Israelites the dietary laws found in Leviticus 11? God allowed Adam and Eve to eat every kind of fruit except one. God told Noah, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9:3). Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of their descendants undoubtedly enjoyed this same broad freedom until God commanded Moses to institute these strict guidelines for His people. If it was permissible for Noah and the whole human race to eat any kind of animal, why were these restrictions made for the Israelites? If it was acceptable for Abraham (the father of the Hebrew nation), Isaac, Jacob, and all of their descendants to eat pork for hundreds of years, why was it suddenly a bad thing for Moses and the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land? The reason is found in the passage above: “to make a difference.” It is all about a process of thinking. God wanted them to have the opportunity to choose to please Him every time they ate a meal. As New Testament Christians who have been freed from the ordinances of the Old Testament by the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, we have a similar mandate. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). God wants us to choose to honor Him in all that we do.

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40

In this passage, Jesus gives us a glimpse of how God views us and what it means to Him when we do something for someone else. We are brought upon a scene of judgment, and there are some standing before the King who are surprised that they receive credit for doing good things that they do not remember doing. The King Himself says to them that they fed Him, clothed Him, visited Him, accepted Him, and encouraged Him. Their answer is one of bewilderment. “When did we ever do any of these things?” they cried. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me,” was His reply. For many Christians, the idea of serving God is somewhat mysterious. How can we do something for someone we cannot see? How can we know what He wants? How will we know if He is pleased with our efforts? Of course, there are many ways that we can serve the Lord, but perhaps the simplest and the most tangible way is to find someone in need and do something to meet their need. People in need are all around us. Some have need of food and shelter, some are experiencing emotional difficulties or physical pain, and others just need someone to show that they care. When we reach out to help these people, Jesus sees us reaching out to Him.