| The Great Escape SERIES VI - 04/25/99 |
| Remember
last message we closed with a question, " What kind of Gethsemane are you facing
today?" amazon.com Well, I want to say that a very day [as a Christian] we each will have some kind of experience or circumstance that will require communion with the Heavenly Father. Whether or not we do so [have communion] will be totally our choice. amazon.com I want us to look up the word escape for it sometimes finds it way into our lives. When the pressure
against us seemingly comes to what we call "a peak" or "the limit", we
sometimes want out. We get to the point where self tells us to quit, get away, give
it up, let the hair go with the hide. amazon.com It's easier to walk away in the heat of the battle than to stand your ground and encounter warfare. We call this escaping reality. But is it really the solution to the problem? The word, escape, according to Webster's Dictionary, means; (1) a flight from confinement, or (2) evasion from something undesirable. I believe Christianity, as a whole, has sought out ways of evading the reality of the cross because of its demands. Some of us have even become escape artists. An escape artist is one who has perfected a way out of his confinement, or dilemna. amazon.com There is a way of escape, but it is not how we thing or view the matter. Jesus became our escape (way out - if you please). When we fail to view the cross and its reality we may escape some things that come our way but eventually we will run out of doors of escape. In Saint John's Gospel Chapter 14:30, Jesus makes this statement..."The Prince of the world cometh and hath nothing in me." Satan found nothing [no fallen nature in Jesus to catch hold of.] Jesus was completely in harmony with his Heavenly Father. He did always those things what pleased his Father. amazon.com Beloved, we can escape the corruption and lusts and temptations that are in the world IF we learn the secret of submitting and surrendering it all to God. The reality of this secret is in the way of the Cross. It is the Cross that is the basis to all workings of God's spirit in our lives. The Cross is the barrier which separates the carnal man from the reality of the spiritual man. amazon.com books We can learn from the experiences of Jesus, how to escape [God's way of escape] the agony of our Gethsemane's we encounter daily. Have you really tried and tested the method of the Cross experience, or are you escaping in some other way life's experiences? |
| In Conclusion |
| Let me give you the answer, the bottom line to everything you're trying to
escape from. Whether it be temptation, or anger, etc.., take it to the Lord.
Cry out to him [pray] and HE WILL show you the way out.
amazon.com books There is not light on the death side of the Cross where many, by nature, is shut out from God. But when we cry out [pray], "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me..", he will come to our rescue and light will expel the darkness of our experiences we encounter each day. amazon.com God bless and keep you until next time, amazon.com I Remain In Service of Him, |