INTENSE MENTAL SUFFERING!

 

Saturday, March 21, 2026

 

INTENSE MENTAL SUFFERING!

 

Matt 26:37-38

37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. KJV

 

          It has been said that “nobody fakes depression but many fake being okay.” Jesus was not okay! His complex union of deity and humanity suffered sorrow. Supper was over, and all but Judas had resorted to a quiet garden. It was there that Jesus would struggle with the weight of man’s sin and the knowledge of the high cost of redemption.

 

          Because words have meaning, several of the words in our text require our keen attention. The word began stands out as intentional. It was a planned enterprise. Sorrow and heaviness were part of redemption. In fact, the Greek confirms this saying that the word means something “rehearsed.”

 

          Jesus was “exceeding sorrowful.” The Greek word is perilupos which means “grieved all around.” This tells me that there was no relief from any quarter. He asked to be released from the contents of the cup he must drink, and His Father did not answer. He came to His disciples and found them asleep. Luke chapter 22 said they were “sleeping for sorrow.” The air hung heavy with grief, and their only escape was to close their minds to it, and sleep.

 

          Jesus requested their company while he agonized. He did not ask them to share it but to simply be with Him while he suffered. I have learned the “ministry of presence.” The Ministry of Presence is a ministry given to all believers. We are all priests in service to God. We are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and as priests we represent God's presence. When Christians express their care and love for another by being present, they are also expressing Jesus' loving concern. It is a gift of time.

 

          Two important things can be gained from our brief study today. First, we need to remember the depth of suffering given by Jesus on our behalf. Next, we need to be aware of those suffering around us and be a companion of comfort to them. A visit or a phone call may be the difference between courage and despair.

 

Dear Lord, thank you for your unspeakable suffering for me. Let me be a comfort to someone today. AMEN

 

HOW TO DEAL WITH HECKLERS!

 

Friday, March 20, 2026

 

HOW TO DEAL WITH HECKLERS!

 

Neh 4:3

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

 

Judg 6:15

15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

 

1 Cor 15:9-10

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am…

 

          In these three verses we see hecklers. One is external and the other is internal. Nehemiah and his people were rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. This included rebuilding the homes that were attached to the wall. These were not professional builders but patriots so their work was made more of passion than perfection. Yet the work progressed and the wall began to take shape. It both impressed and frustrated the enemy who tried to shout them down by saying that the weight of a fox would cause the wall to crumble.

 

          Gideon’s internal heckler responded to the angel by saying that his tribe had been so thinned that it could no longer stand before its foes and he was the smallest in that weakened tribe. The angel said he was a “mighty man of valor” but Gideon just couldn’t see himself in that way. He was already defeated in his own mind.

 

          Paul used a Greek word that meant that he was short of stature. Perhaps he was. He did not feel worthy to be an apostle because of his past. He had persecuted the church that now he was trying to build. Finally, he said: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”       

 

The world is full of critics, self-proclaimed experts, and hecklers. Usually, they are spectators and not participants. Every baseball team could use a man who plays every position perfectly, never strikes out and never makes an error. The trouble is, there is no way to make him lay down his hot dog and come down out of the stands!

 

The best way to treat a heckler is to just go ahead and succeed. With the external heckler you might have to work with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. The internal heckler just needs to be quietly ignored while you work steadily on. In Walt Kelly’s comic strip, Pogo is quoted as saying: “Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us.”

 

Dear Lord, all day long the heckler inside keeps telling me that I can’t succeed while the angel of the Lord refers to me as a mighty man of valor. Help me to trust your opinion of me and not that of myself. AMEN

 

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT!

 

Thursday, March 19, 2026

 

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT!

 

Song 2:10-13

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. KJV

 

          When is the last time you heard a sermon from Song of Solomon? Exactly! It is so intimate as to be almost embarrassing. We excuse ourselves and slip away to give the couple some privacy.

 

          We quickly understand that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We know Him to be both Lamb and Lion, but do we know Him as the loving husband of the bride? Are we intimate with Him?

 

          Our casual culture has reduced not only the majesty of God but the terms of endearment as well. God is now our copilot and the Man Upstairs, but seldom is he our beloved!

 

Song 2:16

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. KJV

 

Beloved Lord, remind me that ours is not a theological discussion but a relationship of love. AMEN