(Matthew
20:17-19) As Jesus was about to go up to
Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He
said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will
be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to
death, 19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and
crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
(Luke
18:31-33) Then He took the twelve aside
and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the
prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be
handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,
33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He
will rise again.”
(John
12:23-32) And Jesus answered them,
saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly,
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much
fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world
will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves
Me, he must follow Me; and where I
am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor
him.
27 “Now My
soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this
hour’? But for this purpose I came to
this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven:
“I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 So the crowd of
people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were
saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but
for your sakes. 31 Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this
world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I
am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
(John
14:29-31) Now I have told you before it
happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. 30 I will not speak much
more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;
31 but so that the world may know that I
love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go
from here.
Reminder:
"praying effectively" involves knowing God's will. When we pray in His will (in His name), He
may choose to not answer those prayers in the time period that we would like,
or HOW we would like - but He will answer those prayers!
It is God's will:
- that we are given prophecies, so that when we see the
prophecies fulfilled, we can believe (Jn.14:29)
- that Jesus came to die for sins and rise again, which
fulfilled prophecies (Lk.18:31-33, Mt.20:18-19, Mk.10:33-34, Jn.12:23-24)
- that Jesus is obedient to the Father, to demonstrate His
love for God, and so that the world may know that Jesus and God are one
(Jn.14:30-31)
- that even though Jesus was troubled over the thought of
going to hell to pay for sins, since He is holy and cannot be with sin, He was
willing to be obedient to His Father's will (Jn.12:27-28)
- that Jesus had to die in order to make salvation and
eternal life with God possible (Jn.12:32)
- that we do not love the temporary worldly life, but
desire eternal life with God (Jn,12:25)
- that we serve and follow Jesus, in dying to sin, and
living to eternal life (Jn.12:26)
Today's prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your work
on the cross, and making salvation possible.
Thank You for being the perfect example of obedience to God's will,
which demonstrates Your love. As Your
followers, help us be more like You.
Help us remain steadfast and obedient to God's will. Guide us in everything we say and do so that
we bear fruit. May everything we say and
do bring You glory and demonstrate our love for You. Amen.
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