Mid-afternoon on the warmest day we've had for a while. The time/temp sign on North Main Street read 32 degrees when I walked by during my Rent Loop earlier. At the same time, it's breezy, so the "real feel" is still lower 20s. Oh well, it can try... LOL

Anyway, the latest news is that my oldest, Carissa, is actively seeing what can be done about making my mother's stay at the Nursing Home permanent. At the same time, my father has no heat in the apartment, AGAIN. So Carissa is also looking into the possibility of dad joining mom at the Nursing Home since the waiting list at the Veteran's Home may be too long for what he needs right now. Praying for doors to open that no man can shut, and close that no man can open!! Please join me!!* Meanwhile, I may have to take my father back in for a little while. I just got paperwork to request it when I was at the Office this afternoon. Hopefully it won't be as long as last time, if at all. Just taking one day at a time... (Great song, btw... I'll include it below)

I was realizing that it's been a while since I mentioned my son, Ben. He's still living with my ex-husband, Rich, and working hard to get his own place. This means that he has not gone back out to Indiana to help his ex-wife. Praise God that he didn't get caught in her web of lies again!! The sad thing is, Carissa had taken Brandi up to visit around Christmas, and she came back with the news that Ben is basically an alcoholic. (Technically, she admits to the same, so they're both functional, but damaged.) My youngest, Jasmine, doesn't drink much at all, so at least I can say that. She and Bryan are still living with his mother and other family members and trying to save for their own place as well. Prayers for all...

I've been in touch with Jeremy via Messenger lately. He's been able to channel his joys and frustrations through music, although he hasn't played any of his like, 8 guitars, in years. He's discovered an app that writes songs for you based on themes and genres that you tell it to work with. He actually has a 25 song playlist that he shared with me the other day!! I listened to snippets of each one, and it's really cool!! Continued prayers that he can find a part time job that gets him away from temptation. On that note, I actually made a piece of artwork based on the Armor of God last week and sent it along with the card I had made for him after having lost his mother earlier in the week. (See the Stamps, Cards, and Jewelry page to view both.)

Nothing new from Andrea, so for now, at least, no news is good news. That being said, however, I haven't kept her updated on my parents lately.

Finally, Mike still has financial issues to address, as well as the possibility of adding his daughter to his lease, as the Inspection Lady didn't like her staying there so much without permission. I also discovered on FB this morning that Arianna has actually gained back visitation rights for Takoda!! Apparently, this started back in August, but no one told me. She had a short video of playing Candy Land with him. 🥰 He turns 4 in May. Anyway, between that and other things she had posted recently, I have discovered that I've been judging her too harshly. She IS doing all the "stuff", I just wasn't seeing it for myself. Prayers for wisdom for Mike and further success for Arianna.

And so, onward...

Two things came to mind when I was going over today's message notes, and neither one is very long, so I'll use both.

If you've seen the original Space Jam movie, you may remember the scene where Bugs Bunny is being chased through the Art Museum.* One of the most famous paintings he encounters is "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte", by Georges Seurat in 1884. In this scene, Bugs stops to inform the audience about the technique of Pointillism. At a distance, you see this wonderful image of people in the park. But if you look at the detail, you see spots of color.

The same concept applies to the Bible. While some view it skeptically as a bunch of points that neither agree nor even seem to connect, we Believers understand that you have to step back in order to see the full picture. Good Bible Study requires both.

The second thing that caught my attention was the point that Jesus kept His circle of friends very small. Only 12 who traveled with Him, and only 3 in whom He fully confided. As we're bringing Brandi up to understand, having a lot of friends isn't what matters. It's about having a few friends you can fully rely on. The analogy of how 4 quarters are more valuable than 100 pennies works well for this.

Today's passage is from Mark 14 --

Mark 14:32-42

New International Version

Gethsemane

³² They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴ “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵ Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ “Abba,^[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹ Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before we get into the message itself, I just want to share the fact that we were blessed to have Guest Minister Andy Dufresne on the platform the morning of November 2nd.

His opening thoughts that day were the inspiration of my first Message Intro idea. He brought out the truth that the 2 main keys to understanding the Bible are the Big Picture and the Details. He went on to observe that major things happen in gardens throughout various parts of the Bible. It starts in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus' Earthly Ministry nears its end in the Garden of Gethsemane. At the same time, Andy spoke of the fact of the hypostatic union of the Trinity in reflecting the Nature of God with Jesus being the Fullness of both God and Man.*

He broke the passage above into 4 major points of Jesus' experiences and character here --

• Jesus knows desperate anguish -- Verses 33-34 speak to the point of Jesus' being "deeply distressed and troubled" and "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death". Andy's version said, "suffocating darkness" (Msg). He then shared briefly a story of experiencing a similar feeling as his child nearly died in the back of an ambulance some years ago. These concepts speak to a deep, intimate relationship, not only between Jesus and His closest friends, but with the Father. This was not just a comfortable life Jesus was leading; but a hard road He knew would end in an even more difficult death. This was partly why He kept His Inner Circle so small. Only Peter, James, and John were privy to His hardest struggles.* (This suggests that the others were mainly there for Ministry Training)* Among the 12, we find that only those 3 were invited to witness the Transfiguration. Also, in Mark's account of Jesus healing Jairus' daughter, we see that only Peter, James, and John are allowed to follow Him into the house. It's worthy of note that Jesus only shared Jairus' darkest moment with His own closest friends. Andy emphasized the point here the difference in preaching TO people as opposed to sharing certain things WITH people. He also reiterated the fact of Jesus' previous warnings in chapters 13-14 to "keep watch". There's a lesson here in discretion.

• Jesus knows devastating abandonment* -- Both Judas and Peter were sources of abandonment ahead of the Crucifixion, specifically.* In our passage above, verse 38 shows Peter as having said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". How many times have any of us felt the same way?? This is particularly true when you're looking at the hours in which this is happening. General context here suggests that they were in the Garden from about 11:30 at night to about 1:00 in the morning. (I'd be sleeping too!!) While Jesus is frustrated with them, He doesn't count it against them as sin. He understands their human limitations and shortcomings and doesn't expect perfection. We would do well to follow this example.

• Jesus loves His friends beyond their limits -- While this is part of the same idea as our previous point, Andy made it a separate thing. He shared a quote here from Pastor John Onwuchekwa of Atlanta's Cornerstone Church: "Everywhere else in the world, the price of admission is your strength, your net worth, your value. This is the only place in the world where the price of admission is your neediness, your weakness." Amen!!??

• Jesus shows ultimate devotion and takes up the cup -- Andy brought it to our attention that the word "gethsemane" means "place of pressing". It was actually a place used for pressing grapes into wine. Great wine, actually. He then went on to explain how the word Jesus used in saying "Abba" was the Aramaic word for "daddy". Once again, we find deep intimacy here, not just essential fact of relationship. The line is crossed when He says, "Not My will; but Yours be done." This shows a level of trust many people never reach, either with others or with God. This is further proof of the level of fellowship between Jesus and the Father.

Andy then had us turn over to the book of Hebrews, showing other Scriptures in which others attest to Jesus' humility and invitation.

Hebrews 5:7 tells us that Jesus cried out in prayer to the Father with His petitions, and that He was heard due to His humble submission to the Father's Plans. This is one example of the "bigger picture" of Jesus as seen during His Ministry. Another is the analogy of the "Cup of Wrath" as indicated in the OT books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. This represented total judgment from God to the Israelites.

In Mark 10:38, Jesus asks James and John if they are up to the challenge of "drinking the cup"* He was assigned to drink from. Part of Jesus' point here is that we are not capable of doing this on our own.

Andy went on to share the truth that grace is free to us only because it was costly to Jesus as becoming the New Adam. (See Rom. 5 and 1 Cor. 15)

In closing, Andy posed the question, "How are we being invited into God's presence??" The answer lies in 3 things -- The first being the Pattern of Jesus. He encouraged us to "run to Him with our friends". The second is Prayer. Bringing requests according to God's Will.* And finally, Power. We are invited to live in the freedom of Jesus' victory.

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

1. My mother will be resistant to the idea of permanency, but knows that we've been talking about it for a while now. At the same time, my father would actually prefer NOT to be with her; but will certainly see the advantage of being in a better physical environment where less of their money will be spent overall and the place will be cleaner and better organized.

2. Sadly, I haven't seen the newer one yet. I don't know if it contains the same scene or not. (Side note - I've always loved that painting, but never knew it consisted of dots until Bugs told me!!)

3. My Trinity article can be found on the Reflections Page.

4. It occurred to me to wonder which James is being spoken of here, as there were 2 among the 12. A quick search reveals that I was right. James, son of Zebedee, also known as "James the Greater", and his brother John, were those among Jesus' Inner Circle along with Peter.

5. As always, parenthetical bits are mine.

6. Sadly, another person who knows the feeling of devastating abandonment is Mike. When his parents divorced when he was 5, one of the things his father told him was that he didn't want a 2nd son, he wanted a daughter. Later, after Mike had run away from his father's place in California and got himself caught and sent home to Vermont, his mother abandoned him. For most of his 2 yrs in Job Corps, he didn't have a home to visit on weekends or holidays because he didn't know where she was. 😢

7. As suggested by the fact that no one other than John, among the remaining 11, showed up at the Crucifixion, we can surmise that the rest scattered in fear during Jesus' Trial.

8. In terms of the "cup", I've come to realize this symbolism actually starts back in Genesis 43 and 44 when Joseph instructs his servant to put his silver cup into Benjamin's grain bag. This significance was part of my notes in my Daily Bible Readings recently. Also, sometime last year, I got a hold of a copy of the book, "Can You Drink the Cup", by Henri Nouwen. Maybe one of these days, I'll get around to read it... I know from previous experience that I love his work!!

9. The idea of our prayers being in God's Will is two-fold. First of all, it's His Will that we DO pray to Him. Secondly, it's important that our prayers align with His specific plans for us. (See Matt. 6 and 1 Jn. 5:14, among others. Along with this comes the clarification of Psalm 37:4 - it's not that God will give us what we want, it's about the fact that He will tell us what He wants for us.)

10. Remember to watch the podcast, "Diving in With Matt and Joe" for more content.

Music -- Never a right in sight!!