Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
In Mark 10:24, Jesus continues to teach about faith: “Therefore I say unto you, ‘What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’” False teachers twist this verse to match their greed. They proclaim that God is obligated to give us whatever we want, basically turning the Holy One into a cosmic ATM or a personal Amazon facility. Since Jesus had recently dealt with the pernicious power of possessions (Mark 10:17-25; 11:15-17), He is not telling us to “name it and claim it.” Just because something rhymes does not make it true. We must always compare Scripture to Scripture. For example, Matthew 6:10b instructs us to pray as follows: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” The priority is not what we want but what God wants. Jesus, Himself fully God, gave us an extraordinary example of this priority as He prayed about His death on the Cross: “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” Thus, the will of God must govern our lives, including our prayers. His will is not an onerous restriction; rather, it frees us to do what is right and good.