Brown's Daily Word 3-6-14

   The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday gathering for fellowship and study.  I have been reflecting today on one verse, recorded In Luke 9:51, “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”  Jesus was on the move, marching to Jerusalem.  He was fully resolved and resolute and He was in charge.  There is a sense of victory and triumph in this passage. He was and is the conquering King.      

    In this season of Lent Jesus calls to follow Him denying ourselves and carrying our cross and follow Him daily.  May we follow  Jesus our Lord, the King of the Road, His face set steadfastly towards Jerusalem.  In our self- examination and self-reflections may we ask ourselves, "What destination is our face set toward?  Is it toward life or toward death, toward freedom or toward bondage, toward hell or toward heaven, toward self or toward Jesus the Savior? Are we bent on self-gratification or on honoring Christ? 

    Olympic athletes demonstrate courage and determination as they pursue a gold medal.  Soldiers demonstrate the same as they defend our homeland.  Firemen demonstrate courage when they enter burning buildings to save lives.

    I heard about an expectant mother who was told that her baby would be born with a number of birth defects.  During a sonogram the doctors had detected a large cyst in the baby’s brain.  They encouraged the mother and father to consider aborting the child’s life.  The mother and father refused.  Defects or none, they resolved to give that child a shot at life.  A few months ago they gave birth to a perfectly healthy child.  The only after-effect of the situation is that the young mother now has gray hair because of the stress the doctors caused her.  I applaud the parents for having the courage to believe in the sanctity of human life.  God honored the parents' courageous faith.  Doctors were mystified and said it was a miracle.

    Courage is the ability to "set one's face" toward an objective and never turn away.  In Luke 9:51 (NIV) we read, "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem."  The Message Bible paraphrase says that Jesus, "gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem."  What a powerful image of Jesus— He"steeled himself"!  The New King James Version more accurately says that, "Jesus steadfastly set his face for Jerusalem."  This image of "setting one’s face" comes from Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 50:6-7.  Isaiah foretold the coming of the Christ in the book of Isaiah centuries earlier.  For Isaiah, Jesus the Christ would come as a suffering servant.  The suffering servant would not flinch or turn back from the purpose for which he was sent.  He would suffer and die and then be glorified.  When Isaiah the prophet spoke of Jesus Christ, he spoke of him in the first person.  In Isaiah 50:6-7 (NIV) he said, "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.  Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame." 

    Too often we are all motivated to obey God’s will, but only as long as it doesn’t cost us personally.  A part of us is in search of an easy-believism and cheap grace.  We want a Christianity that doesn’t require any courage, any faith, any determination, or any commitment.  Strangely, we want our religion to change us, but we don’t want to change!  Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ requires courage.  It requires an ability to set our faces on the things of Jesus, our Lord, and never turn away.

In Christ,

 Brown

" I want to be one of them"

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