From the Inside Out

The Agony in the Garden, by Francesco Trevisani, 1740

I praise You, Lord Jesus, Founder of our faith and supreme exemplar of what the life of faith looks like. You demonstrated what it means to live in continual obedience to our Father [1], doing nothing of your own initiative but only what God directed you to do.

In the Garden of Gethsemane you poignantly affirmed trusting submission, even while anguishing over the suffering to come [2].

Yet you acquiesced to your Father’s will. You trusted your Righteous Father to provide the supernatural strength you’d need, knowing his right hand would sustain you, and he’d provide ultimate victory [3].

Your submission cost you horrific pain yet you endured to the end. By comparison, my submission has cost me little and yet I sometimes balk at even small sacrifices.

How dare I stoop to complaining and self-pity when people don’t respond the way I think they should, when disagreeable tasks require attention and I ignore them, when “little” temptations beset me and I make excuses to give in?

Oh Lord, forgive me for losing sight of your example. Remind me too that obedience is not for performance’ sake but for love’s sake [4]. Out of gratitude, I do want my love for you to overflow; out of love, I do want my submission to you to grow.  

I praise You, Lord Jesus, that you are the Perfector of my faith [5]. You didn’t just set me on the path to abundant life and then leave me to figure out the journey on my own.

“Your Spirit has enlightened my understanding of spiritual matters, developed my conscience, drawn my affections toward things of eternal value, created the desire within me to follow [your] will, with new motives, principles, and purpose” (Unknown) [6].  

THANK YOU!

You guide and empower, to mold my life into what is useful and even beautiful. You faithfully work to release me from those things that ensnare me [7]. How gracious you are!

You change my perspective, so I can see things from your point of view; you work repentance in my heart, desiring to purify and transform me, day by day, into your likeness [8]. That’s my desire too.

I’ve not been an easy project for you, Lord, given my stubbornness and slowness to learn.  And yet, scripture assures me your continual inner-work within me is for your good pleasure [9]. You do it because it gives you pleasure! That astounds me.

How thankful I am to belong to you, that you never give up on me. You never tire of wielding your transforming power, to refine all your children into radiant reflections of you [10].

I praise you, Jesus, for your patience and persistence! And I praise you for your promise, that you’ll carry to completion the good things you—with all your wisdom, goodness, and love—have planned for me [11].

May I be an enthusiastic participant to the end!

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[1] Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 2:21; John 6:38

[2] John 5:30; Matthew 26:36-46

[3] Philippians 2:6-8; Psalm 18:32, 35b; 37:39-40

[4] John 14:15

[5] Hebrews 12:2

[6] Ephesians 1:18; Hebrews 9:14; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 4:24-26; Ezekiel 36:26-27

[7] John 16:13; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 25:15

[8] Romans 12:2; 1 John 1:9; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 3:18

[9] Philippians 2:13

[10] Hebrews 13:5; 2 Corinthians 3:18

[11] 1 Timothy 1:16; Luke 15:4-7; Philippians 1:6

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