God's will, peace and a donkey.

Listen here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/41eedf29/gods-will-peac...

How can you know God's will?

Jesus enters Jerusalem. Luke 19.28-44

Ah, Spring!

A lifelong Californian, I had little appreciation for the changing seasons of the year, but now I truly do. My dormant brown lawn is turning green again, the gloriously tall trees in my backyard have suddenly begun to blossom, and it is magical. There is a sense of anticipation in the air, especially since my first hummingbird of spring1 returned for breakfast yesterday! But the greater joy of this season is the anticipation of marking the greatest event in history - the resurrection of Jesus Christ . . . what we call Easter. 

Hmmm, I find myself wondering what Jesus was thinking about in the last couple weeks of his life.  Was he remembering the conversations he had with the Father before he came as a baby? Was he fondly recalling simple family times in little Nazareth? Was he counting down the days until he would be reunited with the Father? I wonder.

In just a few days, we recognize the day we call Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and people threw their garments down, cheering and waving palm branches hailing his arrival. But wait -- how did Jesus know it was time to go up to Jerusalem where he would be arrested, tried and crucified?

And three years earlier, how did Jesus know it was time to do his first miracle, showing himself divine, by turning water into wine to rescue a wedding party?

And how did Jesus know the right time to go out to the Jordan River for John to baptize him?  

How did Jesus know when to go and where to go? 

He was led by the Holy Spirit.

How did the Spirit lead, how did he sense the Spirit's direction? Jesus prayed. 

The gospels tell us that Jesus withdrew often to pray. [I am really gripped by this imagery; how I wish I could have been in his presence as he prayed!]  

Jesus knew Isaiah's words and what it was to listen: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'" Isaiah 30.21 [yes, this is a 'go to' verse of mine] 

Over the years, I have had many ask me how they can know the will of God - we have our answer today. If we really do want to know his will, (do we?), we ought look at Jesus, as he clearly shows us how to know God’s will:

~>Jesus was intentional about the practice of prayer                                          

~>He prayed regularly, and 

 ~>listened for the direction of his Father's voice

Desiring to do the will of God, Jesus obeyed what he heard God lead him to do.

To the keen reader of the gospel narratives of Jesus' ministry, there is a sense of an advancing timepiece moving toward a climax of epic proportions--that which we will celebrate on Easter Sunday.

At the exact right time the Father appointed, Jesus obediently began his final journey to Jerusalem.  He came into town on the back of a donkey--a deliberate claim to be king, and a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy2--to the cheers of the palm-waving crowds . . . maybe some of the same people who shouted "CRUCIFY HIM!" by Friday. No matter, Jesus was just where he was supposed to be, and he was at peace.

I remember when a friend of mine made the decision to accept Christ into her life at a women’s retreat.  It was amazing to watch her the rest of the weekend, (I can’t say I have ever seen another individual with quite the same change; it was most lovely).  I tell you no secret, I tell you no lie – she looked different.  There was a ‘knowingness’ in her eyes that was settled... at peace. Do you have peace, my friend? First, we have  peace  with  God , Christian.  As Paul explained ' since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.3

Simply, there is no lasting peace without Christ in our lives.

The second kind of peace is a byproduct of the first -  peace  of God .   The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace .⁴  

We can experience an inner peace because of the presence of God within us when we have relationship with him—that is, when we know and trust God. ⁵   Different even than our earthly, face-to-face relationships though, we will have to intentionally make time to spend with our loving heavenly Father.  As so noted in Isaiah, “ You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you !” ⁶

Jesus knew the Father's will because he prayed regularly, and he listened for his voice. 

Seek God’s will and find his direction for your life,

then you will then know his peace, my friend.

Christine song? oh, yes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTWFsi3AYyo

1 - hummingbirds are generally only seen in North Carolina from April through October; otherwise, they are in warmer climates

2 - Zechariah 9.9-Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Written about 500 years before that Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem.

3 - Romans 5.1, NLT

4 - Psalm 29.11

5 - check this out: “How to trust God even now”   https://conta.cc/2weN17W

6 - Isaiah 26.3