Winners and Losers
Matthew 26:51-53 When that happened, one of the followers with Jesus grabbed his sword and pulled it out. He swung it at the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Jesus said to the man, "Put your sword back in its place. People who use swords will be killed with swords. Surely you know I could ask my Father and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels.
When was the last time you lost at something? You know, you wanted to win, but it didn’t turn out that way, so you ended up feeling like a loser.
Let’s face it … we love to win. We’re conditioned to win. And it’s not just about winning, but being seen to win. And yet sometimes, winning isn’t winning at all. Here’s what happened when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane:
Matthew 26:51-53 When that happened, one of the followers with Jesus grabbed his sword and pulled it out. He swung it at the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. People who use swords will be killed with swords. Surely you know I could ask my Father and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels.
So, one of His disciples draws a sword and slices off the ear of a slave. That probably seemed, to the disciple, to be a reasonable thing to do. After all, He was protecting God’s Son.
But Jesus admonished the disciple, healed the slave and allowed Himself to be arrested, even though, as God’s Son He had the power to stop it. And then, He willingly went to a brutal death on a cross.
What the disciple did, looked like a victory, but it wasn’t, because it wasn’t part of God’s plan. What Jesus did, looked like the biggest defeat in all of history: this miracle-working Messiah who claimed to be the Son of God, nailed to a Cross.
And yet, it turned out to be the biggest victory of all time – a victory that gives you and me the gift of eternal life.
Sometimes in this life, winning isn’t winning at all.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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Archbishop Garnet Dlamini
Matthew 26:51-53 When that happened, one of the followers with Jesus grabbed his sword and pulled it out. He swung it ...
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Matthew 26:51-53 When that happened, one of the followers with Jesus grabbed his sword and pulled it out. He swung it at the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. People who use swords will be killed with swords. Surely you know I could ask my Father and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels.
This is powerful, it teaches that life works like a flashback mechanism.
Sometimes winning isn’t winning at all,
and,
losing isn’t losing at all.
We need to believe and rely on God. God has good plans for us. Continue to believe. Continue to continue walking the Christ walk. Continue to hold on and hold out. Losing or winning isn’t better than waiting upon the Lord.
Višnja NESBIT
WONDERFUL!
WONDERFUL!