The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht  

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com

Luke 19:41-42… Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that makefor your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (NKJV)

The opening scripture has Jesus approaching Jerusalem some 2000 years ago, on what we now celebrated yesterday as Palm Sunday…  Luke is the only Gospel which recorded the fact that Jesus was weeping, as He sees the Holy City of Jerusalem before Him…  A few verses before this, we see Luke pen this, in…

Luke 19:37b-38… the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they hadseen, ³⁸ saying:“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (NKJV)

The crowds had heard this man Jesus was coming into town, and they wanted to get a first hand look at this man who had been healing people, driving out demons, and even bringing 3 people back to life…including Lazarus, in…John 11:1-44…   Jesus drew crowds by the thousands, who were amazed at His many miracles…  We read in all 4 gospels,  about the feeding of the 5,000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread…Matthew 14:13-21…  But scripture reveals that this was 5,000 men  (in V21), which means there could have been upwards of 20,000 people with the women and children included…

But this rejoicing and praising God, “for all the mighty works they hadseen” Jesus perform, would soon turn to condemnation and ridicule…and Jesus knew that their praises would be turned into cries to have Him crucified… 

Jesus tells us in the opening scripture, that “the things that makefor your peace” were hidden from their eyes…  This peace Jesus was speaking about, that those who wanted Him crucified were lacking, Jesus described to His disciples, in…John 14:26-27…  But the Helper, the HolySpirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teachyouallthings, and bring to your remembranceallthings that Isaid to you.  27 Peace I leave with you, Mypeace I give to you; notas the worldgives do Igive to you. Letnot your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  (NKJV)

This God given supernatural peace would come upon the disciples (and all believers at the time) on the day of Pentecost…when God the Father sent the Holy Spirit down from heaven, to live with-in each and every redeemed child of God…   

What better time than this week ending with Resurrection Sunday, to share the love of Christ and the reason for His sacrificial death on the cross, by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone in need of hearing the truth from God’s Word…   (See note at the end for more on God’s grace through saving faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ)…   

 It is Jesus’ resurrection from the grave which defeated death and Satan…giving all believers the basis for Christianity, and the hope of eternal glory with the Lord upon their death…  It is Jesus’ shed blood at the cross, which will cleanse all past, present, and future sins…for those who by God’s grace alone through saving faith alone in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), have become redeemed children of God…   Becoming a Christian is not based upon a religion…  It is based upon a one on One personal relationship established with the Lord Jesus Christ…

Anyone who wants to read more about the difference between religion and the personal relationship needed to become a Christian, should open the following link which will explain the difference, backed up with scripture…  http://www.gotquestions.org/true-religion.html

Jesus tells us about establishing this personal relationship with Him, when He tells us this, in…John 14:6… Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. Noone comes to the FatherexceptthroughMe.” (NKJV)   The “way” is through understanding and obedience to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…  The “truth”is found in the Word of God, and it will set the sinner free from Satan’s chains of bondage to sin...John 8:32… “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)  And the “life”that Jesus speaks about, is eternal life in heaven with His Father…  

Once the new believer has been graced with salvation, in order to maintain the sweet fellowship with the Lord that the Christian will experience when they are Walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)…they must remain filled with (totally controlled by) the Holy Spirit...Ephesians 5:18-20…   Any sins the Christian has left unconfessed before the Lord, will sever the sweet fellowship with Him…because any unconfessed sins will grieve the Holy Spirit…Ephesians 4:30…   

I don’t know of any scripture which tells us the Lord will weep when His children are living in sin…  But we see a few times in scripture where Jesus did weep, including the opening scripture…  Here is a link I found interesting, which is titled…”Why Did Jesus Weep ?”   http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2013/11/05/why-did-jesus-weep  

When we grieve the Holy Spirit, and continue to live in rebellion to the godly urging of the Holy Spirit by sinning…the supernatural peace and the joy God gives to His obedient children will fade away…  I experienced this first hand myself, when I had taken back control from the Holy Spirit…  

I am reminded again of a sermon made by REV. C. H. Spurgeon back in 1859…  My peace, and joy, and the ability to understand scripture were gone…exactly as Spurgeon portrays this possibility in his sermon, when the Holy Spirit is grieved when we as Christians are living in continuous unrepented sin…  Here is the link for this sermon…  Part 3 is the most important part of this eye opening sermon, about the effects on our lives as Christians when we are grieving the Holy Spirit…    http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0278.htm

As Christians, let us take every opportunity this week to share our faith with those around us that have never experienced God’s grace…and the amazing peace and the joy that will be experienced as we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), as redeemed children of God who are living with Christ at the very center of our being… 

Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for sending us Your Son Jesus…to provide the only way we can be deemed righteous in Your sight…  I pray Father, that You will open the eyes and draw those to Yourself (John 6:44), who believe they can earn their way into heaven through religion…  I pray that all of Your redeemed children will will be re-energized by this Holy Week, to do their very best to live in Your revealed will and Your ways…  I pray for this fullness of Christ in all of our lives, and the endless peace and the joy that the filling of the Holy Spirit will bring into our lives…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ,  bruce e mills

P.S. Here is a link for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, after first being drawn in by God…John 6:44…  https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/gods-group-thoughts-for-7112013-the-truth-about-sin/