The Passion of the Christ

I watched The Passion of the Christ again yesterday. Haha, for the fourth time. But this time was different. I watched it as if everything Jesus suffered was for me and me alone. It was quite the experience, as I'm sure you might imagine. Because I watched it on my laptop with my headphones on, it was very up close and personal. Extreme. As "Jesus" looked into the camera, He was looking at me, into my eyes. It was something. I had to pause the video several times because I had to take a little "have a good bawl" time out. And to reflect a little bit on what I had just seen and heard. And sometimes even to rewind so I could really absorb it.

This morning I've been thinking about Christ's temptation and what that was all about.

At the last supper, as the cup was passed from person to person and they entered into covenant with Him and what He was about to do, Christ Jesus began to take unto Himself the sin of the world. And with that came the temptation to not trust His Father, which leads to sin (being outside His will). We see it in glaring stark reality in the Garden... three times our Lord petitioned His Father to take the cup from Him. IF THERE BE ANY OTHER WAY! What agony. I can't even begin to have the slightest clue what that was like.

But what I want to talk about is how we can understand OUR temptation better by understanding Jesus'.

We know the scripture says that when we cry out to God in our temptation, He is faithful to provide a way of escape and deliver us from that temptation.

I used to think that if I would just have the presence of mind stop and strain myself to get beyond where I was right then and there, and connect with Him in some way so that He could give me a scripture to quote or something like that, that I'd escape my temptation. But I'm thinking that being delivered from temptation this has NOTHING to do with DOING. At least with ME doing. It's about BEING. There is a BEING problem... which is why I'm feeling tempted. And that's what needs to be addressed.

Something INSIDE OF ME is causing me to weaken, which is what being tempted is all about. And it seems that the reason we weaken is because we are NOT FILLED WITH HOLY SPIRIT. Isn't that what happened to Jesus in the Garden? As He began to take sin unto Himself, the Spirit HAD to begin to depart, right? Isn't that the way it works for us? I think it had to be the same for Him. Because it's the Holy Spirit that enables us to DO ANYTHING.

Well, seeing that not being filled with the Holy Spirit is the fundamental cause for the temptation to sin EFFECT, it seems the bottom line would simply be that we need more of Holy Spirit!

THAT is the WAY OF ESCAPE. It's the same way each and every time. MORE OF HOLY SPIRIT.

And, what I've been finding out, is if I give my heart to Jesus CONSCIOUSLY, with real FAITH, something almost like a reflex happens... give Him my heart, He fills it with Holy Spirit. It's so much more simple than I could ever have imagined! All that extremely tiring and self-focused "trying to find the way of escape God was showing me" deal. Ugh! Me trying to drum up something GOOD (haha, yeah right, good luck) instead of just RECEIVING GOODNESS... Holy Spirit, who IS the goodness of God!

The ONLY thing I "have" to do is GIVE JESUS MY HEART. He will MAKE SURE I receive what I need. HOLY SPIRIT.

Holy Spirit is the ONLY one who can do ANYTHING for us. Not me trying to remember a scripture I had memorized once upon a time for such a "temptation occasion" as this. Yikes! I can't believe the stuff I believed. It's a wonder I'm still alive. DO DO DO. "You can do it, Adoring. Actually, you HAVE to do it, Adoring."

But, but... I CAN'T DO ANYTHING... I mean, isn't that what the WORD says?

Well, yes, of course... buuuuutttttt

NO MORE BUTS!!! Buts are just big butts! It's Jesus and only Jesus from now on. Yes, let it be, Lord, let it be!