Luke 22:7-13

Luke 22:7-13 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

Are your footsteps ordered by the Lord? Jesus and his disciples knew they needed a place to celebrate the Passover. However, Jesus had no place to lay his head. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Since He was not a man of wealth or possessions, He needed God to provide a place. The above scripture indicates how directly and detailed God takes care of his own, even down to describing a man carrying a jar of water as the owner of the house needed. Now, that is detailed and direct! Jesus depended on the Spirit of God to direct his life. He lived his life by faith; consequently, He prayed constantly and listened to the Holy Spirit's directions. Jesus desired to do only the Father's will. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is why he went to the cross willingly. To fulfill the Father's will, He needed God's hand in every part of his life. He needed a place to celebrate the Passover, and God provided. The Bible says, anyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29)

God will provide a way if we need a home, if we need a place to celebrate God's kingdom. He will provide a way if we need a friend, brother, sister, or an intimate partner. He will provide a way for us if we have left all to follow him. If we still have reservations about living his life, of committing all, we may end up in the wilderness. He will not provide a way for us to destroy ourselves. There will be no upper room for us, no man carrying a jar of water if we are not seeking his will. There will be no direct and detailed directions if we lack commitment to God's plans. God loves his children and wants to bless them, but only in his context of blessings, not ours. If we are seeking all that we can be for our lives, we are destined to fail, but if we desire to be all we can be for his glory, we will succeed in producing fruit for him. God knows our hearts, our motivations. If we are motivated by flesh, we will reap flesh, but if we are motivated by the Spirit of God, we will reap peace, joy, and life eternal.

The blessings of the Lord follow those who love God and give him their all. But the blessings of God are sometimes hard for us to discern in the flesh. Sometimes struggles and trials are a gift from God. In those times, our faith might waver, but God asks us to continue to believe He is a good God who rewards those who wholeheartedly seek him. Our difficult experiences are times of pumping weights in God's spiritual gym. The last lift when we think we lack strength to continue is always the muscle producing lift. All the others were needed to get to the last struggling lift. When we struggle, when a home is not provided quickly and clearly, when the desired partner is not there, when events do not go the way we thought they should, then we build up spiritual muscles if we continue to live by faith. God continually works on our strength; the Bible indicates the reward of eternal life goes to those who endure to the end, who pump that last iron. If you are weak and somewhat disillusioned, return to your closet and pray. Pray not for a better life, but pray for God's will in your life. This wholesome desire to bring glory to God will result in blessing a hundred times as much as you expected and in eternal life for you. There is an upper room waiting for you. God will lead you to it as you trust him. I love you. Keep pumping that spiritual iron.