Introduction: Are you going to plant a garden? What about a few tomato plants? Where do you start? Are you finished once your seeds are planted? Don’t forget the weeds. 

This devotion will discuss the process of planting a garden.

1. The soil needs to be plowed or prepared! (Hos. 10:12) – “…break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Hard dirt needs to be broken up. A hard heart needs to be softened through confession and repentance.

Do you confess your sins regularly?

2. The seed needs to be planted in the plowed soil! (Hos. 10:12) – “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Once the soil is cultivated then the seed can germinate, albeit it goes through a growing process overcoming the rocks, bugs, and critters. 

Our faith is similar to that process. Once the Word of God is planted (Rom. 10:17), then our faith is put to the test. When approved it grows. When failed it shrinks back. 

3. The seed and soil needs rain & sunlight! (Hos. 10:12) – “……for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The Holy Spirit brings light! Truth! The Word reveals. Darkness conceals.

Conclusion: In order to produce fruit, a crop, or a garden, there needs to be the minerals. The technical term is PH level. Once it reaches its desired goal then with sunshine and rain the plants grow. And so it is with the Christian life. Believers need to take in the right kind of minerals with plenty of SONSHINE!

The Holy Spirit provides the rain! The end result is fruit.

How are you doing? Are you needing some SONSHINE or RAIN?

Starting with the “Anointing” of JESUS, imagine the scene. Next, Jesus goes with His disciples to the UPPER ROOM. From there, He goes to GETHSEMANE’S GLOOM! Follow closely, because next is the KANGAROO COURT BUFFOONS, and now CALVARY’S DOOM. From CALVARY’S DOOM, JESUS went to the BORROWED TOMB.

Note several truths:

• Not a bone would be broken (John 19:36–37)
  “For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken.”

• They would look upon Him whom they pierced, “And again another scripture saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

• Jesus did not faint but died, as indicated with the evidence of BLOOD and WATER (John 19:34)
  “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”

Clearly, this reveals the definitive death of JESUS.

Now for the burial:

The apostle John adds these words to the burial:

Even though it was a hurried procedure because of the Passover, the gospel writers took painstaking time to give pertinent information concerning the burial process, which is helpful for every child of God to know and believe, not to mention to use in defending our faith in JESUS CHRIST.

This information blows the theory that the body of JESUS was stolen from the tomb.

The last and extremely important point of this narrative is found in Matthew’s account, which reads: “And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.”

Why is this significant?

What about it?

Starting with the “Anointing” of JESUS, imagine the scene. Next, Jesus goes with His disciples to the UPPER ROOM. From there, He goes to GETHSEMANE’S GLOOM! Follow closely, because next is the KANGAROO COURT BUFFOONS, and now CALVARY’S DOOM.

“Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS .”(John 19:16–19)

Starting with the “Anointing” of JESUS, imagine the scene. Next, Jesus goes with His disciples to the UPPER ROOM. From there, He goes to GETHSEMANE’S GLOOM! Follow closely, because next is the KANGAROO COURT BUFFOONS.

1. The KANGAROO COURT BUFFOONS! Have you ever looked into the “mock trial” of Jesus Christ? If so, you’ve seen how it was a “done deal”! From false accusations to guilty deliberations, it was doomed from the start.

Because of the timing of the trials, namely the preparation for the Passover, it was hastily carried out. Besides that, both the Roman law and the Jewish law collided in the process. The Jewish trial consisted of somewhat of an informal examination. This was done before Annas (John 18:12–23). It included a hearing before the High Priest Caiaphas along with the Sanhedrin.

Next, the formal trial began early in the morning, which Jesus was sent to Pilate. Some suggest that the Jewish trial verdict could not have sentenced Jesus to death; therefore, He was sent to be sentenced before the Roman court headed by Pilate. Though this is not exhaustive, here were the main charges.

A. Blasphemy against God! (Matt. 26:59–66) – “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; but found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”

Matthew’s description of the mock trial specifies the false accusations against Jesus even though He was God!

C. Accused of being a Malefactor (John 18:29–31) – “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?” (John 18:30) “They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.”

Please do not overlook the word “malefactor.” Why? Because it perhaps explains some of the charges brought against Jesus. The word “malefactor” is κακός, which means bad, evil, wicked, and even harmful. Bottom line: There are those who claim Jesus was a magician by practicing sorcery; i.e., raising Lazarus from the dead.

It was a DONE DEAL! Cut and dried. From being accused of blasphemy against God, to treason against Caesar, and finally to being called a malefactor, the execution was in place. But be reminded, this was all in GOD’S plan (Phil 2:6–11). So whereas it looks like EVIL will WIN, ultimately JESUS WINS as the PASSION WEEK unfolds and the SOVEREIGNTY of God is revealed!

Starting with the “Anointing” of JESUS, imagine the scene.

The word “precious” means costly, or a great price. Jesus deserves our BEST! Are you giving Him leftovers or your best? Time? Resources? Are you letting others stop you from getting to Jesus and giving to Jesus?

Interesting to note, the word for “murmur” is ἐμβριμάομαι (pronounced em-bree-MAH-oh-my), which means straitly charge, groan, deeply moved, sternly warned, or can even mean scolding. Get the picture. The self-righteous crowd scolded her. You can almost hear them shout, “Get away from Him, you dirty woman!” Little did they know that she was preparing the body of our Lord for His burial. So actually, they were spiritually blind, and yet they thought they were spiritually minded because, in their mind, it was a “waste” of money and could have been given to the poor. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The lesson for us to learn is anything spent on or for JESUS, with the right motives, will not go unrewarded. What have you spent on Jesus lately?

Isn’t that good? In other words, Jesus commended her sacrificial gift! He will do the same for you. By the way, JUST DO WHAT YOU CAN! Stop worrying about what you can’t do—DO WHAT YOU CAN!

Because Jesus has been crucified in our place, and by faith we trust in His precious and redeeming blood to wash our sins away, then we become a child of God. No more guilt, shame, or condemnation… free in Him to enjoy His peace and presence. That calls for rejoicing!

Because of the previous truths concerning His death, burial, and resurrection, we now can exchange our warped and crazy thinking into heavenly thoughts. So may we stop our stinking thinking and turn it into pure and wholesome delight!

If we are going to stay ENCOURAGED in these discouraging days we must realize and do the following:

The old saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” You are tough. I believe that. Why? Because Jesus is in you, and He was the toughest man—the God-Man—that ever lived. Yet I know you are only human.

By the way, even some of God’s greatest servants got very discouraged—Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and others. The list goes on, and it’s okay. But our Lord was with them, and He will see you through this time in your life. I know you know that you can trust Him. Do you believe that?

I remember, over the last forty-plus years, talking with my dad and many others during tough times in their lives, but they persevered, just like many in the Bible.

Do you remember the song Horatio Spafford wrote, “It Is Well with My Soul”? It was during a very difficult time in his life. As a matter of fact, it was after he lost his children when the ship they were on went down in the ocean, and they drowned. Needless to say, that was a real tragedy.

Please do not forget—our Lord has carried you through so much in the past, and He is not going to leave you now.

In life, we face some uncontrollable circumstances that can knock us down, taking the breath out of us temporarily. However, gradually, Jesus Christ, who suffered immensely, will pick us up with His mighty arms and shower us with His amazing grace and great comfort until we can stand again on our own two feet emotionally, mentally, relationally, and most importantly, spiritually. Bless His name.

Will you trust Him right now? Call upon Him. Look to Him. Thank Him. Experience, and then share, His wonderful love.

Yesterday, I visited a man who has a tumor protruding out of his neck about the size of a tennis ball, and it is growing larger every day. There is nothing they can do about it. He asked me why God was leaving him here. He said he would rather go to heaven because he is in excruciating pain every minute. It is hard to relate.

I told him I did not fully understand, but it was obvious he was having a huge impact on his family as they watched him suffer. We both came to the conclusion that he was teaching his children how to die.

A lot of folks feel hopeless. Do you? But there is always hope in Jesus for His children. After all, heaven is just in sight, where there will be no more pain, suffering, tears, or death. Imagine that.

This is made possible because of Jesus’ sacrificial, substitutionary death on the cross for our sins and His glorious resurrection from the dead, which gives us eternal life and hope beyond the grave.

Never forget Job in the Bible. Do you remember what he went through and how he suffered losing all of his ten children, his wealth, and even his health? Job said, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1).

But he also said, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25–26).

Speaking of going through hardships and afflictions, and yet enduring, Paul wrote, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9).

Later in that same chapter, he explained, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

So this pastor is asking our Lord to give you strength and grace to not give up. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

After all, others who love you would not want you to give up. They look up to you. Not to mention, our Lord Jesus is not finished with you yet. Stay the course.