# 11 LENTEN MEDITATION ~ 2023 ~ for the Preparation of the GREAT PASSOVER ~~~ The Morning Sacrifice in the Temple ~ Judas Stood with His+ Enemies

THEY FELL TO THE GROUND !

DID JESUS KNOW Judas was a thief ?

ELISHA and Gehazi and the Leprosy of Naaman

This he [ Judas ] said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. John 12:6

 Q:  If the disciple John knew that Judas was a thief, then did The LORD JESUS  know it ? 

Judas, it seemed, did not believe that JESUS CHRIST  was the SON+ of GOD , in truth. 

Unlike Peter, Judas did not BELIEVE into HIM+. 

This must be the case with Judas --- regardless of his being an eye-witness to all the miracles of JESUS and being included in the Teachings of JESUS first-hand. 

If Judas WOULD have received the Witness to the FATHER that JESUS testified, then Judas would have known something else: 

Judas would have realized 

that he could never hide 

his sly and evil thieveries 

and his deadly, traitorous scheme 

WITHOUT The LORD 

knowing full well what Judas was doing.

   If Judas really would have believed that HE+ was the SON+ of GOD, Judas would have known the truth of Psalm 139 ... GOD knows our down-sitting and up-rising and every word on our tongues. 

But NO... Judas thought he was hidden.  He thought he was more clever that the others disciples. 

Judas thought GOD did not see what he was doing! 

Judas did not recall the Old Covenant Prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi after Naaman the Syrian had been healed of leprosy. 

Naaman offered to pay Elisha for his "services" , but Elisha wisely refused to take payment. Gehazi, though, schemed to take advantage of the situation and procure those gifts ... for himself. 

Elisha asked Gehazi: 

"Where did you go ? " 

Gehazi promptly lied to the Prophet: 

"Thy servant went nowhere." 

Elisha said, " Went not mine heart wither when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee ? 

Is it a time to receive ? ... and Elisha listed even all Gehazi's hidden plans for temporal goods which Gehazi dreamed to obtain !

Now the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever." 

Naaman's leprosy attacked Gehazi who thought he could succeed in "fooling GOD." 

+  +  + 

CHURCH, we had better monitor ourselves.  We had better engage TOTAL HONESTY before we are placed on the balance scales of the unchanging, immutable, ever-present Word of GOD. 

NO secret yearnings. NO hidden schemes. NO "pet" sins. NO "godly" appearance, yet our heart is far from HIM+. NO pretense in our walk. 

If we say we "love our neighbor as ourself" then we had better do for them AND THINK of them in the same way we would want ourselves to be treated. 

Do we not yet realize GOD knows our thoughts ?

Are we not yet convinced that The LORD sees into our hearts DEEPER than we do ... or will acknowledge, even to ourselves ?

 

What kind of hidden pride exists in our bosom when we lift ourselves up over the people we know and think we are "better" than they are ? 

If we say we follow The LORD JESUS CHRIST, then we will be wrestling with our hearts until we DO His+ words... from our hearts. 

 All have sin. But now, we have an ADVOCATE+ Who+ is able to help us walk well-pleasing in His+ sight. 

Because HE+ has ENABLED us to do so, we had better DO RIGHT.  We have no more excuse. 

+  +  +

LET US PRAY: 

O LORD, I have walked like a Judas and a Gehazi, thinking YOU+ did not know the thoughts of my heart.  

GOD, forgive me !  I am not fit to be Your+ friend nor Your+ servant.   

Shine the Light of Your+ holiness into the secret recesses of my being and help me to see WHAT YOU+ SEE.  I will look at it, without flinching. 

Cleanse me. Make me fully WHOLE... fully YOURS+. 

In the HOLY NAME of the only-Begotten SON+ of GOD, the LORD JESUS CHRIST I offer this my imperfect prayer. Amen.   

 

Passover Meditation #19 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~ The Door of The Cross ~  ~  ~

"But

there are some

of you

that believe not."

For JESUS knew

from the beginning

who

they were that believed not,

and who

should betray HIM+.

John 6:64

But even though HE+ knows, HE+ gives all a chance ... even Judas, whom HE+ brought into His+ very midst to see the signs, wonders, works, and great love HE+ had for mankind.

Judas saw HIM+, talked with HIM+, walked with HIM+, and received His+ love and His+ teachings, the same as the other disciples.

Judas knew something also: Judas knew JESUS was LORD and fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. There was no doubt whatsoever in the mind of Judas about JESUS being the CHRIST, the long-awaited Messiah, the Deliverer.

However, knowing, alas, is not conversion.   

The LORD JESUS knows.

HE+ knows who is following His+ Words. HE+ knows who has His+ SPIRIT. HE+ knows "when virtue goes out of HIM+" as we touch even the hem of His+ Garment, that we be made whole.

The LORD JESUS knows.

HE+ knows who has His+ Life operating inside them. HE+ knows who loves HIM+ more than Self. HE+ knows who is serving Self... no matter how "holy" Self is looking... and who is serving HIM+, no matter how hidden away. 

The LORD JESUS knows.

HE+ knows when we push HIM+ away from controlling us.

HE+ knows who is saying, "LORD, LORD," but who won't lift a finger to follow HIM+, to open His+ Word, to wrestle against Self and Self's headstrong spirit.

HE+ knows who is betraying HIM+ to the Invisible Watchers.

The Invisible Watchers know something too. They know exactly who betrays HIM+... the moment it occurs and where it happens. After a point, they depart... and other beings come in. Then, who is in control of that headstrong person?

The LORD JESUS knows the end from the beginning because HE+ is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.

Yet, His+ Part is finished, as HE+ said from the Cross.

"Behold, I+ make all things new, " HE+ said.

And HE+ will, too... starting now... with you... today.  

O LORD JESUS, I turn over my stubborn Self unto THEE+. Take it, LORD, and re-form me into Thy+ likeness and image... for real, this time. Amen.