Palm Sunday - War Horses or Donkeys, Palm Branches or Swords, and What To Do When Jesus Does the Opposite of What You're Thinking

Matthew 21:1-11

John 12:18-19

How to Not Get Left in the Dark, When You're Looking for the Light:

1-

"Your king is coming to you, gently"... the training to understand the ways Jesus comes to you in the gentlest forms is oftentimes the difference between accepting Jesus for being on a donkey or despising Him because He's not on a warhorse. We must see Jesus for who He is and not who we want Him, or wish Him to be. He comes in low, and speaks in gentleness. Meaning, develop a life of lowliness, and learn to see Him in everything.

2 - Salvation and suffering have been hand in hand since the blood purchased the life.. We cannot develop an image of God in which we do not have sacrifice or experience hardship. To take your coat off and put it in the road and wave the palm tree leaf is easy when it's based on your idea of what the schedule of life should be; but God's timing more often than not is different than ours. Waiting has a way of wanting to trade in the palm branch for a nail, and the coat at His feet for a crown of thorns on his head if our timeframes aren’t met. Waiting is trusting, trusting is faith, and faith is the oxygen to a life with Jesus. Your expectations oftentimes are the first obstacles you must overcome to find life in God.

3 - Worship, celebration, and public acts of devotion almost always will be followed by periods of cleansing in God. External behaviors do not excuse you from internal development. Group activities do not replace your personal life's character refinement. Distraction is when you're more focused on others cleansing process than your own. The deeper you go in God, the deeper the work of purification, cleansing, and re-orienting that takes place to see how Jesus sees you, your life, and the world around you.