Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Betrayal

“Judas Iscariot was out doin’ his dirty work. He figured Jesus would be headed to one of His favorite spots to pray after supper . . . So here come Judas with a posse of Roman soldiers and their cohorts. Along with ’em was some religious so-called officers sent by the chief priests and for sure some of them hottentot Pharisees with their lanterns and torches . . . Jesus knew all along what was takin’ place so He went out to meet ’em face to face and asked, ‘Who are y’all lookin’ for?’ ‘Jesus the Nazarene’ . . . Jesus done spoke up sayin’. ‘I am He.’ For sure that no good Judas was standin’ right up in the front with ’em'”John 18:2-5 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).


Have you ever been betrayed? Yeah, I reckon most of us at some time or another have been or at least have felt betrayed. It’s bad enough to be betrayed by a company or cooperation, on social media, in the workplace or at school. But to be betrayed by a friend or close acquaintance; well, that likely hurts most of all.

That’s what happened in the best-known betrayal scenes of all time. Even folks that are not well acquainted with the Bible know about Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

It was in the dark of night. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane kneeling upon a rock with droplets of blood cascading from His brow. And there in that place and at that hour He once and for all settled the matter of the Continue reading “Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style””

How do I Forgive Someone who has Hurt Me?

The other day I felt like I had been terribly wronged by a friend. I felt betrayed, let down and hurt. I wish that I had left it at just feeling hurt, but I didn’t. After I had thought a while about his actions and his words, my feelings turned from hurt to anger. “Why did he do that?” Why did he say what he did?” “Why did he hurt me?” But most of all, why was I so angry?

That night I went to bed angry. Yeah, as a Christian I know we are not supposed to. Paul says Ephesians 4:26 “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” But I did and I didn’t sleep a wink all night.

Next morning I knew that I needed to do something about this and the thing I needed to do was to forgive him. No matter how wronged by him I felt and no matter how hurt, the thing I needed to do for my own physical, mental Continue reading “How do I Forgive Someone who has Hurt Me?”