Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

Where is Your Olivet?Now during the day He was teaching in the temple,
but at evening He would go out
and spend the night on the
mount that is called Olivet.
                Luke 21:37

        Jesus knew. He, like His Father, was omniscient. He knew every minute detail of the tragic events that would soon be facing Him--the thorns digging into His head, the man who would slap Him, the spittle running down His face, the excruciating flogging, carrying the cross and stumbling, huge spikes driven into His hands and feet--He knew all of it. But He still went about His daily routine of teaching in the temple, healing broken, sick bodies, making the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk. Until the very last He was loving those around Him.
        We can learn from His example, can't we? He was perhaps "coping" as we call it today--getting His mind off the coming hours of loneliness, rejection, and torture by loving others. It has been proven time and again that one of the things that will help the most when you are besieged with problems is to think about other people and minister to them. Yes, we can learn from Him. Instead of brooding over what was to come, He gave of Himself, reaching out to touch hurting people.
        We can learn something else from our beloved Savior: He went away by Himself and spent the night on the mount called Olivet, isolated from the suffocating, human barricade that imprisoned Him, clutching at His robe, calling--screaming--sobbing-- "Help me! Please help me." Was He burdened with the multitudes who came only to see a lame man walk or a blind man see--fleeting, fragile miracles of physical healing that would last only for a brief span of time when eternity was on His mind? Yes. He longed to be by Himself in a quiet place with no interruptions sharing His thoughts with His Father and drawing strength for what was to come. He went by Himself to the mount called Olivet.
        Where is your Olivet? Where is my Olivet? An isolated place where you meet your Father and give Him all your problems. Alone with just Him. He knows every minute detail of your day and understands completely as you pour out your heart to Him. He does not scold nor does He make light of your secrets. He listens. What beautiful words--He listens! And when you make your way back into the pain, the confusion, the reality of the world, He is with you. Do I grasp that? He is with me! Read it out loud! Close your eyes and whisper it to yourself: He is with me! Incredible, but true!
        Thank You, Lord Jesus, for waiting and watching for me as I hurry to my Olivet.