Jesus Under A Juniper Tree...

Jesus Under A Juniper Tree (Juniper…Yoke Up To)

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour

and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;

for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

1 Kings 19:1-5 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life,

and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said,

It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life;

for I am not better than my fathers. 5 And as he lay

and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel

touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

Psalm 42:1-3 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,

so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth

for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

Is it possible for righteous, godly, Spirit-filled Christians

to become so low and downcast, they feel they can't go on - and they come to the brink of giving up? I'm talking about believers who are close to Jesus - who know His heart and mind, have done battle in prayer, have experienced His miracles, and have seen victory after victory in their lives, dedicated to the Lord's work, living sacrifices. Is it possible for such Christians to be so pressed down and troubled,

to be in such despair and despondency, they become convinced they're not going to make it?

Absolutely - yes! Look at Job - a Man Whom God Himself Called "Perfect and Upright"! Scripture says of Job, "...that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1). He had lost his entire family, all his possessions, everything. And his body was covered with boils from head to toe. He had come to a place where he could not take any more suffering. And he cried out: "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.... Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!" (6:4, 8-9). Job was saying, "I have only one request - to die! I've had it, God. Cut me off!"

Do these sound like the words of a totally righteous man? Yet Scripture testifies that Job had no known sin in his life. He stood as perfect as any man could be before God.

Finally, in total despair, Job cried out: "...my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity....

What about Jeremiah - the Weeping Prophet! Jeremiah had the fire of God burning in his bones. This holy man walked with God and was fearless before men. He had an ear attuned to heaven - a pipeline to God's throne - and spoke

as the Lord's voice to his generation. No one could stand against his power and authority. Yet Jeremiah also came to a place of total despair. He came to the brink of giving up! "Cursed be the day wherein I was born... Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew... Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" (verses 14-18). Do these sound like the words of a fearless prophet of God? Jeremiah was so overwhelmed by trouble and affliction,

he wished he had died in his mother's womb! All I want