"Lift Up Your Arms!"

"The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved." (Psalms 93:1)
It's like the clip in 'Dr. Strange,' the one where he keeps getting killed over and over again, until that evil monster says, "Make it stop!" Seriously, make it stop! I heard something rather interesting about how Jesus walked yesterday, it made me realize how much we take for granted that He overcame all the temptation we are told to flee from. It was really not that He could not sin, it is more like He would not sin! Yes, He was 100% God, and He was 100% man, but He had a relationship with the Father and He knew how to rely on the Holy Spirit to give Him the strength He needed to overcome. Just like He really could not know all things that the Father knew, because He chose not to; He would not challenge the position that He was sent here to be, not even at His death. Don't you think it is a little interesting that there are all Three mentioned in the Bible for raising Him from the dead? You have Jesus saying that He would raise Himself, you have it said that the Father raised Him from the tomb, and you have the Holy Spirit given credit for it; is there some kind of contradiction? No! There was unity and completeness! They were all working together as one. It is very similar to the record of man's creation, recorded in Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." All Three working together to make man; and all Three were working together to provide man's salvation! There really is nothing left for us to do, but to simply surrender our lives to God; all the heavy lifting has been done! I will try very hard to get this right, but the message has got to remain focused on Jesus Christ. If anyone could have done anything that He wanted to, it was Christ; which is exactly why the devil tempted in the wilderness the way that he did. He could have just said the word, and that tempter would have vanished; He could have just breathed upon him, and he would have slithered away in the dust. But He chose not to exalt Himself beyond what He was led to do; He remained humble all the way to the very end, even though He we mocked, spit upon, beaten, humiliated, and nailed to a cross; wow, how hard can it be not to sin...
"Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer. Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem. Sit in a place of honor. Remove the chains of slavery from around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For this is what the LORD says: "When I sold you into exile, I received no payment. Now I can redeem you without having to pay for you." This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "Long ago my people chose to live in Egypt. Now they are oppressed by Assyria. What is this?" asks the LORD. "Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long. But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them." How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the good news that the God of Israel reigns!" (Isaiah 52:1-7) NLT