Yield to Jesus

I have a Christian brother who loves to quote former New York Yankees coach Yogi Berra. Yogi is famous for lines you might be familiar with. Lines like:

“It ain't over 'til it's over”

“It's deja vu all over again,” and

"Never answer an anonymous letter"

Another of his best lines – my favorite –  is: "When you come to a fork in the road ... take it."

Humor aside, we come to many intersections in our lives where important decisions must be made. In some cases, such as a freeway entrance, we are directed to yield to the flow of traffic.

In his book titled My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers gave counsel regarding the most critical decision any man or woman must make. He said simply: "Yield to Jesus."

 

God tells us through Paul in the book of Romans that every one of us has sinned and rebelled against our Creator. Because of this we all deserve eternal separation from Him.

But it is not the existence of hell that should shock us. It's the mind-boggling thought that any person at all can expect to be saved from that place of eternal separation from God. That's what makes the offer of the Gospel … the Good News … so incredibly amazing. Like Chambers says: “The whole human race was created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

There's only one way to be sure that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 20:12)—by placing your faith in Jesus; by yielding to Him as Lord and Savior in your life.

Lord, all of us have experienced the guilt of yielding to our self-centered will or the lies of the enemy whose objectives are not joy and life, but despair and death. Today we remember that you died for us … yielding to the Father’s will so that His perfect plan of love and everlasting relationship could be realized.

May we yield to you, Jesus, not just on occasion, but in every moment of our lives. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice. Thank you for your promise to break every kind of slavery in our lives so we might be seen as righteous in God’s eyes­­­. Amen.

Crucified with Christ

Young love ... for Jesus!

One of my favorite roles is that of grandfather. I was blessed last week to receive the following email from one of my daughters, mother to two precious children -- a 6-year-old daughter and a 3 1/2-year-old son:

Jake comes dashing into his bedroom in his underwear carrying his little orange Gideon Bible.

"Momma! I want to read from the Old Testament, then the New Testament. But let's start with Proverbs."

We finished reading and he said he wanted to read MORE. As we read we heard that God is our shield. Our refuge.  I asked Jake what a shield does, and he quickly replied, "To protect us!"

I asked, “If a shield is round about us, could anything harm us?”

He said, "Nothing can hurt us."

I reminded him that JESUS is THE ROCK of our salvation. We talked about the big rock Jake plays on at the park and the fact that when he stands upon that rock nothing can shake him.

I asked, "What if someone punched that rock? Would it move?

"No, Momma!"

“What if someone tried to lift that rock from its place. Could they do it?"

"No Momma!"

We talked about what it means to trust in Jesus. And then I asked Jake if he has asked Jesus to come into his heart to be Lord. He shook his head and said, "No!!"

I asked, "Well, would you like to say YES to Jesus as Lord and King in your life?"

"Oh, yes!"

So I asked him if he remembered where sin came from, how sin entered the world. And he said through Adam, who disobeyed God by eating from the tree of good and evil. Because of it they had to leave the garden.

He said, "My heart feels empty."

So we prayed and invited the Holy Spirit to come make Himself at home in Jacob’s heart.

Jakie then said, "My heart feels heavy."

"Heavy in a good way or a bad way?" I asked.

"Heavy in a good way Momma," he said.

She closed her story with the rhetorical question regarding her two children: "Is there any greater joy than to have been blessed to come alongside both of our children and see them know Christ and equip them to make Him known?"

Encouragement

I was encouraged during a Fourth of July photography assignment to see the featured band gather for prayer onstage before their performance. I was reminded (yet again!) not to jump to conclusions about a person or persons based on their appearance. These gentlemen all have day jobs, but share the gift of music in family friendly performances. I'm sure many in the audience didn't even notice the prayer. I don't believe it was intended for "show," but as a mutual commitment to His glory before the band shared their talents. Praise God for His minstrels.

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

 

O sacred Head, now wounded

With grief and shame weighed down

Now scornfully surrounded

With thorns Thine only crown

O sacred Head, what glory

What bliss till now was Thine!

Yet, though despised and gory

I joy to call Thee mine

 

O noblest Brow and dearest

In other days the world

All feared when Thou appearedst

What shame on Thee is hurled

How art Thou pale with anguish

With sore abuse and scorn

How does that visage languish

Which once was bright as morn

 

What thou, my Lord, hast suffered

Was all for sinners' gain

Mine, mine was the trangression

But Thine the deadly pain

Lo, here I fail, my Saviour!

Tis I deserve Thy place

Look on me with Thy favor

Vouch-safe to me Thy grace

 

What language shall I borrow

To thank Thee, dearest Friend

For this Thy dying sorrow

They pity without end?

O make me Thine forever

And should I fainting be

Lord, let me never, never

Outlive my love to Thee

 

Bernard of Clairvaus, 1130 A.D.

Don't buy into the lie

The following is a Facebook entry made by my daughter this week. Her heartfelt message is aimed at a female audience, but there is vital truth presented for men, too. After all, are we not subject to the enemy's same lies about the definition of "beauty?"

The world pushes beauty, in order to "fit in," telling us we need to adorn ourselves with clothes, jewelry, worthless stuff to be somone. Magazines, Facebook, Pinterest, television, billboards, movies, malls, all push outer beauty that will fade away!

But what about GOD'S truth, ladies? Jesus is all we need. Our one true treasure is being a woman of God through Jesus Christ His Son! Now this is truth! "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Fear God! "Fear " means "to be in awe of....to honor." Our children are watching. Do they see the treasure of Jesus in you? Does your outside reflect the, ONE living inside of You? Jesus! Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, and not the empty things of this world.

In Jesus we find rest. His glory shines through us as we continually yield to Him! Be encouraged! For you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God! He knit you together in your mother's womb!

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things." Romans 10:15

Be strong in the Lord!

Thank you for your words, sweet daughter. Men: take time today to re-examine your definition of "beauty," and take action to let the women in your life know in no uncertain terms how precious and beautiful they are to you.

In the beginning was the Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:1-3
(I shot this photo from the street a couple of blocks from my childhood church, Mt. Baker in the background. I once climbed this mountain, finding opportunity on the first day of the climb to pray fervently over cramping leg muscles. God answered my prayer when an experienced climber reminded me to hydrate! The rest of the trip was wonderful, including clear skies from the summit.)

Divine appointments

What a blessed morning! It's only 8:30 a.m. and I've had face-to-face prayer with one brother; start-of-day conversation with my wife; an Scripture-laden email praising God for His mercy from my daughter; Skype time with my brother in Israel who is volunteering with Bridges for Peace; and a welcome home opportunity with a brother just home safely from a commercial fishing season in Alaska. Whew! Divine appointments. May I be aware, Lord, in the course of my day, of your will for me as husband, father, friend, co-worker -- and even as a stranger/friend-in-progress. May I be an obedient bondservant, living this life in the joy of Your mercy.
"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere." 2 Cor. 2:14

Feeding the children

“Then what happened, Mommy?”

What a joy it was the other day to hear my daughter recall the excitement demonstrated by her children as she read the story of Jesus as related in the precious gospel of John.

My grandchildren are only three and six, but they are blessed with godly parents whose loving care includes “feeding” them from the Scriptures on a daily basis. On this occasion, mother shared the story of Christ’s trial and torture.

It was a brief struggle for me to come to grips with the idea of sharing that cruel story with children, but I quickly realized – Christ’s death at the hands of man is a critical part of understanding Who He is. We all love the story of the babe in the manger, but it is Christ’s death and resurrection that distinguish Him as God’s precious Son … our Redeemer King.

Even a child can understand the significance of the news that “…God so loved the world, He gave His only Son…” Christ’s love of children has inspired many artists. Most have heard the familiar Scripture: “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

It is clearly a mistake to respond to Satan's lie that we should “protect” our children from the truth Jesus must have shared with little ones each time they sat at His feet. God calls us to use discernment in our roles as parents and mentors, but He is also entirely capable of blessing our children with wisdom beyond their years.

So it is I commend those, like my daughter and son-in-law, who act in obedience to the Father, delivering the lavish gifts of His word and responding after study and prayer to the questions that arise from their children as they “digest” the word together.

“What happened then, Mommy?”

“Well, let me share with you the good news, my child!”

Check the tongue

Evangelist Billy Graham has sage advice when he suggests we should ask ourselves three questions before we speak: Is it true? Is it kind? Does it glorify Christ? If we would always think before we speak, there would be much less evil speaking. "He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles." Proverbs 21:23 "She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." Proverbs 31:26

The Word of God

I recently received an email of encouragement from my daughter in the wake of a decision to take part in a Precept Ministries study of Ephesians. She wrote in part: "Being in God's truth causes us to grow in Him, draw near to Him. We are then ready at any moment to teach or instruct with all patience and love in the Spirit."

Her passion for the Word was evident as she continued: "Oh, how He longs to spend time with us, to reveal sweet truth about Himself. He bids us, "Come," and we have a choice as how we will obey, how we will make the most of every opportunity here in earth. I don't want to miss out on anything He has planned for me. I don't want to suffer the realization that in my Spiritual laziness I missed out on all He had richly lavished upon me because I thought studying 'a burden' or 'for those who are scholars.' I am reminded that God's truth tells us: "Seek first the kingdom of God." Therefore, I joyfully seek Him first."

I give thanks, Father, that I was born into a time and place where literacy is an option for all, and Your Word is readily available. I give thanks for the endless gifts you offer in your Living Word, and for your desire to be in dialogue with Your children at all times, in every situation.

Search and rescue

I was privileged last week during an evening prayer session to hear a request to pray for members of a local search and rescue (SAR) unit – a team struggling mightily under the oppression of anger and despair.

As the story unfolded, we listened to the heart cry of the wife of one of the unit members. We also heard from the husband who serves in the unit, and from a civilian working in a SAR unit support role . All three are believers, burdened with the weight of workdays marred with grumbling, complaints and a general sense of discouragement.

How ironic, I thought to myself, that we are being asked to intercede on behalf of a team whose very name reflects our call as believers:  “Go (search) therefore and make disciples (rescue) of all nations…”

In this spiritual battle, we asked the Lord to lead believers to those in the SAR unit whose hearts are ready to receive the message of His undeserved grace; His desire for relationship with all. We asked that those in bondage to anger toward those in authority would be convicted to reconsider their attitudes, opening themselves to the question of how they can contribute personally to bringing about change.

These are, after all, people who volunteered for the challenging, even life-threatening role of searching out and rescuing people whose lives are in danger.

“These are lives at risk,” we prayed of those in the SAR unit, “and we align ourselves, Lord, with your desire to see hearts surrendered … rescued from a world of pain and death into God’s family; heirs of the Redeemer King with the associated gifts of peace, joy and hope as they live lives under Your authority.”

I look forward to hearing about God’s victories on this battlefield.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

I AM

In addition to teaching His disciples by word and actions, Jesus often asked questions to make them think for themselves … to “practice” for the types of questions they would hear after He had physically left them to join the Father in Heaven.

One such time is recorded in Matthew 16: 13:

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah, but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Hasn’t that been evidence of Satan’s great deception since Jesus' life, death and resurrection? Haven’t we all heard at some point in our lives something like this:

“Well, Jesus was certainly a great teacher, but Son of God…”

Or, “Jesus was all about love and peace. I rank him right up there with Gandhi and John Lennon.”

Or, as some cults suggest: “Jesus was a great man, but he was, after all, a created man, just like you and me.”

I am grateful that God Himself spoke to Peter when Jesus asked His disciples, “But who do YOU say that I am?”

Peter answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

To that expression of the profound, beautiful truth, Jesus said to Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.”

And to those today who would make the blasphemous suggestion that Jesus himself did not claim to be the Christ, I recall first the hundreds of prophecies that were fulfilled in His life, death and resurrection.

I also share Matthew 27:11, when Roman Governor Pontius Pilate asked Jesus pointblank: “Are you the king of the Jews?”

And Jesus replied: “Yes, it is as you say.”

And John 10:30, when Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

And finally to John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me.”

Precious Jesus, we worship you and glorify your name: You are indeed the king … our redeemer king. The way … promising that with our surrender you will never leave us or forsake us. You are the life … taking all sin upon yourself so that we might be justified … welcomed into your loving arms with joy and peace in this life, and the awesome hope of eternal life in Heaven.