Thursday, March 17, 2016

I'll Stand



 
I’ll stand with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the ONE who gave it all. 
I’ll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered; all I am is yours.  All I am is yours.
 
As I sing this chorus of the song, “The Stand,” my heart cannot contain the adoration I feel for my Savior. These few words hold the essence of what it truly means to be a follower of Christ: to abandon ourselves, to completely surrender to Jesus, to give all that we are to Him. 

As I heard a speaker say recently, salvation is more than just a decision. It is surrendering to Jesus.  He used an illustration of old westerns.  When caught by the good guys, the bad guys held up their hands in surrender.  What does surrender really mean?  To agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting: to yield to the power, control or possession of another: to give up completely in favor of another. Wow, that puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?  Have we truly surrendered our lives to Jesus? Is there something we are holding back?  Can we truly say to God “All I am is yours”?

When we are saved, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 7:25, that we are His forever. “Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.”  I know I have surrendered my life to Jesus, of this, I have no doubt.  However, as human beings, our minds and bodies are still influenced by this world.  Daily, I have to surrender a part of me that has stepped out of line to God.  Whether it is my attitude, my emotions, my thoughts, my time or even my children! God wants all of us. He deserves all of us. Why does Jesus deserve our all? Because He gave His all for us. 

When was the last time we stood “in awe of the One who gave it all” for us?  Do we stand in our worship services (if we even go) indifferent and so familiar with the story of Christ that our awe for Him has diminished? Or do we stand with hearts abandoned in praise and adoration? Do we take for granted that the Creator of the universe loved us enough to die for us (See John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16) and continues to show love and mercy to us every day? “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23. (Also see Psalm 136) We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. (Mark 12:30)

“I’ll stand…” Do we stand for Jesus no matter what? No matter what the world throws at us? No matter what people may say? No matter what it costs? Is He worth it to us? We were worth it to HIM. Isn’t it time we stood for Jesus, totally surrendered, giving our all to the ONE who gave His all for us?





Thursday, March 3, 2016

Clear the Air



As I stood in front of the fireplace this morning, I had a perfect view of the light shining through the glass above our front door. What did I see, but an array of tiny little particles floating in the air, made visible only by the ray of sunshine beaming into the room. Oh my!  Is this what we are breathing? I looked at our air purifier. When was the last time I changed the filter? I think I will put that on my To-Do list for today!

As I watched those tiny particles floating around, I thought about how they are only visible in the light. They are always there, but we don’t see them. We don’t think about them. But are they the reason my kids sneeze? Do they cause problems unaware to us?

In our own lives, do we have seemingly “tiny” sins that no one knows about?  Do we harbor jealousy and envy? Do we have unforgiveness in our hearts? Resentment? What about impure thoughts? Dare we ask God to reveal these things to us? Dare we let the Light shine into our lives to purify us? “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139: 23,24. 

Just to see what would happen, I blew softly into the beam of light. It took a moment, but I watched as the tiny particles began to twirl and bounce off of each other. Sometimes, we have hurts, anger or insecurities buried deep inside of us. When the winds of stress and frustration begin to blow, or worse, a storm of life, these hurts and insecurities cause our spirits to become weary or agitated; we don’t even know why because we have forgotten they are there. We have lived with them so long.

It takes the light of God’s Word to reveal and heal these deeply buried aches. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” Romans 12:2 God sees the hurt, even when we have “forgotten” about it. “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.” Psalm 56:8 Dredging up these feelings may be difficult, but God is right there with us. “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do. I will not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16

Like my air purifier cleans the air (when I change the filter), let’s allow God’s Word and His Spirit to cleanse our souls.