He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:25 Many Christians can say, Im a member of the church. Ive been confirmed. Ive tried to do my best. But deep in their hearts they havent really experienced Christ in total commitment. Christ may be their Savior; but He hasnt yet become their Lord, and Lord and Savior must go together. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are made in the image of God. We are made to glorify God. We are made for God; and without God there is an empty place in our life. That empty place can be filled only by a simple surrender to Jesus Christ. Instant pleasure--we want it. And we want it all now. Paul said, In the last days...men shall be...lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-2, 4). We want pleasure. We are searching for pleasure, and searching for happiness, and searching for kicks, and we get them temporarily; and then comes the morning after. The kick has a kickback. Paul said, She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth (1 Timothy 5:6). Physically your alive, but something is dead inside, and you know it. Its your soul, its your spirit--dead toward God because you have never really come to the cross and said, Lord, I surrender all. The Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10:6 that we should not lust. Peter said, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). Lust fights the the soul. Lust fights the spirit. Lust fights our relationship with God. How different it was with William R. Featherstone. He was about sixteen when he wrote, My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine; For thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, My Savior art thou; If ever I loved thee, My Jesus tis now. And the psalmist said, Thou will shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11). Forevermore. Not the pleasure of a moment. Not the pleasure of an exciting evening that soon is past--but forever. This pleasure is ours on the path of complete surrender. From the Daily Devotional Unto the Hills by Billy Graham.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:53:26 +0000
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