Sunday, June 7, 2009

It All Comes Back to Jesus

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. " Hebrews 1:1-4 (NKJV)



This week is Vacation Bible School at our church and our theme (like a lot of other churches) is "Boomerang Express: It All Comes Back to Jesus." It really does all come back to Jesus and our personal relationship with Him, doesn't it?


How we live, who/what we worship, what we believe, how we manage our finances, how we plan our lives, raise our families, work at our jobs, the usage of the gifts we have and all that we own, dream about, live for boils down to our relationship with God... We either: a) love God and are called a part of His family because of an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or b) we don't have a relationship with Christ and choose not to trust Him. Whatever is the case, everything we do comes back to this question:


What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus?


I'm not talking about religion here... or denominations.... or lack thereof. Religion and church membership no more place you and I into an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ than walking into a garage makes you a car! I'm not asking about whether you've kept the Ten Commandments. I'm not talking about baptism, church membership, taking communion or how good of a life you or I might be living. I was baptized before I began to follow Jesus and all I did was get wet! All of those other things (baptism, church membership, living the Christian life) come after you have decided to follow Jesus.

I am talking about the day in, day out, relationship that you and I have with the Living God. Do we have real conversations with Him (that's what it means to pray)? Do we respect Him and give Him top value and priority over our lives (that's what it means to worship)? Do we listen to Him as His Holy Spirit teaches us from His Word (the Bible), other believers, the church, and circumstances? Do we Trust Him, not only for our salvation, but for our everyday decisions? Do you like what He likes, and do you do what He does? Do you dislike what He dislikes???

My second husband's parents passed away in June, 2005, just six days apart. Their 58 year marriage was such that you sometimes could not tell one from the other. When we were talking with their pastor regarding the planning of a second funeral service in a week's time, one of the things that we joked about was that after 58 years of marriage, they couldn't stand even a week apart from one another!

I believe that's what God intended for our relationship with Him. He knows us fully. (I Cor. 13:12, Ps. 139:16) He loves us deeply. (John 3:16) We should be so excited to spend time with Him daily that we can't stand one second apart from Him! He desires so much to spend time with you on a daily basis... not just on Sundays or Wednesdays for an hour or two, but every single day! I've said it before and I'll say it again! He is CRAZY about YOU! And He gave His life to prove it! (Romans 5:8)

It All Comes Back to Jesus. Romans 10:9-13 (from the Message) says this:

"Say the welcoming word to God - "Jesus is my Master" - embracing, body
and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead.
That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God,
trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you
embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has
set everything right between him and me!"Scripture reassures us, "No one who
trusts God like this - heart and soul - will ever regret it."It's exactly the
same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for
help."Everyone who calls, 'Help, God!' gets help
."

So... How's your love life with Jesus? Have you trusted Him to be the manager/boss of your life?
Have you totally committed everything you are to everything He is for His benefits, His plans and His ways and on His terms for now and all eternity?

Are you a Christ-follower? Will you follow Him today?

1 comment:

  1. Yep, it is Boomerang Express at our church, also, and I'm taking Victoria every day. Normally I'd be working but since I didn't know if I would be back in time for it, I withdrew my "sign-up." The Lord blessed us with an abundance of volunteers this year so I wasn't needed when it became clear that I would be in town. That has freed me up to do some errand running during the 3 hours she is out there. Our church is in the country, 12 miles from our house, so I'm trying to plan my activities to minimize driving.

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