He's All I Need

There's an old song that I grew up singing almost every week in church services.  He's all I need, He's all I need, Jesus is all I need. Over the years many other songs and choruses have echoed those thoughts. We sing them with gusto, reaching out to embrace the One who is more than enough for us. But do we really mean what we are singing.

A friend of mine once said the biggest lies Christians tell are the songs they sing in worship. It is easy to say that Jesus is all we need; it's quite another matter to live as if we really mean it. We make the claim and then cling to our earthly possessions as if our lives depended on our having those things. When God begins to strip our possessions one by one, our tune often changes to woe is me.

I know what you are thinking. God would never strip me of the things He has provided for me! Think again, He allowed it in Job's life. Job lost his wealth, his family, his health, everything he had. Yet Job could still worship his God. Over the past few years I have seen some of what I held dear stripped from my life. The question God continues to ask me is, "Am I still enough?"

This life gives us no guarantees. If tomorrow you lost your wealth, and God asked the question, "Am I still enough?" what would you answer? We want to believe that God has promised all American Christians prosperity and that we will never lack for anything. What makes us think God loves American Christians more than He loves those who suffer in third world countries? Some of those faithful servants of God live daily without the simple necessities of life. Yet, they love God and serve Him with their entire being day and night. Jesus and His disciples knew the trials of living life without basic necessities, but they went on never turning back from God's plan.

Regardless of what I have or what I lose is Jesus still enough? Yes, Lord, You are enough! 

Not When But Why

When is Christ coming back to earth to take his people home? According to the book of Matthew no one knows. Twice we are told to keep watch.

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."

-- Matthew 24:42

"Therefore keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour."

                                                                                                            -- Matthew 25:13

In my mind that makes it very obvious that we will not know the exact time that Christ will return for his people. However, that does not change the fact that we know he will return.

I find it interesting that we can so easily get caught up in trying to figure out God's timing. We come up with all kinds of creative ways to calculate and arrive at the exact time, even though we are told we won't know. Yet, we tend to ignore or pass over those commands that we are to not only know, but also put into action. How can we be so creative in figuring out what we are not supposed to know, but have trouble creatively doing what we are supposed to know?

Someone told me years ago that they had figured out exactly when Christ was coming back. I admit to being a skeptic, but I just had to ask when. Their answer, "When the last person has accepted Christ as Savior." We desperately try to figure out the timing of Christ's return, but few desperately try to share Christ with the unchurched to let them know why he is coming. We are not in charge of timing; we are in charge of telling.

It does not matter when Christ is coming. It only matters that he is coming.  

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."           

  --1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Love Will Keep Us Together

It's February, the month for love. Valentine's Day is fast approaching and love is in the air! Everyone grasps for their share of the love for the March winds will soon come and blow the love away.

We live in a society where people fall in and out of love as often as they change their clothes. A couple may be madly in love one moment and a few days later they have moved on to the next love of their life. Love has become nothing more than a four letter word.

Several years ago Captain and Tennille made the song "Love Will Keep Us Together" popular. In that song a young girl is singing to the love of her life advising him to keep his eyes focused on her. He may be able to turn the heads of other young women but she reminds him that she alone is the one who will love him forever. Towards the end of the song she reminds him of the future with these words:    

Young and beautiful 
Someday your looks will be gone
When the others turn you off 
Who'll be turning you on

I will, I will, I will, I will 
Be there to share forever
Love will keep us together
Said it before and I'll say it again while others pretend
I'll need you now and I'll need you then
Stop 'cause I really love Ya
Stop I'll be thinking of Ya
Look in my heart and let love keep us together

God never meant love to be an 'on again, off again' emotion. In fact, God always speaks of His everlasting love. John 3:16 says God loved us so much he sent his Only Son to pay the penalty for our wrongs so we could spend eternity with him in heaven. That's love! God loved us then, he loves us now and he will love us forever. Why settle for less when you can have the real thing?

No Need to Run

There is no doubt we are living in troubled times. Crazy things are going on all around us. How can we protect ourselves from other human beings whose minds seem to snap as they reach for a gun and determine to end the lives of other humans? Do we take up our weapons or build a fortress and retreat from the world? Even if we think the likelihood of our becoming the target of someone's frustrations is slim to none, daily life can be filled with trials and problems that can easily zap our strength. Where do we go to find relieve? The temptation is to seclude ourselves; to find that place where we are unreachable to other humans. We seek to get away from it all and simply live in our secluded little sanctuary where no one but God is allowed to enter. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with spending 'alone time' with God. In fact, I would say that is an absolute necessity these days. Jesus often went away to be alone with the Father in order to recharge, refocus, and I believe recommit to the plan of God for His life. I am all for those times of getting alone with God to recharge, refocus and recommit to God's plan. However, those times, as good as they may be, are generally not extended stays. Those moments of recharging and refocusing must end with moments of recommitting to God's plan as I step out into the world to which God has sent me. The good news is I never step out into the world alone. I am never without His protection. Psalm 61:2-4, "From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!" The towering rock, the fortress, the safe refuge, the shelter of His wings can all be found in the very midst of the battlefield as we carry out the mission God has sent us to complete. There is no need to hide, no need to run, when God sends you into battle He is more than able to protect and keep you in the midst of the battle.