"I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you know Him and have seen Him." John 14: 6-7 |
| The Way Of The Lord Ministries |
| Reverend Noreen T. Kevern 520-237-0329 |
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| Commit Your Way To The Lord Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 We have a lot to be thankful for in life and sometimes we are not even aware of it. The day-to-day humdrums seem to lull us into thinking that there is nothing extraordinary in everyday living. Getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep, getting up…it just seems boring, what could be holy about just living life? But it is in the ordinary that we can grow closer to the Lord. Jesus began life just as we did. He was conceived in the womb, was born, learned to take His first steps, worked, learned, and when the time was right, He began His ministry. Jesus lived life like you and me. His job was to teach, to be scourged, to take up the cross and to die, and to rise from the dead. He came here to teach us how to live and what we needed to go to heaven. It is only in the cross that we are forgiven of our sins. Jesus showed His commitment to the Father in how He lived His life. He lived in the ordinary in an extraordinary way. He wandered from town to town teaching and performing miracles. He was with people, from crowds on the mountains, to parties at homes, even to His death. When you think about how He went to His death, knowing what was going to happen, it really humbles me. Could you do that, allow someone to take you prisoner, scourge you, make you walk through the streets so that people would see you in all your disgrace, let someone hammer nails into your flesh, and hang on a cross? And then in the end, ask forgiveness for those who have killed you? That’s commitment: Commitment to the Father to follow His plan, commitment to His mission, commitment to all of us, letting His life be our payment for our sins. So what’s your commitment to the Lord? How do you handle His crucible, His discipline, or His direction? Do you ask Him to guide you where He wants you, or do you plan things and when they don’t go the way that you thought, do you get upset with God? A crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart (Proverbs 17:3). He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding (Proverbs 15:32). Direct my footsteps according to Your Word; let no sin rule over me (Psalm 119:133). When you committed your life to the Lord, at what level are you willing to go? All of your life, some of your life, or just when you want to? Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father or mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:25-27). Jesus tells us He wants the full commitment, to put everyone and everything aside, and pick up our cross. He says we have to hate…what does He means if He commands us to love one another? How do we hate and then love at the same time? Let’s look at what Jesus means when He says we are to hate. He wants us realize that we are to put no one or nothing before God. If we for one moment put someone or something before God, we cannot be His disciples. It took me a while to learn this one. Just how do I hate my husband, my children, my parents, my siblings, and my own life and love them at the same time? I was praying over this one day, I couldn’t imagine my life without my husband, and then I realized what Jesus was talking about. If I had to choose between living my life without God or without my husband, what choice would I make? We were 30 years old, and my husband was having open-heart surgery. His heart was so enlarged that the doctor told him that there was the possibility of that when they cut into his heart that it could explode and that would be the end of his life. My husband didn’t doubt for a moment that the surgery would be anything but a success. As I sat in the waiting room, Bible in hand, I prayed to the Lord for His will to be done. I was willing to accept being a widow if that was God’s will. I was willing to lay down my husband’s life if that was what the Lord willed. And so I placed my husband’s life into God’s hands, I didn’t beg for it which showed that I hated my husband and did so with love because I love God more than I love my husband. I knew that no matter what, I had God and that is all I need no matter what happens in my life. Commitment to God meant that His will was what I want to happen. It meant that I had to hate my husband, to give up my husband and commit to the Lord. While my husband was having his strokes last year, we both knew that was what was happening, but we both trusted in the Lord and knew that it would be whatever was the Lord’s will. “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). Are you willing to give up the life of your spouse, your child, your parents, yourself in order to follow the Lord? Will you stop trying to control situations with a loved one that you need to hand over to God? If your loved one is a prodigal, are you willing to let them go and let them fall into sin? Are you willing to commit your life to the Lord even if it means your loved one doesn’t? Are you willing to be without a home, a car, or loved ones in order to follow the Lord? “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:13-15). Our lives must be fully committed to the Lord. If you place something ahead of God, be it money, a person, or anything, that that is detestable to God. Jesus calls us to total commitment, to live our lives carrying the cross. Are you willing to forego what is important to man in order to live your life for God? Arthur Blessitt is a man who has committed his life to carry the cross to all the corners of the world. He started carry the cross in 1968 and in 1969 he began to carry the cross around the world to 315 nations, walking the distance of 1 ½ times around the equator. It’s been 40 years now and he’s still walking. Arthur says that it is not about him but the Lord. The story of his journey will be in theaters this spring. For more information about this commitment to the Lord, Arthur’ s incredible journey in life, please go to www.blessitt.com. I pray that you will tell others about Arthur’s walk with the cross and the impact that the cross has been in your life. Arthur has committed his life to follow the will of God where it has led him and because of this, Arthur spreads the Good News of Jesus Christ. Commitment is not something that is casual, but a realization that we must step out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. It’s realizing that the cross is at the center of our forgiveness, without the cross, we have no forgiveness from God. Paul tell us: For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block for Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s freedom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength (1 Corinthians 1:21-25). To think that God would bring our salvation through death on a cross, a shameful death, is foolishness to man. Many people think that Jesus’ life was a joke; whom could possible think that we could be saved by a man crucified. But faith is about believing in what is not seen. No one today has ever seen Christ crucified and risen from the dead, but because we believe by faith, and seek our forgiveness in the cross, we are saved. Nothing else can bring about our forgiveness of sin. We have become righteous through the cross of Jesus Christ. We need to live a life that shows no shame in our faith. We need to live for Christ and die to self. We need to preach Christ crucified and willingly pick up our cross and commit our lives to God. If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful for He cannot disown Himself (2 Timothy 2:11-13). We need to live life committed to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:3-6 |
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