I'm reading a book called, "Follow" by Floyd McClung who is a missionary with YWAM. We're reading it as part of a leadership class on the base and I was so hit by its first chapter that I had to share a bit of it. I just relate with the author; my life went from a lot of hurt and shame, and a fake relationship with God that was built on religion and lies that was obviously useless to me...and now, I'm thankful to have found Jesus for real...He's not just a far off idea or part-time friend anymore, He is my life and I will follow Him to the end. I share this part of the first chapter as a testimony of what God did in my life. Seriously take it in - eat it, allow it to digest into your heart and mind, and allow Holy Spirit to minister to you through it, bringing hope and life and freedom.
"Our theme in this first part of this book is loving Jesus. I know, and I hope you know as well, that loving Jesus is a heart response to His love for us, involving a commitment to obey Jesus each day of our lives. But we must allow God to love us to the point where He captures our complete devotion.
To be captured by Jesus is to be captivated by Him, fascinated and intrigued with who He is and what He has in store for us. Loving Jesus means opening our hearts to Him, holding back nothing, confessing everything - our weaknesses and fears, dreams and longings.
Loving Jesus has to be lived out in the face of constant temptation to conform and compromise. This pressure can come from myriad sources: from the influence of our culture and its more depraved and dehumanizing demands, to the more naive, but sometimes painful, interactions with friends and family. It can come from people we work with or go to school with, and from movies, TV, and certain types of music. Jesus wants to give us the strength to withstand the pressures contrary to His way so that we can live out our lives for Him and His purposes.
We're all slaves to something or someone - either willing love slaves or unwilling slaves to private prisons we make. We were created to be fully devoted to God, and if we're not fully devoted to God, we'll give that devotion to someone or something else.
Paul the apostle speaks to the Roman believers of this capacity for devotion: "You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits" Rom 6:16 The Message version. We cannot serve two masters.
We serve the one we love, and we love the one we serve. When we allow Him to love us, we unshackle our hearts to love Him back. This is good news to religious people who want to be free of religion!
(further on in this section of the chapter)..."Though we were once slaves to our passions, desires, fears, and hurts, we are set free to love God with our whole hearts. No longer do we have to be prisoners. This is the good news of the gospel!
God's love invades our minds, changing our core values and transforming our behaviour. We don't behave differently in order to be loved by God, but because we are loved by God. We realize that God is not trying to punish us for our past sins but (He wants to) deliver us from them. He is not out to heap shame on us for past failures but to take our shame away and give us the great gift of finally, fully belonging."
Love,
tami
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