I'm tired and the house is quiet but I felt like writing down a few words. All of my guys are asleep and I'm still processing the sermon that we heard at church this morning, mulling over Romans 8 and Ephesians 6 and about six other verses mentioned today.
Scripture says that we are at war here on earth. Jesus came to save us and "if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved", but until we die we are still at war.
I feel the war and it honestly breaks my heart. I feel the pull of sin in our world and how pervasive it is, how it affect EVERYTHING! And it makes me tired.
Today I am tired and I want to go home. I'm ready to pack it in, be done with this journey and go home to be with Jesus forever, where there is no sin. BUT, that's not his plan for me, not until my heart stops beating and the breath leaves my body.
As my mom always says, "we're not here for ourselves, we're here to work." So, I'm here to work. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 that we are supposed to go out and tell people about him and his Gospel, the good news as it's called. And it is, it's the best news but sometimes it's hard to tell.
I, like Paul am not ashamed of the Gospel. I love the Gospel. The truth about Jesus is what my life is built on now and has been for the past 6 years. Before I knew Jesus and gave my life to him, I was dead and on the road to hell. I thought only of myself and did not see my sin. But now that I know Jesus I am alive. Life is still hard, harder in some cases, but I have hope and know that one day I'll be home with my Lord.
So what am I saying? I don't know. I am just really feeling the weight of sin lately and I just wish everyone knew that the only answer is Jesus. That without him there is just death, destruction and ultimately hell. But with him there is peace and comfort and praise for ever and ever AMEN!
So even though I'm tired, I'm also encouraged. I'm encouraged that I don't have to fight this war alone, that Jesus is with me and his holy spirit is in me. I'm tired but His mercies are new every morning Lamentations tells us, so I know there is hope for tomorrow and that "joy comes with the morning."
I'm here to work, to tell people about Jesus so that's what I'll do.
i like your passion. and your passion is in the right place. and, as piper would probably say, your passion is not even your own -- it's from the new creation he put in you. just like he said about preaching - he's preaching...but he's not. jesus is. and all of the good in you that writes that blog post is of the Spirit, who is in you, as a seal until the redemption you look forward to. let him work. i know you will.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, Annie. Thanks for sharing. It reminded me of something my pastor used to say during college. He would encourage us to cultivate a place of rest with Jesus that we can come back to when we're overwhelmed and exhausted, where we can find peace and refreshment. To me it was revelation to think about working hard for Jesus and then turning to him for rest instead of turning away from him when my "Christian life" became too tiring. Your post reminded me of that place and I have to say I haven't spent enough time there lately. Thanks for the post. Hopefully we will see you guys soon. Cheers.
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