For my first few years as a Christian I would give my testimony of how "I found the Lord".
One day I was reading the parable of the "Lost Sheep" and it occurred to me that it was the sheep that was lost NOT the shepherd.
That being the case my theology was BACKWARDS. I did not find the Lord, HE found me.
Furthermore, this had great bearing on a passage where Jesus, speaking as the Good Shepherd, said He gave all His sheep Eternal Life.
Was He going to give me Eternal Life this week and take it away next week if I failed to meet expectations or fell short in my work quota?
This scripture from John 10:28 transformed my way of preaching, and how I regarded my relationship with the Lord.
Some people call it the doctrine of "Eternal Security".
Titles and terms are of little importance. What really matters is that tomorrow morning you rise with the assurance that " You will never perish and that NO ONE can ever remove you from the care of Jesus Christ" Period.
Jubilate.
Ian
As soon as I had received Christ I began to witness for Him with great fervor. I was sent home from college for a time and in my first teaching appointment at a nearby high school I ran into difficulties with the head master and some of the staff.
Not only was I ardently sharing my faith at work but I was also preaching in the streets of my hometown. My father had a business in Main Street and this created real problems since irate customers were objecting to being told that they must "turn or burn"
I really thought that I could win the whole world single-handedly.
It was at this time that I came across another life-changing scripture in John chapter 6 verse 29 where Jesus said:
"This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom God has sent."
Could it really be that simple?
In my zeal and performance orientation I had run way ahead of the Good Shepherd.
Reading this scripture helped me to find the brakes on my buggy which, after only a year, was in need of new tires!
The Lord showed me that living by simple faith not by burning blue smoke in over-drive was the key to Christian living.
Looking back after fifty years I can truly say that "To burn ON is better than to burn Out for God."
Jubilate ..
Ian
Yesterday's post could be summed up thus:
"The art of living from the heart"
However, we must also live by the Scripture. One day, as a young christian, I was reading the Bible and observed that Jesus talked freely of the Great Flood and of Jonah being swallowed by the Fish.
I said to myself
"These events cannot be fairy tales or illustrations for simple minds. If Jesus accepts fully the truth of these accounts, then I will also."
The scripture that both finalized and crystallized this position in my heart was the statement of Christ
"The scripture cannot be broken."
From then on the Bible became the inspired and inerrant Word of God to me and has been my guide to life and the road map to heaven ever since.
John 10:35 reads: "The word of God came to them, and the scriptures cannot be broken."
If you have a Bible in your house read it from the heart without doubting and experience the joy of God speaking to you personally.
Jubilate.
Ian
Yesterday we looked at the promise of Jesus Christ that he would NEVER turn away anyone who comes to Him by faith.
Today I want to share another scripture that had a transforming effect on my life. These verses are found in Proverbs Chapter 3 verses 5 and 6.
They read:
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and He shall direct thy paths."
At college I had been part of a pseudo-intellectual group that hatched up ideas about how we would bring about social revolution and how we could change the world. The truth eluded us that we couldn't even change ourselves let alone society!
When I came to Christ I began to realize that my vaunted intellect was in fact a tiny sparrow brain incapable of grasping even the
ABC's of the great revelation of God.
It was then that I made a decision that instead of going to theological seminary I would wholly embrace Proverbs 3:5&6 and believe that the Lord Himself would teach me and guide me.
It's been quite a trip but, fifty years later, these verses still form the lynch pin of finding and following the will of God in my life, in things great and things small.
Jubilate.
Ian
This week my barber asked me which were my favourite scriptures.
I replied that they would be the ones that changed the course of my life.
Since I was in the middle of a haircut I took the opportunity to go through them.
Here they are.
Scripture one formed a platform so that I could reach out to God.
While I was in my early twenties in college in England I read from John 6:
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
At that time I was in a deep search for authenticity and meaning in my life.
I said to myself
"Think of that. If Jesus Christ is truly who He says He is , He will know that I am praying and will know that I am sincere and earnest if I open my heart and come to Him."
That was as simple as I could get. I didn't know enough to get complicated. So I came with an open heart, believing that He would not turn me down.
I experienced an immediate inrush of certainty and power into my heart. In fact, the change was so dramatic that I began to interrupt my professors and disrupt lectures. How I was sent home from college and later allowed back is another story.
Fifty years later the narrative continues.
Jubilate.
Ian
