Just over five years ago, I submitted a message about “Take My Life and Let It Be.” It’s from a hymn written by Frances R. Havergal in 1874. Since that time, major changes have taken place in this world, proving the accuracy of our Heavenly Father’s word and telling us that we are closer than ever to going Home. (ESV – all emphasis is mine)

Paul tells us to become a “living sacrifice” in Romans 12:1-2. “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In John 10:9-11, Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Going to John 10:14-18, Jesus adds to this testimony; “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

In Paul’s verses, he states that we should not be “conformed to this world.” In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus states that He knows many more will be on the wide path leading to destruction than on the narrow path leading to eternity with Him. Looking at the attitudes of this world today, we see the validity of their statements.

When Jesus speaks of “the thief” in John 10:10, it’s obvious He is referencing Satan. From the first sin in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, all the way through today, and continuing to the end of this earth, Satan and his demons will have done everything to try and pull souls away from our Savior and our Heavenly Father. They know their ultimate destiny will be the lake of fire forever, according to Matthew 25:41.

Jesus allowed Himself to be “tested” by Satan after He was baptized by John the Baptist and then fasting for 40 days. In human form, He totally experienced the effects of a long fasting period. Satan tried several tactics to get Jesus to fall under temptation, yet the Savior ended up the obvious winner of that encounter.

People have said that it stands to reason that Jesus was able to resist temptation. After all, He is God. What they fail to realize is that, as Hebrews 2:7 and 9 tell us, for a little while, He was made lower than the angels. In other words, He had the ability to stop at any time, but for our sakes, He stayed true to His “assignment” from the Father to bring Salvation to all who would receive and accept His sinless blood sacrifice.

Just imagine where all of us would be today if, just before being nailed to that cross, He had decided that humans weren’t worth all the effort. Even after His sacrifice and resurrection and going back to Heaven, no one is forced by our Heavenly Father to accept His Son. It’s completely our free-will choice.

As stated before, more will end up rejecting my Jesus than will ask His forgiveness and call out to Him to be their Eternal Shepherd. This is made very clear in 1 Corinthians 1:18; “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing; but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

The song by Frances R. Havergal is a praise, glory and submission hymn for our Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is well worth revisiting and giving thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ for His precious gift for all of us.

1.) Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise; let them flow in endless praise.

2.) Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee; swift and beautiful for Thee.

3.) Take my voice and let me sing, always, only for my King. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee, filled with messages from Thee.

4.) Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as Thou shalt choose; as Thou shalt choose.

5.) Take my will and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine. Take my heart; it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne; it shall be Thy royal throne.

6.) Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be, ever, only, all for Thee; ever, only, all for Thee.

Please remember, we can neither earn nor buy one minute in Heaven. It is a free gift from the Father through His Son for all who will receive and accept it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

All who refuse the free gift will discover their terrible mistake when they take their last breath on this earth. They will be put in line for the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15 to receive their forever sentence in the lake of fire with Satan and his demons. Meanwhile, prior to that sentence, they will already be suffering as the rich man was in the parable in Luke 16:19-31.

All who died prior to Calvary that were in God’s will went to a place of peace, as described where the beggar Lazarus in that parable went.

Paul tells us that all who were in Christ from Calvary to the end of the age would be in the presence of the Lord, as given in Philippians 1:21-23. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

All who will be taken up to meet Jesus in the air, the dead in Christ first, followed by those still alive, will never have the issues we face today on earth. We will receive forever immortal, imperishable bodies and have the mindset of our Savior (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). We may come back to earth with Jesus at the end of the tribulation, but not as humans as we once were. We will be in the service of the Lord forever and loving every moment of it.

We pray for all of our loved ones daily that they all have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior. We don’t know the day or hour when the Rapture will take place, but it could happen at any moment.

Romans 10:9-13 gives the simple ABCs leading to Salvation, and there is nothing difficult about this. Some will make it more difficult by believing there has to be more to be done than what’s given in God’s word.

Our Father gave us His love letter to let us know that all has been done except to admit that we are all sinners, have faith and believe that Jesus died for us and was raised on the third day to conquer sin and death for us, and that when we call out to Him to be our forever Savior, we will be saved.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Today would be a good time to become a part of our Savior’s precious flock. Hope to see you at Home.

Shalom!

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There are verses in the Bible that bring joy and peace to the troubled soul. There are verses that give us the assurance that the promises of God are true and faithful. There are those verses that give us the affirmation that God has given us mercy and salvation we do not deserve. Yet in His love, He has provided a Savior to whom we can place our full faith and trust, knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us, even in our darkest times.

There are verses that describe the new heavens and earth where the curse of sin and suffering will be eliminated, and the tears that we have shed in our lives will be wiped away by the hand of a benevolent and loving LORD. He has given us the promise of making “all things new,” and for those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the grand assurance that the promises and prophecies in the Bible are true and everlasting.

Isaiah gives us numerous verses that present the person and purpose of God’s Promised Messiah, who will take upon Himself the sins of the world in order that we can enter into the presence of God with redeemed hearts and changed lives. One of the first prophecies Isaiah records is of the Promised Son of God, who will come at the appointed time to achieve God’s promise of grace, mercy, and peace to all who come to Him in faith. This coming king is described in Isaiah 9:6-7, which reads as follows:

“For unto us a Child is born; and unto us a Son is given. The government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The seal of the LORD of Hosts will perform this” (NKJV).

These verses describe the mission of none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and are the praiseworthy summary of the LORD’S redemptive work. The first section of verse 6 refers to His First Advent. His birth did not occur in an earthly palace, the child of an earthly monarch. His birth was not heralded by either the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar nor by the Roman appointed “king of Judea,” Herod “the Great.”

His birth was not noticed as special in the eyes of the world. The news of His birth was announced not to rulers and magistrates but to the lowest members of society, a group of shepherds with no standing among the “elites” of the world (Luke 2:8-18) but were chosen as the first messengers of the Savior’s birth to the people who according to Luke’s records, merely “wondered.”

Those who initially heard this “good news” ended up doing nothing to spread the Word to the spiritually hungry people of Israel. Even today, the Scriptures are accurate in describing the attitude of people when they hear the Gospel message. Some will hear and reject it, while some will truly listen and embrace it and, in turn, receive the “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7; Colossians 3:15).

The rest of verses 6 and 7 describe the LORD’s eternal, absolute rule. He will not be elected to office and will have no need of a Congress or Parliament to advise Him. Politics will be a thing of the past. King Jesus is given the titles that describe both His character and personality as the King of creation (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16-18). He is our wonderful counselor who bore our sorrows and burdens.

He is the Mighty God, creator and sustainer of life and all that there is in the universe. No one is His equal. He is the absolute Sovereign concerning the affairs of creation. He is all-powerful, all wise, all loving, and brings all things under His eternal control.

He is the Prince of Peace, bringing an end to war. There will be no more conflict between nations and people. There will be no more hatred and division, no more despotism, no evil, no more devil, and no more strife that has torn this world apart all through the course of history. His government will be one founded on eternal love and pure justice, emitting from the throne of Christ’s ancestor, King David. His zeal for the things of God will be made manifest forever, and those of us who are in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) will rule and reign with Him.

We will have incorruptible bodies that will never see death or pain. We will be free from the oppression that we have had to endure on this earth. There will be a new heaven and earth (Revelation, Chapters 21 and 22) for us to enjoy, and best of all, we will be with the LORD forever, loving and praising Him, enjoying eternal fellowship with our loved ones.

That is what it means to be ruled by the Great King whom Isaiah saw in His prophetic encounters with God. The reality of a glorious eternal kingdom ruled by the Messiah just after Chapter 10, which describes the deliverance of Israel from the Assyrians. A fallible human monarch can only do so much for his people, and most of the kings in those days relied more upon their own intellect and strategies than they did on the LORD. The kings of both Israel and Judah show this to be true.

Friends, the King is coming, and no political system, no works of tyrants and madmen, no vote, no weapons of war, and certainly no atheistic “wishful thinking” will stop Him from accomplishing HIs mission of making all things new and bringing all things under His rule once and for all.

Jesus Christ is the all-powerful, all-wise, and all-merciful King of Kings who offers you salvation and eternal life. Isn’t this what you truly desire? Turn away from the junk of this fallen, sinful world and come to Jesus today and receive the mercy of the king before it is too late.

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