Jesus
Saves…
In my childhood and youth, we often sang the song
In my childhood and youth, we often sang the song
“Jesus Saves”
in school,
at church and at home. I loved singing that song, but since I’ve found life in
Christ, it means ever so much more, and my heart beats with strong desire that
my friends and neighbors will all truly KNOW that Jesus saves!
“Jesus saves…” Two more powerful words can never be found for what mankind needs. They are the answer to the heart cry of every human being who has ever been born, the antidote to the terrible curse sin places on the soul. Jesus saves…and what He does, He does completely.
“Jesus saves…” Two more powerful words can never be found for what mankind needs. They are the answer to the heart cry of every human being who has ever been born, the antidote to the terrible curse sin places on the soul. Jesus saves…and what He does, He does completely.
Jesus saves…
When we
are lost sinners in need of a complete change and freedom from the bondage of sin,
He is there: the Redeemer, offering Life
beyond compare through repentant faith in His blood to save us.
In the mad confusion when many different voices swirl around us, He is there, holding out the light of hope, the anchor for the soul.
In the betrayal we face when loved ones who once walked the way of truth with us, depart from the faith, captivated by the wonderful sounding words of a gospel message mixed with the wisdom of man or desiring to live life according to the dictates of self, He is there to keep us from losing faith in God, and to comfort us in our distress. He is a friend who sticks closer than a Brother, the only one who can truly be there to meet all the needs in our hearts.
In the valley of devastation and disappointment so deep and so dark that we wonder if we will ever be on the mountaintop again, He is there to keep us from falling into bitterness and close-fisted demand of God to give us what we righteously dreamed of including in our lives, but instead living our lives in open-palmed gratitude and complete trust in Him to lead us exactly where and when and how we should go.
In times of physical weakness when disappointment and toil drain us of our strength, He is there to minister life and healing to us, to guiding us to do tasks His wisdom has assigned us.
When the heartache of wrongs done against us looms large in the foggy shadows of a rocky pathway, He is there showing us the way of the Cross that leads Home to God, showing us how to surrender daily what wasn’t but should have been, and what should never have been, but was. Oh, that we would run to Him, the Rock of refuge cleft for us to hide in, allowing Him to change us from our own sinful state to the His new nature of forgiveness and peace.
In the mad confusion when many different voices swirl around us, He is there, holding out the light of hope, the anchor for the soul.
In the betrayal we face when loved ones who once walked the way of truth with us, depart from the faith, captivated by the wonderful sounding words of a gospel message mixed with the wisdom of man or desiring to live life according to the dictates of self, He is there to keep us from losing faith in God, and to comfort us in our distress. He is a friend who sticks closer than a Brother, the only one who can truly be there to meet all the needs in our hearts.
In the valley of devastation and disappointment so deep and so dark that we wonder if we will ever be on the mountaintop again, He is there to keep us from falling into bitterness and close-fisted demand of God to give us what we righteously dreamed of including in our lives, but instead living our lives in open-palmed gratitude and complete trust in Him to lead us exactly where and when and how we should go.
In times of physical weakness when disappointment and toil drain us of our strength, He is there to minister life and healing to us, to guiding us to do tasks His wisdom has assigned us.
When the heartache of wrongs done against us looms large in the foggy shadows of a rocky pathway, He is there showing us the way of the Cross that leads Home to God, showing us how to surrender daily what wasn’t but should have been, and what should never have been, but was. Oh, that we would run to Him, the Rock of refuge cleft for us to hide in, allowing Him to change us from our own sinful state to the His new nature of forgiveness and peace.
Without
Him, we are nothing.
Without Him, we can do nothing of any eternal value.
Without our acknowledging Him as the Redeemer we need, without entering into that place of being changed because Jesus saves, we are lost, in spite of every good thing we have ever done.
Without Him, we can do nothing of any eternal value.
Without our acknowledging Him as the Redeemer we need, without entering into that place of being changed because Jesus saves, we are lost, in spite of every good thing we have ever done.
Jesus saves…
With
Him, there is life beyond compare, even in the midst of loneliness, hardship
and trial. With Him, the eyes of
our understanding are enlightened and we can know the Way to walk through the
maze of life.
With Him is all the comfort and protection we will ever find. He sticks closer than any father, mother, brother or sister on earth ever could.
With Him, we can walk humbly with our God, fearing nothing or no one.
With Him, we can be completely healed by His stripes, not crippled in bitterness and fear by past wrongs or sins.
With Him is all the comfort and protection we will ever find. He sticks closer than any father, mother, brother or sister on earth ever could.
With Him, we can walk humbly with our God, fearing nothing or no one.
With Him, we can be completely healed by His stripes, not crippled in bitterness and fear by past wrongs or sins.
Jesus saves…
But He
doesn’t force us to be saved. He gives us the opportunity to know that He
saves, and to choose to reject or accept Him. Those who seek Him, find Him.
Those who desire Him, He does not reject or disappoint. He loves all men so
much that He died for every one of us. But only those who believe on Him know Him.
And to know Him is eternal life, growing in Him in life so abundant that it can
compare to nothing we know in the temporal world.
If we are to truly know that Jesus saves (completely and wholly), we need humility. Insisting upon living our lives holding onto past hurts, blaming others for our sinfulness, and slandering those who despitefully used us (saving our life, according to Jesus in Mt. 16:25) will not bring us to freedom in Christ. Not releasing the sorrows of this old world will ensure that we stay in bondage as we walk through life.
If we are to truly know that Jesus saves (completely and wholly), we need humility. Insisting upon living our lives holding onto past hurts, blaming others for our sinfulness, and slandering those who despitefully used us (saving our life, according to Jesus in Mt. 16:25) will not bring us to freedom in Christ. Not releasing the sorrows of this old world will ensure that we stay in bondage as we walk through life.
Jesus saves…
He
didn’t come to just forgive us and cleanse us from the sins we have already
committed, but He came to SAVE us from the power of sin. He came to give us
freedom from that helpless place of consistent sin we all know without His
salvation. Do we understand this?! What freedom is found in Jesus’ blood and
righteousness. There is no other way to true and complete victory.
Jesus saves…
Do you know it, dear
sister? He came to change your life! How has He changed you?
Is He changing you daily, conforming you more and more into His image?
Is He changing you daily, conforming you more and more into His image?
If He has changed
you, proclaim in your community the
joyful sound that
Jesus saves?
Jesus saves?
Youth and aged alike
need to know that
Jesus saves…
Jesus saves…
We have heard the joyful sound,
Jesus saves, Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around (Mt. 28:18-20)
Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
Bear the news to every land, climb the steeps and cross the waves,
Onward~’tis our Lord’s command,
Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
Jesus saves, Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around (Mt. 28:18-20)
Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
Bear the news to every land, climb the steeps and cross the waves,
Onward~’tis our Lord’s command,
Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
~Priscilla J. Owens
(the song in all its encouraging entirety can be found in The Christian Hymnal #201)
(the song in all its encouraging entirety can be found in The Christian Hymnal #201)
These valleys you wrote of, several of them have been exactly what I've been struggling through recently...it was inspiring to read this. God knew what I needed by having you write. I have found Him faithful, keeping me from losing out, blessing me in many ways...but how do you find that abundant life when your life feels in shadows? How do I let Jesus meet ALL the needs of my heart, when at times the loneliness feels more real than His presence?
ReplyDelete