A Nugget from New Life Network
Hymn for the Day (May 17, 2016)
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
It is amazing the excuses we come up with to avoid going to church, reading a Bible, or having anything to do with what some consider religious freaks. Before I gave my life to the Lord I remember thinking of all the things I was going to have to give up if I ever did surrender to God. My gosh, I would have to quit cursing, quit drinking alcohol, quit looking at porn, and on and on it went. There is no way I could do all those things! I was a redneck from South Georgia raised on drinking alcohol and chasing women. I would be in counseling and rehab forever.
We have this religious concept in our mind that God is sitting in Heaven with this real long list of dos and do not’s with a big stick at His side to smack us every time we don’t perform properly. Little did I know that God doesn’t work that way. His ways are not our ways. He has His own rehab program that is much simpler and much more effective. He changes your “Want To”!
Jesus was asked one time what was the greatest commandment? His response contains the secret formula that every addict has chased for years:
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on (hang on) these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40, NLT)
Let me try to explain. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more you are going to love Him. The more time you spend in His Word, the more His Word becomes a part of you and the more you love Him. The more you walk and talk with Him, the more you are going to love Him. The more you love Him, the more your “Want To” will change. Your “Want To” will not change due to hard work and straining on your part. Your “Want To” will change because you love Him and you do not want to disappoint Him when you finally realize that He loves you and sacrificed His son for you.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)
For years the church has placed emphasis on “he will keep my words” when the real emphasis should be on “If a man love me”. The power is in the love, not in the works.
Do you want to quit drugs? Spend time with Jesus! Do you want to quit smoking? Get to know Jesus through His Word! Do you want to get delivered from pornography? Look into the eyes of Jesus! When you get face to face with Him the things of this world will grow strangely dim and fall away because your love for Him will crowd them all out.
“Victory is not in the fight, but in the surrender”
