| Pastor's
Pen
by Buzz Dahlen You may feel like you have been through it all. I know that I have felt that way a time or two. But I never cease to be amazed when someone who has obviously been through much more then me, crosses my path. You may have had similar experiences. No matter how bad your life seems there is always someone whose life is worse. I know, the fact that someone else is suffering more then you, does not always make your suffering seem any less… There is a great song, by Andre Crouch that I want to share with you; the title is “Through It All.” I’ve had many tears and sorrows; I’ve had questions for tomorrow; There’ve been times I didn’t know right from wrong. But in ev’ry situation God gave blessed consolation that my trials come to only make me strong. Chorus: Through it all, through it all, (Oh,) I’ve learned to trust in Jesus; I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word. I thank God for the mountains and I thank Him for the valleys; I thank Him for the storms He brought me through; For if I’d never had a problem, I wouldn’t know that He could solve them ;I’d never know what faith in God could do. God is faithful and He promises to always be there for you no matter what. He promises that He will walk through “it” with you and He promises that all things will work for your good, if you love Him. But we have just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must stop and consider the one person who actually has been through it all. Jesus, who lived in heaven, lowered Himself to below the angels and became a man, born of a woman. He lived on earth, experiencing all that we experience and more. Jesus was beaten, crucified on a cross and died. He was buried and three days later, He rose from the dead. In that He took on all the sins of mankind and He was separated from His Father. Jesus Christ has been through it all and He went through it all for you and me. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8 What does that mean for you and me? It means that we need to give up our lives to Jesus Christ. It means that we need to die on the cross. How can we die on the cross? By faith! For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:6-11 So, what do you need to do? You need to “believe” in Jesus Christ, believe that He died for you and your sins, believe that He rose from the dead, believe that He has given you eternal life, believe… Ask yourself, “Have I been through it all?” If you haven’t, then choose to today. Choose to go through it all by faith with Jesus Christ. Choose to go through it all and give your life to Him. Choose to go through it all and receive eternal life. Choose to go through it all, He went through it all for you. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 |
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