Consider what Jesus gave for you and me

I rarely say things like this. Events of the past weekend however, have stirred up deep buried emotions within my heart. They surfaced to remind me of what I always say about the salvation of the LORD. I say to people who do not know me, those who think I am crazy about Jesus, "Leave me alone; you don't know where Jesus found me." Rude as that sounds it is the truth of how I often feel. 

It was not easy for me to be saved. I mean this in the sense that for a start, I had to accept the message, then, allow it to permeate my whole being, and finally prepare myself to carry the cross where I was saved. Saving me was a miracle indeed. People need to feel this way rather than feel that they owe some other human for their salvation. Hearing is the first thing as the Bible says, faith comes by hearing.

The first time to "hear" the gospel was on a day in October 1979. Up to that point everything was relative. On that day, the message became "personal" or better put, "personalized" to me. The keys to personalizing the gospel message to me were: my search for answers to specific questions, the environment I encountered, and the clarity by which the message was given. That was in 1979, and I still remember the day as if it was yesterday.

A personal message has two dimensions: someone who knows you and you, the hearer of the message. A message which addresses you by name is a personal message. When someone comes to me and says, "Mac, the LORD says you should do the following tomorrow morning..." is very personal, no matter who brings it to me. It means the sender knows me.

It takes on a deeper meaning when the message says the sender (God) knows exactly what we are going through and offers personal help. This level of personalization of message can never fail to touch the receiver. As often as preachers personalize the message to the hearers, it touches them, for better or worse. Show me a ministry that has learned to personalize the message and I will show you a church that is growing.

Today's messages are often relational and relative, not personalized. They fail to impress their hearers because they are packaged for mass distribution. They say, “Whosoever will, may come,” and stop there. They should also say, “Jesus knows you by your name and calls you to say yes to His saving grace today.”

 Jesus never meant for the message of the gospel to be only relative, but personal. Salvation is personal. God intervenes in our lives to respond to specific needs and often to answer specific questions we ask.

I wanted help for my spiritual situation. I knew the young man named Saul was right when he once said to me, "God is there, but we do not know how to worship him." Saul was a school drop in a little village near Magoye. I met him at the home of one of the witch-doctors I went for help a few months before I heard the gospel message. Although He has chosen to hide his face from us, God is there. Jesus we know, His face we know, some pictures of Jesus have been drawn and displayed in some places. But God's face!! Not a glimpse. Thank God for Jesus.

We must clarify our questions when approaching God. In life, generally, the clearer our questions are, the better our chances of receiving our answers. Sometimes we are not sure what we are asking. We sort of know what we want although we are unable to say it; we can clarify our issues and questions by reflecting and writing them down. The simpler our questions are stated the better.  After all, what ends up happening is that we may not even know what we are in need of; the process of clarifying helps us achieve that clarity.

Saturday morning October 24^th 1979, as I walked into the hall to attend the meeting that changed my life, I found young people with whom I could relate. Like me, they were full of life and promise. Their lives stretched out far into the future. Potential was unlimited. The sound of their voices still rings in my heart when I reflect deeply today. I can hear them singing, 'At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light..." I can hear them sing, “When I survey, the wondrous cross, at which the Prince of glory died..."  

Such sweet memories! I still see their faces, their tears, their closed eyes and gentle sway; ladies and gentlemen. I knew this was not ordinary music of happy people; they were speaking a language I did not know.

I knew they found something I was looking for. They sang out of their hearts, not out of their brains! The music was written in their hearts and all over their minds! They were one with the message they sang, "Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary...," they sang on!

The message I heard was this, "Someone called Jesus of Nazareth went to the cross to pay for your release from suffering and pain. He died and paid the full price that sets you completely free. Free from the things you know that bind you and much, much more besides." 

The clarity was astounding. Here was a person looking into my eyes telling me, in the simplest way I knew, “Jesus calls you to step out; He knows what you are going through, He cares and is ready to help you, here, now.” For the first time Jesus was personal, the message was for me, not for my mother or father, as much as they loved me. The message was specific, for a specific time and place, from a specific person, specifically to me. That is the gospel.

I could respond to Jesus or hold out in my own shallow cabin sinking in the world of make believe. I chose to follow. I took my first step. He helped me with my next and the one after that.  

o How HjjjjhOW How I

When the song was finally recorded in my heart, "Just as I am without a plea...," all of my resistance was gone. All of my fears were bundled up ready to be placed at the feet of the cross. Tears filling my heart, years of bondage behind me, the unknown days ahead, mixed battles in my mind, I surged forth to the place where I could meet my Savior. That is how I got save. 

Oh how true, how true the saying, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. It has been a long journey for me; it started in that classroom in Makeni with the first step I took.

Consider what Jesus has done for us. He spared nothing for himself but gave it all up to make our salvation sure. He was betrayed by his own men, rejected by his own community and killed by strangers. And yet He knew we would be here today. He looked out for us.

To change our communities, we (believers) need to realize that the same keys are needed to give others a chance to enter. The Gospel is His message; Jesus', and the Holy Spirit's. It is God's message through us.

We have to figure out how to personalize that message to the person who does not want to come into our churches as well as to those who come too close to the place of God's mercy who nonetheless back away to their seats before trading in their sorrows for the joys He bestows.