In the early days of my public ministry, the Lord had me sharing my music and my story all over the nation. A huge blessing in my life in those early days was the body of Christ in west Texas and the panhandle area of Texas. It seems I was always receiving invitations to minister in churches in that area…and I went, regardless of how large or how small the congregation was. I just wanted to share with others what God had done for me. It really was that simple.
If my memory serves me correctly, I had ministered in Hartley, Texas and Lamesa, Texas that same weekend. While in Lamesa…after seeing many, many people with the same basic needs and hurts - just different circumstances - I knew I was on the right track concerning what God would have me share. Regardless of how many different stories or how many varying wounded hearts I came across, the answer was always the same – Jesus.
I remember receiving a song, called ‘To Be Loved’, in the sanctuary of Northridge United Methodist Church. When faced with the hurts of so many…when seeing the devastating results and consequences of sin, I could not help but feel deeply loved by the Lord. He took all our sin and suffering. He experienced all our grief and punishment on the cross. He spent time with the down and out - with the hurting ones. And He always ministered life and hope. He walked in love. And according to Him, love never fails.
It became obvious to me that every human heart has the same basic need: to know and to be known. To be loved…and Jesus was the only one Who could ever meet such a deep need in the heart of a person, regardless of their struggles, wounds, and circumstances.
Jesus said it like this in John 15:12-13, 12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
We will come in contact with people today…and we can rest assured that their number one need is to know and to be known - whether they even know it or not! That makes being an ambassador for Christ all the more important for us…because we KNOW what people need. Here is my challenge to you today: Love people right where they are…but love them enough to not leave them there. After all, isn’t that what Jesus did for you and me? Just sayin’…let’s be like Jesus to those around us today.
Dennis Jernigan
1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 NASB
4 Love is patient, love is kind [and] is not jealous; love does not brag [and] is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong [suffered,] 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if [there are gifts of] prophecy, they will be done away; if [there are] tongues, they will cease; if [there is] knowledge, it will be done away. ... 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this week’s teaching and to hear the song, To Be Loved, go to https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-p6diq-b815b8
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