For those of you who were not aware, we are still having online worship each Wednesday night due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Below are the links to two of the most recent worship sessions. May they bring comfort and joy to your heart, mind, and soul.
Blessings,
Dennis & Melinda
March 25 worship - https://www.facebook.com/official.dennisjernigan/videos/1003360493398424/
April 1st worship - https://www.facebook.com/official.dennisjernigan/videos/152783372704168/
There are many opportunities I have had throughout my life to shout. I find a good shout exhilarating and liberating! I shout when my favorite team scores! I shout when one of my grandchildren does something wonderful! I shout when I feel overwhelmed with God’s goodness. I shout for the sheer joy of emotional release. Shouting is good for the soul!
Of course, there are other reasons a person would need to shout. I shout when I need someone’s attention. I shout warning out when I see someone headed for danger. I shout when I am angry at the enemy by shouting praises to my God - like a war-cry meant to intimidate and end cause the enemy to flee. The word - the name - I shout most often? Jesus!
When I shout out the name of Jesus, even the demons shudder and flee. When I shout out the name of Jesus I instantly change the atmosphere of my situation. When I shout the name of Jesus I immediately change my thoughts…and this causes a chain reaction in my soul. My thoughts are focused on Jesus. My feelings are changed from fear to safety. My attitude becomes right with God. My behavior changes as well. When I shout out the name of Jesus, everything changes. Walls fall down. Right thinking overtakes my mind. Shouting changes everything and brings attention to those around me - especially the enemy - that God is in control and I am on the winning side!
Remember when Jesus came into Jerusalem the Sunday before his crucifixion? The children of Israel were expecting the Messiah to be the physical king or ruler and to deliver them from the Roman oppression of the day. Here’s the actual account from Matthew 21:8-9:
Matthew 21:8-9 NASB 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:8-9 NASB
We know hosanna literally means to save us now! Just like those people who loved the streets that day in Jerusalem, we all have areas of our lives in which we need to see God’s salvation right now. We all have walls of deception surrounding us from the constant onslaught of the lies of the enemy we all need to see come down just like the walls of Jericho did way back when. Walls come down when we shout.
I have a friend who often says it’s hard to doubt when you shout…and she’s right. We shout when we are angry. We shout when we are frustrated. We shout when we need help. We shout for our favorite sports teams. Why not shout to the God of our salvation?
Remember when Joshua was led to lead the children of Israel to take the walled, fortified city of Jericho? They - led by the priests and worship leaders - marched around the city for seven days, seven times a day…but on the seventh day, they were commanded to shout after the seventh time around the city. Here’s what happened:
Joshua 6:20 NASB 20 So the people shouted, and [priests] blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city. Joshua 6:20 NASB
What fortified cities has the enemy built in your life? Are their fortresses of troubled relationships? Are their strongholds of financial difficulties? Are their walled places of sin keeping you from pursuing wholeness in God? Have you considered shouting over this situations as a priest (every believer is in the priesthood!) or as a worship leader (every believer is called to worship and praise God…to make Him known)?
Let’s find a place to shout to the Lord today. I have a song that I designed to help you bring down the walls of the enemy in your life. It is called, fittingly, Shout to the Lord and can be heard here: http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/shout-to-the-lord-1580830918/ Play this song today and shout in your living room…or shout in your car…or shout out in the back yard! The walls of doubt will begin to crumble and you will see hope and salvation as you shout the name of God over your own life and the lives of those around you.
Shouting to God tears down the lies of the enemy. Shouting to God tears down our own fear of what others think of us. Shouting glorifies God and brings joy and cleansing to our own souls. Let’s find time to shout to our God today. You can do this…and so what if someone catches you shouting…they probably think you’re crazy for following Jesus anyway…so why not give ‘em something to talk about! You know what I mean…
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast and the song Shout to the Lord, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/shout-to-the-lord-1580830918/
Photo courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/brick-brickwork-ruin-broken-decay-2205882/
1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
The floods have lifted up their voice,
The floods lift up their pounding waves.
4 More than the sounds of many waters,
[Than] the mighty breakers of the sea,
The LORD on high is mighty.
5 Your testimonies are fully confirmed;
Holiness befits Your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Psalm 93:1-5 nASB
Do you ever have periods in your life when you feel alone, times when you feel poured out and used up, times when you wonder if you’re even necessary? We all go through such times and we can lay the creation of those thoughts right at the feet of the enemy, the Liar, whose only power over us is that of deception.
I have come to recognize many of the patterns the enemy uses to try and get me to fall. That recognition does not necessarily make facing the lies any easier. What does amaze me, though, is the way in which my father always, always comes through in my weakest times with showers and showers of grace!
As of this writing, the world is facing the pandemic of Covid 19 - the coronavirus - and the feelings of helplessness and confusion and fear are palpable every where we turn. The circumstances of our lives may be out of our control, but the way in which we choose to view those circumstances is not. In spite of the pandemic, life goes on…and God is still with us!
In the life of my family this has proven to be true in a huge way over the past two weeks. Here is a brief rundown of what my family has had to endure concerning circumstances. We lost a sister-in-law who was only 57. One son was in a car accident with his new fiancee. That same son lost his job due to the onset of the pandemic. A cousin I grew up with passed away at 61 years of age (my same age!). His memorial service is postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. One daughter-in-law faces layoff from her job due to the coronavirus. One of my brothers required laser surgery for kidney stones. And to top it all off, our daughter Hannah, her husband, Ash, and their daughters Elliott and Matilda were supposed to fly to the US for a three week visit…and that visit has been scrapped because of the pandemic. So what do we do when faced with such overwhelming circumstances? Where is the majesty of God in times such as these?
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB
There is no other God Who can take our most dire of circumstances and bring good to us and glory to His name than our God - the God Who wastes NOTHING! The little bit I know of God is truly the tip of the iceberg of Who He is, and only makes me want to go deeper and deeper into that precious relationship I have with Him. How can words adequately describe how He makes me feel? They cannot! Walk about the majesty of God! The Himalayas pale in comparison to the majesty and magnitude of God’s love and power!
I am overcome with emotion each time I meditate on what He has done for me and in me – the Creator God of the universe living His life through me? My mind can’t begin to fully contain the glory of that revelation. When I realize my smallness and His greatness…His glory and my significance to Him…this truly is a mystery of majesty….a mystery I will spend eternality trying to unravel…our God truly is amazing in the massive extent of Who He is…amazing in the massive extent of His great love for us…
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present [you] faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, [Be] glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 NASB
Getting to know my wife is a mystery I have spent, as of this writing, over 40 years now trying to unravel…and have only scratched the tip of the iceberg of who she is! But that makes me want to know her all the more! That is the way I see my relationship with my God! I have only touched the tip of the iceberg of Who He is and of what that means to my life. Thank God we have eternity to seek to know Him!
Let’s make this week all about getting to know our God even more intimately…and let it be about honoring His majesty and the great mystery of how awesome He is in that majesty. Let us be in awe that such a massive God would want to know the comparatively smaller us in an intimate way. That is mind-blowing stuff right there!
Dennis Jernigan
3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6 NASB
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast and to hear the song A Mystery of Majesty, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/a-mystery-of-majesty/
Photo courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/langtang-mountains-himalayas-4134408/
We were created by God for His good pleasure. We were created to walk in relationship with Him. He loves being in our presence. He enjoys being with us and walking through life with us…yet we - even believers in and followers of Jesus Christ sometimes have a difficult time believing this most basic truth. That is why we must constantly be about the renewing of our minds…the putting off of the lies of the enemy and the putting on of the truth of God’s Word cornering our core identity! This is why worshiping and praising God is so vital. It helps us focus our entire being on that relationship!
The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD,
A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
Psalm 89:5-8 NASB
Very often, the enemy tries to drag me down through deception – through lies. Most generally the enemy attacks my identity and worth. When those lies come, I simply remind my soul of the truth. Yes, at one point I was unworthy and a sinful wretch, but the redeeming blood of Jesus has cleansed me and made me righteous by His righteousness. At one point in my life I was hopelessly lost, yet the Good Shepherd had searched for me and found me and rescued my life.
When I began to focus on these truths rather than upon the enemy’s lies, gratitude began to fill my heart. As I released the gratitude to Christ, the enemy had to flee from the presence of my Redeemer and praising God became a natural part of my true identity and a natural way to walk in intimacy with my God!
When I remember how lost I was and how much Jesus had to pay for me, my heart is filled with an awesome awareness of His mighty, loving presence. I simply begin doing what I know to do…approaching my Father in gratitude for all He has done. He who has been forgiven much, loves much.
I am reminded that I was once an outcast, like the leperous group of men described in Luke 17…and how Jesus touched me in my unclean state with His pure, cleansing, healing, forgiving love and I was never the same. Let us have the same attitude as the leper Jesus healed in [Luke 17:15-16 NASB which says this: 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him.
When I think of all the ways in which God has displayed His love toward me, I get overwhelmed with the thought that He created me just for Himself. In other words, I was literally created to love Him, to be with Him and to know Him intimately. Sometimes my feeble little mind can only contain so much of this truth without feeling totally dumbfounded and incapable of rational thought. His thoughts are so much higher than mine…His ways so much higher than mine…His love for me so much higher than my love for Him. Let’s bathe in that thought - daily!
Colossians 1:16 NASB says 16 For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him.
We were created to love Him! What does that thought do for your soul? For your emotions? For your mental awareness? For the way you think about yourself? Such thoughts help me renew my mind and put down the lies of the enemy that tell me I am unlovable. God created me for His good pleasure…and He takes pleasure in my presence…whether or not I take pleasure in His. I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to love Him and thank Him even more!
In Ephesians 2:10 NASB we find this treasure trove of truth about who we are: 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Make this week about praising God and let’s give Him thanks as we allow His great and magnificent love for us to permeate our entire being. Talk about an abundant life! We can have that abundant life any time, anywhere, under any circumstances simply by relating to Him through our worship and praise. That is how much He loves us!
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast on this subject, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-will-praise-you/
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/08/07/03/59/people-2599550__480.jpg
God’s Word says in Psalm 93:1-2 NASB:
1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
2 Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
When we are born again, we are born into the kingdom of God. In that very moment, we are granted citizenship in the realm of the King of Kings! As subjects of the King, we are called to bestow honor and majesty and glory and reverence to Him. As subjects of the most high King, we are welcomed into the royal family as joint-heirs with Christ…called to rule and reign with Him…called to be vessels of and conduits of His love to the world around us. We are called to be ambassadors of the King of Kings! How do we do that? How do we crown Him King in our lives so that others might see and desire what we have?
God has called us to be as a Body – worshipers – and what He has called us to do – crown Jesus Christ a King of our lives! We crown Him King every time we serve another human being in His name…every time we minister His love to another in His name…every time we worship Him with the way we live our lives in such a way as to bring glory and honor and focus to our King!
[Hebrews 2:7-9 NASB] 7 "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; 8 YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, [namely,] Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Whether we see it or not…Jesus is still on the throne! Even when it seems and feels like the world is literally falling apart all around us, Jesus us still seated on the throne, ruling and reigning and causing all things to work together for our good and for His glory! How do I know this?
This is what God’s Word says in Psalm 22:3 NASB:
3 Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
We crown Him every time we exalt and worship Him whether in corporate gatherings or in our times of private worship. Crowning Jesus as King of Kings in our lives is an attitude…and attitude of worship! Are you living with an attitude of worship? Do you actively walk relationally with Jesus in worship? Then God in still on the throne - regardless of what the world around us is doing! He is enthroned upon our hearts…He sits down in power on the thrones we give Him in our hearts as we worship Him.
Is your life in chaos and in need of God’s rule and reign? Worship Jesus! Is your life in upheaval and full of uncertainty? Worship Jesus! Don’t know what the next step is? Worship Jesus! He is enthroned on - inhabits - the praises of His people. Bring the rule and reign of Christ into your own realm - your own heart - today and crown Him with honor and glory…and watch His peace and comfort permeate your entire life.
1 Peter 2:9-10 NASB says 9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God's] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
Let us crown Him King in our lives by simply walking and living like we believe we are citizens of His realm and ambassadors of His love to the world around us. In other words, live life with an attitude of worship that testifies to the fact that Jesus Christ rules and reigns! We can all do that - regardless of our circumstances.
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast and hear the song, Crown Him, simply go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/crown-him/
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/05/09/05/27/crown-759296__480.jpg
Crown Him
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
December 16, 1995
Verse
There is only One Who will never leave you
There is only One who can really redeem
There is only One God who is a Savior
There is only One who can make a heart clean
There is only One who shines through the darkness
Only One risen to reign!
There is only One who has crushed sin’s hardness
Jesus is His name!
Chorus
Crown Him! Crown Him!
Jesus Christ is King!
Reigning in power!
Reigning in glory!
Reign in majesty!
Crown Him! Crown Him!
Jesus Christ is King!
Reigning in power!
Reigning in glory!
Reign in me! Reign in me!
Reign in me!
Verse
There is only One Who could be so holy
There is only One Who can set a heart free
There is only One Who can really know me
There is only One Who can make the blind see
There is only One that I bow down to
Holy and Righteous is He
There is only One Who bore the cross, shed His blood
He is King of Kings!
Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
Psalm 22:3 NASB
Today I am going to tell you how a song about Jesus being King of my life was born. That song - You Alone Are King - is one of my favorites I still sing to this day. For so long, my life seemed worthless to me. That way of thinking changed as I focused on how much worth God’s redemption has bestowed upon my life. The paradox here is that my sin did make me unworthy, yet God deemed my life worth the life of His Son, Jesus, and Jesus felt I was worth giving up the glories and riches of heaven for.
Worship is relationship. Relationship begins in the heart. God’s Word says that He inhabits the praises of His people. As I meditated on this truth, I saw my heart as His throne – a place reserved for only one King, Jesus Christ. As the music began to flow from these thoughts, I realized that God was truly the Author of my faith, singing His love over me. In that instant I sincerely felt the embrace of God and bowed in worship to my heart’s true King. No other had ever met my needs like Jesus. No one else could cleanse and heal as He can. He alone is my heart’s deepest desire and He alone is the Ruler – the King of my heart. Following are the lyrics to the song:
You Alone Are King
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
July 24, 1990
Verse
Lord of the heavens
Lord of the earth
You alone give my life its worth
Here is my heart, Lord
For You a throne
Reserved for one King Alone
Chorus
Mighty God!
The Ruler of my heart!
Mighty God!
My heart’s true King
You alone reign in majesty!
You alone reign in glory!
You alone! You alone!
You along are King!
Verse
Maker of music
Make melody
Hold me and sing over me
Sing me Your love song
Fill me with grace
I long to know Your embrace!
Even though we live an a dark and unbelieving world, we can hold on to this truth: [Rom 14:11 NASB] 11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.”
Jesus alone is King - even if the world refuses to acknowledge that fact. He rules and reigns and uses even what the enemy means for evil against us for our good and His glory.
Revelations 19:11-16 in the NASB say it like this: 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it [is] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes [are] a flame of fire, and on His head [are] many diadems; and He has a name written [on Him] which no one knows except Himself. 13 [He is] clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white [and] clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Jesus is still, always has been, and always will be the King of Kings - King alone. Let us not lose heart when faced with darkness or pain or sorrow or suffering. He wastes nothing. We but have to worship Him, praise Him, and He is enthroned upon our hearts enjoying sweet fellowship with us! We can do this anywhere, anytime, and under any circumstances. That’s how far-reaching the reign of King Jesus is! What a great King!
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to a podcast containing the song, You Alone Are King, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/you-alone-are-king/
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/04/27/01/31/good-friday-2264164_1280.jpg
The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the world is firmly established,
It will not be moved.
Psalm 93:1 NASB
Have you ever wondered about the bigness - the majesty - of God? Since I was a child, I have been absolutely intrigued by the wonder of God’s creation. I suppose that is why I love sitting outside in the hot tub and watching for shooting stars. I suppose that is why I was drawn to skydive and to snow ski and to scuba dive. When I take myself out of my normal every day existence and see the world from a different point of view I cannot help but stand in awe of the grandeur of Who God is to me!
I see a meteor zoom across the sky at night and I cannot help but wonder where it came from and where it is headed and how fast it is traveling! I jump out of a perfectly good airplane on purpose and laugh all the way to the ground beneath the canopy of a parachute out of sheer joy of how amazingly wonderful God is to me! I glide down a 12,000 foot mountain and cannot help but feel the grandness of freedom in God’s bigness! I dive beneath the ocean and discover an whole new world that gives me the sense of flying!
I enjoy meditating on such things. As I meditated upon some of the most wondrous things I could contemplate in this life: a dark evening sky made bright by one small shooting star; the way I felt when I first saw Melinda and was swept away by her beauty; the way it feels to meet someone you have looked up to and longed to meet for a very long time; like the way it must feel for a blind man, once healed, to see the faces of those he has only heard before; to hold my sons and daughters for the very first time; to hold my grandchildren and to take them on grand adventures in the forest…I guess I’m just a big child because I feel a sense of wonder and adventure even in my old age…and I enjoy creating a sense of wonder for others to enjoy.
I always meditate on the lives of my children around their birthdays. My oldest son, Israel, celebrates his birthday on July 22. I will never forget how precious it was to hold my very first child for the very first time. What an awesome and overwhelming feeling that was. All of these things fill my heart with wonder and really do take my breath away. Yet each one really does pale in comparison to knowing God. To know that my God - the God of the universe - desires an intimate relationship with me really leaves me feeling inadequate to describe how I feel. Almighty God is alive in me. What glory! What majesty! What a blessing!
"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 NASB
We talk about the grandeur and majesty of God in terms of how massive and immense He is, but the greater majesty can be found in our relationship with the One Who clothes Himself with majesty. Relationship is everything…so isn’t relationship with our Maker worth everything to us? In the most simple of terms, God uses that sense of wonder to draw me into an ever-deepening relationship with Himself…and that fills me with even more wonder!
Here are the lyrics to a song I received many years ago that expresses what I am trying to say today:
I Glory In the Wonder and the Majesty
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
July 24, 1991
Verse
You move across the strings of my heart
Like the darkest evening sky pierced by a shooting star
You move across the strings of my heart
Like when meeting face to face a King
You’ve known just from afar
Your majesty is awesome and piercing to my heart
I glory in the wonder and the majesty of Who You are
Chorus
Your majesty and glory I proclaim
The wonder and the power in Jesus’ name
In glory and in wonder I proclaim
The majesty and glory of Your name
Your majesty is awesome
In wonder I proclaim
I glory in the wonder and the majesty in Jesus’ name
Verse
To feel your presence takes my breath away
Like to hold your child the first time
And not quite know what to say
To feel your presence takes my breath away
Like a man blind from his birth who finally sees his father’s face
Your majesty is awesome and full of love and grace
I glory in the wonder and the majesty of Your embrace
It’s all about relationship. I believe God gave us all a sense of wonder - wondering about how things work…how the planets stay in orbit…how vast the universe is…how to know when you’re in love…how to live life as an adventure rather than a drudgery. The answer to all our wonderings can be summed up in one name. Jesus. He is the answer to the things that fill our hearts with wonder and the things that take our breath away. He is worth the twists and turns of life to know…and He wastes nothing. Doesn’t that fill your heart with a sense of wonder?!
Philippians 3:7-14 in the NASB says, 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained [it] or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of [it] yet; but one thing [I do:] forgetting what [lies] behind and reaching forward to what [lies] ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:7-14 NASB
Let’s keep pressing on toward the goal of knowing Jesus even more intimately. It is worth everything it costs…even times of sorrow and suffering make knowing Jesus worth knowing. Just lean into the heart of Jesus today and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Just meditate on the wonder and grandeur of Who He is…and do not be afraid to let a little child-like wonder lead the way…
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to a podcast on this subject and to hear the song from today’s message, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-glory-in-the-wonder-and-the-majesty/
Picture courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/09/10/22/30/fantasy-3668208_1280.jpg
Today’s thoughts are born out of my own experiences of God’s ability to take the chaos of my life and bring it into a semblance of order and beauty. The result for me was the birth of a song called The Rhythm of Life. Read on to find out how the Lord brought my life into sync with the beat of His heart…
In Matthew 11:28-30 NASB, Jesus says, 28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Here’s that same passage in another translation:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll live freely and lightly” The Message (a translation of the Bible by Eugene H. Peterson).
It seems I often go through trying times before a song is given. What is so awesome about God is the way in which He ties seemingly unrelated issues and episodes into one seamless act of love and nurturing - much like an orchestra conductor taking all the various instruments in the orchestra and, by his guidance, leads them all into perfect synchronization!
Many years ago, after a period of back to back ministry times, I began feeling used up and poured out – empty. Of course, the enemy tries to throw all kinds of lies our way during those times of weakness in an effort to get us to fall. On top of my weariness, came the lie that I was not needed. Another lie that soon followed was that no one appreciated me. Of course, those are lies, but Father God used them to reveal my self-pity and pride….and the fact that I need His grace more than ever. The above passage from The Message was the catalyst for the phrase in the song ‘rhythm of grace’. As I meditated on my need for God’s grace in the musical context of rhythm, this song was born! You can listen to it here: http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/the-rhythm-of-life/
I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the LORD continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psalm 16:7-11 NASB
Life is not easy at times. We all experience pain and sorrow from time to time. We all experience discouragement and loneliness from time to time. We all tend to take on and carry burdens we were never intended to carry from time to time. Due to my health crisis, I am having to learn all over again - every day it seems - how to release those cares of the world - the burdens of life - to Him. I often begin the day by doing that very thing.
“Lord, today I give you the burden of Parkinson’s Disease and trust You to carry me through.”
“Lord, right now I give the worries I have for my children and grandchildren to you and trust You to get them through.”
I am learning to see my life, in all of its facets, much like an orchestral symphony that has many different parts and instruments - sorrow, joy, suffering, ecstasy, pain, healing, temptation, and grace. From my human point of view it looks and sounds like chaos. It is when I allow Him to be the conductor that it all comes into sync, each part a facet of the bigger picture - the symphony called life. It is when we allow Him to show us His point of view we are able to see the symphony of our life and how He has used even the messy parts of our life and used them for our good and His glory. This is learning to live in the flow of the rhythm of God’s grace and life.
Rhythm can be syncopated and brisk, feeling out of control. Rhythm can be slow and steady, feeling peace and tranquility. Rhythm can be disrupted when we try to do our own thing while God is at work to bring the beat of our hearts into alignment with the beats - the rhythm - of His heart. Life is best lived to the beat of God’s heart…to the rhythm of life and grace as He sees it.
We really do have to let go of our burdens and let God have them or we will not survive. On the days when I am feeling the effects of Parkinson’s on my body, I let go and get in the flow of God’s grace and I am able to make it through even the times of suffering. God uses it for my good and for His glory…and the burden is shared.
Let me repeat the Message translation of Matthew 11:28-30 one more time just to encourage you with the need to share your burdens with Him…and then do what the verse suggests: let us learn to walk in the unforced rhythms of grace…let us allow Him to conduct the many facets of our life and create something beautiful of the chaos.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll live freely and lightly”
Dennis Jernigan
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/concert-band-orchestra-conductor-662851/
O sing to the LORD a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
Psalm 98:1 NASB
During the 1990s and well into the early 2000s, a friend and I were co-worship leaders at our church. We often had long conversations about what God was doing in our lives and in the life of our church body during those days. During one of our conversations about all God is doing in us and in our church, my friend confessed that he struggled at times with “feeling needed”. I felt impressed to simply begin listing all the ways I could see of how vital his life was to the Body of Christ, and we basically began to exhort one another and build up each other.
When we walk in relationship with others, we tend to want to protect them and serve them…to encourage them. The more I thought about my friend feeling “unneeded”, the more I began to recognize the subtle lies of the enemy that we all tend to believe from time to time in our own lives. During such times, we need to recognize our stinking thinking and kick it to the curb while simultaneously replacing that stinking thinking with the truth of God’s Word.
Here is the truth regarding my friend - and I’ll go out on a limb here and add this: Here is the truth regarding each of us: God has gifted us deeply and the enemy tries to mislead us. God showed me that with my friend, He wanted to take even the hard times and surprise him with His presence.
As I look back upon my life, I can easily see many times when God surprised me with His presence. Like the time in college when a friend threw me a surprise birthday party - something that I had never experienced before - and it took my heart such a deep grip of love I could not help but sob uncontrollably for several minutes. I felt loved. Surprised!
Then there was the time about three years ago when I began experiencing frequent panic attacks. During one such attack, I happened to be driving home at night when my mind began to race with uncontrollable fear and panic. I felt so overwhelmed that I thought I needed to pull over to the side of the road and call for help. As I cried out to God, I simply said, “Father, I need You to help me.”
In that very moment, my phone rang. On the other end was a voice I had not heard from in a few years…a friend who happened to be a Christian counselor. Before I could even tell him what was going on he asked, “When’s the last time someone asked Dennis Jernigan if he was alright?” He went on to say that he assumed everyone thought I was always OK because of who I was. He said, “The Lord just now impressed upon me to give you a call and ask if everything is OK with you.” Of course, I was immediately surprised to find the fear and panic were suddenly being alleviated as I poured out my heart to him. He talked me home and encouraged me to just keep breathing. Talk about being surprised by the Lord’s presence!
Recently, my wife, Melinda, was presenting her jewelry line at a women’s expo. Although she did well in sales, she felt that perhaps the setting was not the best for presentation of her line of jewelry and she wondered why the Lord had her there. During the course of the day, she began a conversation with another woman. After several minutes of conversation, the woman recognized Melinda and told her she had first heard of us when our children attended a camp she was helping direct back in the day.
Melinda shared with her how our children had been ministered to at that camp…that the older children were attending the camp when the twins came 9 weeks early and we almost lost Melinda and how grateful she was for the way the camp and camp counselors had taken care of our children through that week of fiery trial. Melinda was able to express gratitude for all this woman had done for her 25 years ago! A surprise of God’s presence at just the right moment!
During that same women’s expo, Melinda met a young wife and mother who came by her booth. Although Melinda did not recognize her at first, this young beautiful mom told her of the many times, as a teenager, she had spent the night in our home with our daughters (who are still her friends to this day) and how she always felt so loved…felt such peace…felt so safe…and how grateful she was for Melinda’s example of the love of God to her during such formative years. A beautiful surprise blessing from God spoken to my wife at just the right moment! Melinda feels that both these encounters were the reason she was to be a part of this expo…and both came as precious surprises of God’s presence unwrapped like a gift on one’s birthday! We should expect nothing less from such an amazing God. This may sound crazy, but we shouldn’t be surprised at all by the fact that our God loves to surprise His children!
….but just as it is written,
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t like to be surprised by unexpected blessings? I love a surprise visit from one of my children or one of my grandchildren. I love when an old friend calls out of the blue and we take up right where we left off from years before.
In our relationship with God, why should we not expect Him to surprise us with His presence in ways we had never expected? Even though God is always with me, I still find myself being surprised by just how much He loves me and lavishes that love on me. Still surprised at how awesome He is at taking any circumstance - be it good or bad - and using it for my good and His glory. I love those kinds of surprises. Even though it shouldn’t surprise us at all that our God is like that, I still love this little unexpected moments of being surprised by His presence. Here’s a thought: Let’s live our lives like that…expecting to be surprised by ever-deepening expressions of God’s love for us and presence with us. I kinda like it that way…just saying!
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast on this subject, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-like-it-that-way/
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I say this all the time. God wastes nothing. He does not waste our sorrows. He does not waste our wounds…and He does not even waste our failures. In my own life, I have had to realize that He took even my most shameful failures and used them for my own good and for His own glory. Now it seems I am being taken to a whole new level in this realization as I battle Parkinson’s Disease…but our God is able to take the situations and circumstances of our lives - even the painful ones - and make something beautiful of them.I’d like to tell you a brief story about 2 of my friends whom God used to reveal a greater depth of that God kind of love to my own life…but first, I need to share the lyrics of a song called Beyond Compare.
Beyond Compare
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
September 17, 1986
Verse
You are so good in Your mercy
Taking what I cannot bear
Taking a heart life that seemed hopeless
And making it beautiful beyond compare
Chorus
And what the locusts have eaten
My Lord can restore
And what the enemy’s taken
My Lord gives me more
And my Father will mend my heart
When my heart’s torn
There’s nothing that my Father cannot restore
Verse
You are so good in Your mercy
You take all I don’t understand
Taking a heart that was wounded and broken
And bearing me up by Your hand
Chorus
And what the locusts have eaten
My Lord can restore
And what the enemy’s taken
My Lord gives me more
And my Father will mend my heart
When my heart’s torn
There’s nothing that my Father cannot restore
Verse
You are so good in Your mercy
Taking what I cannot bear
Taking a heart life that seemed hopeless
And making it beautiful beyond compare
This song is for my friends, Paul and Debby. God brought them into my life after much persistence on Paul’s part, asking and asking for me to come to minister to their church body in west Texas. Once we did, they endeared themselves to Melinda and me very quickly and we became fast friends. Paul and Debby had both been married before they met each other. Through a series of events, their marriages ended and they met. Believing they were following God’s will, they married.
Subsequently, they encountered the wrath of many in the Body of Christ who condemned them for not seeking reconciliation in their previous relationships. Much damage was done and they were emotionally ravaged by the so called ‘love’ the church ‘blessed’ them with. What most people failed to do was to dig deeper into the truth of what both had experienced.
Both desired their previous marriages to work, yet both experienced abusive behavior from their spouses and had to protect themselves by removing themselves from those hurtful relationships. In leaving those relationships, they found renewed hope and life in Jesus…and found each other in the process.
I believe marriage is sacred and that reconciliation should always be pursued…and so do my friends. God hates divorce and so do I. Yet divorce happens…and the church must deal with it redemptively. Nothing surprises God…and He is big enough to handle the biggest messes of our lives…if we let Him.
After Paul and Debby were married, they were confronted with the truth in a harsh way, yet they both allowed the Holy Spirit to cleanse them of sin on their parts, and both received God’s forgiveness. They could not take back what they thought – in their honest sincerity before the Lord – was the right thing to do in marrying.
God is Redeemer, though, and had chosen to bless this union in many ways. Yet the Body of Christ could not seem to meet them in the reality of their situation. This song came as an affirmation of their value to God, and that He could restore even the biggest messes we get ourselves into and bring about an even greater dependence upon Him than before – and a greater testimony than we ever thought possible. Our Father is the God of Redemption. Shouldn’t His children act like their Father?
When I saw how the body of Christ treated them and how wounded Paul and Debby were…how they felt the enemy had won on my fronts in their lives…like a swarm of locusts had suddenly swarmed in and devoured something precious to Father God, those thoughts led me to this passage in Joel 2: 21-25 NASB:
21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For the LORD has done great things.
22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion,
And be glad in the LORD your God;
For He has given you the early rain for [your] vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain,
The early and latter rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 "Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
This song is for all you out there who thought they were broken beyond repair…for all those who feel their lives have been eaten away by the lies of the enemy…for those who need the ash-heaps of their lives to be restored and made beautiful. Here’s wonderful news: if you are breathing, there is hope. Believe it and then receive it…as often as necessary!
[Eph 1:18-23 NASB] 18 [I pray that] the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. [These are] in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly [places,] 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Can Jesus redeem any situation? Either He can or He can’t. Redemption may not look like what you think it should. God’s redemption is always better than what was taken from us…as we learn to see our lives from His point of view. I believe He can and will redeem any situation if we will simply surrender those situations to Him.
His love can reach as far as we can fall. He restores us by blessing us with even greater blessings than we might have experienced had we not gone through our particular situations. We wastes nothing…not even the parts of our lives sin has eaten away. In your brokenness, turn to Him and allow Him to restore what the locusts have eaten in your life…and live an abundant life from God’s point of view that truly is beyond compare.
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to the song and teaching on Beyond Compare, listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/beyond-compare/
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Far too often, we assume God is doing nothing simply because we cannot see the end of our pain or the light at the end of the tunnel. Reality is not best seen from a human perspective. Reality - truth - is best seen from God’s point of view. Following are the lyrics of a song declaring the reality of God’s victory in my life. Rather than seeing myself as a victim, I choose to see myself as He sees me. I see myself as VICTOR! Read the lyrics to the song then I will share the story behind those lyrics:
He Did It
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan - May 21, 1998
Verse
I know there’s no guarantee
What tomorrow holds for me,
But I know I have victory!
Life brings sorrow, suffering,
But the journey is such joy to me
For I know One who walks with me!
When I pass through the waters
I will not be overcome
When I pass through the fire
I will not be touched!
Ev’ry step of the way Jesus
Is right here besides me!
Ev’ry step of the way
Come what may He is my life
And victory because
Chorus
He did it! He’s done it
That we might overcome it!
He lived it! He’s run it!
He ran the race and won it!
He ran to win! So I run straight to Him!
And I will win because
He did it! He’s done it
That we might overcome it!
I’ll live it! I’ll run it!
I’ll face the race and run it!
I’ll run to Him!
I will run this race and win
When I run to Him!
Verse
Death has no real hold on me!
Life is more than what I see
For I know I have victory!
Jesus took my place, my sin.
Paid my debt then rose to win,
Assuring me of victory!
When I pass through the waters
I will not be overcome!
When I pass through the fire
I will not be touched!
Ev’ry step of the way
Jesus is right here beside me!
Ev’ry step of the way
Come what may he is my life
And victory because…
Chorus
He did it! He’s done it
That we might overcome it!
He lived it! He’s run it!
He ran the race and won it!
He ran to win! So I run straight to Him!
And I will win because
He did it! He’s done it
That we might overcome it!
I’ll live it! I’ll run it!
I’ll face the race and run it!
I’ll run to Him!
I will run this race and win
When I run to Him!
I received the chorus of this song back in November of 1997 – soon after my pastor’s daughter came home from the hospital after very successful liver transplant surgery. For the first few years of her life, it seemed God was not going to heal her, but then He came through with provision just in the nick of time…or so it seemed from our human point of view. God had seen the need and had already set the steps in motion to see it come to fruition…something human eyes find it difficult to perceive much of the time.
The chorus was a very bold proclamation from my heart as a war cry. The enemy had not won! My God had won over her ailment by providing a new liver….much as He had provided Abraham with a ram in the thicket just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac. At that time, the Lord did not see fit to complete the song so I simply put it aside and waited for a more opportune time – and more inspiration!
In May of 1998 another friend expressed some very heart-rending concerns over his Dad’s health. As I prayed for his Dad and asked God for healing over the cancer that had invaded his body, the Lord gave the rest of this song to me as a declaration of what true victory really is. We win – whether we live or whether we die!
During the same time I was thinking of and praying for this friend and his Dad, I happened to watch the TV show, Touched by An Angel. I had never really watched the show before, but for some reason I watched it this night. The story was of a Chinese dissident, imprisoned then tormented by her captors. The angel sent to watch over her told her of God’s love for her…and stood between her and those who would beat her – receiving the beating in her place! As she was led to be executed, the prisoner cried out to the angel, “Are you there?”, to which the angel replied, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…when you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched.” (Isaiah 43:2)
This impressed such a vivid picture upon my heart and mind that this is exactly how much God is with us, for us, and desires to help us in this life. God used all of these components to bring this song to completion…and just as with the characters on the TV show, we win! We win! This truth inspired the rest of the song and came as miraculously as that ram stuck in the thicket for Abraham and Issac…
Jesus died that we might overcome the enemy and sin. Jesus died and rose that we might live and walk out this life in victory, no matter what. We all die…but do we all really live? He who dies well, trusting in faith that God is still Champion, also lives well. This song is for every believer, and captures our truest identity – an integral part of our very being as overcomers. We win!
O sing to the LORD a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
Psalm 98:1 NASB
I know it can be difficult to look past the setbacks of life…like physical ailments or persecution or conflict or lack…but we must be receivers of God’s grace to look PAST those things that vie for our attention and look to the Lord in the HERE AND NOW, fixing our eyes upon Him and seeing each and every situation from His point of view. From His point of view, IT IS FINISHED! Already done!
I have Parkinson’s but I am daily choosing to see my body as healed by faith in Jesus. He is Healer of our ailments. See yourself healed. I have a testimony I will continue to share in spite of what the world thinks of me - in spite of the world’s constant attempts to silence me. I see myself as victor rather than victim.
Due to my illness, my physical mind is under constant attack, but I remind myself that God’s truth is THE truth in spite of what the illness tries to get me to think! I see myself - think thoughts about myself - delivered from stinking thinking.
He is our Deliverer. See yourself as free in spite of persecution. He in our Peace. See yourself as a man/woman of peace today in spite of what others choose to say and do. If we don’t fix our eyes on Jesus and see life from His point of view, we tend to lose hope…and hope deferred makes the heart sick according to Proverbs 13:12 NASB. Plainly and simply, we must walk in victory as overcomers by God’s grace…and kick the lies of the enemy - and victimhood - to the curb. Just read the end of the Book, ya’ll. We win! ‘Nuff said!
Dennis Jernigan
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:2-4 NASB
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast and to hear the song He Did It, just got to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/he-did-it-1575394806/
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The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Psalm 19:1 NASB
What do we mean when we say we want to see God’s glory? Generally, that simply means we want to see Him manifest His presence in some way. The word glory literally means ‘the weight of His presence’. We have but to look to all of creation to see and feel the sheer weight of His presence…and even if we feel nothing, our faith steps in and allows us to recognize His presence in spite of our lack of feeling!
I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And will glorify Your name forever.
For Your lovingkindness toward me is great,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
Psalm 86:12-13 NASB
Understanding that we are able to witness God’s glory leads to the question ‘What does it mean for me to glorify God?’ I believe it means that we are to believe He enjoys the weight of our presence! Sounds a bit crazy, but I believe that this is true. Just how do we give God the weight of our presence? By being present with Him!
When I am with my children or grandchildren, I simply enjoy being with them. I am quite sure I enjoy their presence much more than they enjoy mine…but isn’t that the way it is with Father God and us? I believe He takes more delight in my presence than I take in His! I love ‘being’ with my children! I love hearing them laugh. I enjoy providing comfort when necessary. I enjoy helping them out in times of crisis. I enjoy it mostly when they let me into their lives and allow me to be a part of their lives…and if I, being an earthly father, feel that way, how much more does our heavenly Father feel that same way towards us?!
How do I glorify God? I express my need for Him. I lean into Him. I receive His love for me. I express my love for Him. I express my gratitude to Him for all He has done for me. I revel in His ability to use all things for my good and relish in the fact that He wastes nothing. In other words, I allow Him to bear the weight of my soul…to bear the weight of my identity…to bear the weight of my afflictions…to bear the weight of my suffering and sorrow…to bear the weight of my illness…to bear the weight of my failure. How do I glorify God? I give Him - I trust Him with - all of me.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 NASB
When I sense the weight of God’s presence, I find it easier to give Him the weight of mine. When I feel or sense nothing of His presence, that is the point of grace where my faith kicks into gear and I put off the lies of the enemy and replace those lies with the truth of Who God is in that moment.
We are wired, as new creations, to glorify God and we are wired to endure the heavy weight life can bring to our soul from time to time. How do we endure? We glorify God! How do we do that most effectively? We fix our eyes upon Jesus and we receive the grace He has for us in that moment, trusting He causes all things to work together for our good.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB
When we fix our eyes upon Jesus, we effectively take our gaze away from our problems and transfix our eyes on the author of Hope, Jesus Christ. Perspective changes the way we think. Changing the way we think changes the way we feel. Changing the way we feel changes our attitude and leads us to change our behavior…and always brings glory - the weight of our presence - to God in the form of a grateful heart!
The bottom line is this: we are constantly surrounded by the glory of God in spite of our circumstances. Even when we feel alone or abandoned or feel tremendous pain - or feel completely numb - the weight of His presence is like a heavy blanket on a cold winter’s night to our weary, world-worn souls. We but have to lean into His glory with the weight of our own presence - our awareness that He is there and that we can trust Him - to bring glory to the King.
Let me make this easy for us. When in doubt, worship and glorify God. When you don’t know what to do in a certain circumstance, worship and glorify God. When you feel completely and utterly hopeless and defeated, worship and glorify God. He is our glory. Let us be His…
But You, O LORD, are a shield about me,
My glory, and the One who lifts my head.
Psalm 3:3 NASB
Dennis Jernigan
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To listen to The Dennis Jernigan podcast titled Glory to the King, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/glory-to-the-king/
Glory to the King
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan - May 22, 1997
Verse
I will worship my Redeemer
Just because He first loved me
I will worship my Redeemer
Who gave His life to set me free
I will worship my Redeemer
Who by His blood has washed me clean
I will worship my Redeemer
Bow my life before my King
Chorus
Glory to the King Who died to set me free
With all that’s in my soul
There’s not enough to say or do
The depth of love I feel for You
You took my sin away left me redeemed
Glory to the King Whose blood has washed me clean
And all I know is knowing You has set my spirit free
Joy is knowing You know me
And knowing me I know You’re all I need
I will worship my Redeemer
I will worship my Redeemer
Verse
I will worship You, no other
No one loves me like You do
I will worship You, no other
There is no other God like You
I will worship You no other
I find my hope in Your embrace
I will worship You, no other
Resting in Your saving grace
Chorus
Glory to the King Who died to set me free
With all that’s in my soul
There’s not enough to say or do
The depth of love I feel for You
You took my sin away left me redeemed
Glory to the King Whose blood has washed me clean
And all I know is knowing You has set my spirit free
Joy is knowing You know me
And knowing me I know You’re all I need
I will worship my Redeemer
I will worship my Redeemer
I will worship my Redeemer
I will worship my Redeemer
Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
Psalm 41:9 NASB
Remember when David's men had become upset with him because while they were away in battle the enemy had stolen their wives and children (1 Samuel 30:1-6)? Though they wanted to stone David, King David encouraged himself in the Lord. I can identify somewhat with David now. Many years ago, I experienced some brothers in the Lord attacking me. Being raised in a certain denominational arena, God had allowed me the opportunity to grow beyond the boundaries of denominational lines in my ministry. In other words, He had called me to the whole body of Christ and not to only one separate part.
Still, I had dreamed of actually ministering to those from my denominational heritage. I had been asked to lead worship at a statewide gathering, and was actually excited about yet another dream coming true. It was not to be.
Long story short: I was uninvited at the last minute because a letter had been circulated which made accusations against me and also against my pastor. The accusations?
1) I have questionable doctrinal beliefs (that pesky Holy Spirit stuff).
2) I cause division in the Body of Christ.
3) I actively proselytize from other churches.
All lies...hurtful for me, for my pastor, and for my family. I (along with my pastor) was able to face my accusers...but the damage had been done. Rather than sulk and fret over these attacks, I decided to ask the Lord for a song of deliverance that I could use to sing over my own soul…to do as David had done…to encourage myself in the Lord! Following are the lyrics to that song:
Overcomer
WORDS & MUSIC - Dennis Jernigan - September 23, 1997
Verse
Warrior, stand up proud
In the name of Lord Jesus
Proclaim your allegiance long and loud
Warrior, stand up proud
Fight the fight, face your foe and put him beneath the knee you bow
To the Lord your God
To the overcoming God Who wins
You will be afflicted on every side
Though not despairing or crushed inside
You will be persecuted but live or die
Your Lord is waiting arms open wide
Chorus
Overcomer, stand up and fight
Stand up for freedom
Lay down your life
Overcomer, stand up and fight
Stand and lead others into the Light
That can pierce any night
And leads with love into the arms open wide
Of the Overcomer, Lord Jesus Christ
Verse
Warrior, stand in grace
When the battle grows so fierce remember Who wins and seek His face
Dear Warrior, stand in grace
Whether living or dying
Remember to reach for His embrace
For the Lord Your God is an overcoming God Who wins
Bridge
Overcome the foe by the blood of the Lamb
Declaring your redemption by faith you stand
And do not love your life to the point of death
True life begins with each dying breath
Enter your rest
1 [A Psalm] of David.
Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of buckler and shield
And rise up for my help.
3 Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, "I am your salvation.”
Psalm 35:1-3 NASB
Even in the midst of my battle with the illness of Parkinson’s - a battle that attacks my mind constantly - I do not allow that illness or attack to define me. The truth is still the truth regardless of whether I battle an illness or battle the betrayal of brothers in Christ or battle the lies of the enemy.
God has called us, as new creations, to be overcomers…period! It doesn’t matter if we are betrayed, or mocked, or scorned, or beaten, or cast aside, or forced to stand alone! We are still overcomers! This is simply our spiritual DNA as new creations in Christ!
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:1-4 NASB
Lies will always come. Betrayals are always a possibility. Physical weakness will eventually come to us all…but not one of those things should ever define us or negate the truth! We are who Father God says we are. Period! Be who God says you are today. You ARE an overcomer and you CAN take to heart these words Paul wrote to the church in Rome:
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 NASB
Let’s do that today, brothers and sisters. Let’s overcome evil with good!
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to a podcast on being an overcomer and to hear the song, Overcomer, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/overcomer-1574180492/
Picture courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/10/02/13/19/sunrise-3718852__480.jpg
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
Psalm 42:1-2 NASB
Do you ever go through times of spiritual or emotional dryness? I do. When I pour out of my own soul into my work or my ministry or into other people, I tend to use up the Living Water that God filled me with for that day. Before I know it, I have used that day’s supply and find myself giving out of my own strength - and waking up to find myself stranded in a desert of my own making! What do I do?
In the desert places of life, we still have access to the well that never runs dry…the well from which we draw Living Water…the presence of God in our lives! When I find myself in one of those desert times, I am learning to stop what I am doing and do whatever it takes to refill my soul-tank with Living Water. Sometimes that means withdrawing from people and taking a nap. Sometimes that means worshiping God with my entire being. Sometimes that means a walk in the woods, just me and my God, is in order. Sometimes it means playing with my grandchildren. Sometimes it simply means to cease serving and know God intimately…releasing the cares of the world to Him.
"Cease [striving] and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10 NASB
One of my favorite pictures of being filled - being refilled - with God’s presence - His Spirit - is to become like a little child running in a spring rain, face toward the heavens, mouth open wide, arms outstretched, taking in and being soaked with all of God’s presence and love as I can get! That’s what I desire and seek after when I worship God with my entire being.
Living Water brings new life.
Living Water cleanses and restores.
Living Water heals.
Living Water fills us with grace.
Living Water fills us with love.
Living Water is always available to us…
7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:7-14 NASB
Let us not be afraid to take the necessary steps to be filled and refilled with God’s presence as often as needed. Relationship with Jesus is like living life in an oasis that goes wherever we go and that is available in and through any circumstances. We never have to worry about having our thirst quenched if we simply walk in relationship with Jesus and with others. Relationship is life. Relationship with Jesus is water to our weary soul any time, any place, and under any circumstance. Let’s drink deep of His Living Waters today and allow Him to quench the thirst of our soul.
As the deer pants after the water…
As a child running for joy in the rain…
As a vessel of the Living Water of Jesus Christ to the world around us…
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to a podcast with more teaching on this subject, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/like-falling-rain/
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/landscape-desert-storm-sand-clouds-4436637/
Each year during the fall months, I begin anticipating the Christmas season and just how I can remind the world - and my children and grandchildren - of the reason Christmas even exists.
Without the birth of Jesus we would never have been afforded the opportunity for second birth! What a great gift the world has been given. The greatest gift. Salvation from sin and relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ!
As I listen to Christmas songs in the world around me, I was am often discouraged that not one single song the radio stations or TV shows play even mention the name of Jesus. As I think about how we got to this point in our culture, I begin to try and see from God’s perspective on the matter. I am not here for my glory or pleasure - but I am here to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that the world be drawn to the real reason for the Christmas season that many would be reminded of - or learn of - the reality of Jesus Christ.
…for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 NASB
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NASB
Let’s do something about the way the world views Christmas. Let’s simply celebrate Christ and His birth in simple ways that demonstrate His love - His gift - to the world around us. Let’s focus on Who Jesus is and why He came in the first place over the next two weeks.
How is He your Wonderful Counselor? How is He Your Mighty God? How is He your Eternal Father? How is He your Prince of Peace?
Let us make these next two week all about Jesus in our own lives - regardless of what the world says or does. We can do that by celebrating His birth and by giving thanks for all He has done to bless us. How do we do that? Let us make room for Him in the innermost depths of our being…in every area and in every aspect of our lives. He truly and simply was born to save us. Let us never forget that.
Dennis Jernigan
Picture courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/10/28/15/51/christmas-1010749_1280.jpg
To listen to the podcast version of this teaching, got to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/he-was-born-to-save-us/
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:7-8 NASB
During the month of November here in the US, we often turn our thoughts toward things we are grateful for simply because we celebrate a day of Thanksgiving. If I could only be thankful for one thing, you know what that one thing would be? The love of God!
When I was bound up in sin, I often felt overwhelmed…like when trapped in the surge of a wave in a stormy sea. As soon as I felt I had found my footing, another wave of temptation and failure would wash over me, and I would struggle all over again. Wave after wave…wave upon wave…of shame and self-hatred kept me from ever getting to shore…to safety.
I found it difficult - impossible - to believe someone could love me. So trapped in the cycle of waves of the lies of the enemy was I that escape seemed always just out of reach. So incredible was this constant bombardment of waves that I decided I could end it all once and for all…by taking my own life. Deciding to asphyxiate myself, I turned on a gas heater and did not light the flame…but after a few minutes, fear overcame me and I turned off the gas…and went right back into the same old cycle of sin…of believing the lies of the enemy.
Soon after, I hit rock bottom. Just gave into the waves and was swept out into the sea of hopelessness, beyond help. Unlovable. Completely self-focused. I gave up and gave into the waves, going wherever they took me…until those waves were met by a tsunami.
That tsunami was the love of God. Like a wave of pure truth, God’s love hit me right where I was and swept me into a brand new identity. In the moment I got honest about my need for rescue and my need for truth - for something real to hold on to for my sanity - God’s love reached me in the depths of my despair and pulled me up and onto solid ground. Waves were still there…but they were not the same as before.
A wave of God’s loved rolled over me in that moment and said, “Your sin is not too vile for me to forgive.”
Before I could even fully apprehend how good that wave felt, I was hit by another one that said, “I’ve been searching for you for your entire life.”
Soon, wave upon wave of God’s love came rolling over me, yet I never felt so safe in all my life! One wave said, “I love you right where you are and I love you enough to not leave you there.”
Another wave said, “I have washed away your past and have redeemed you from every failure and will wash away even your regrets.”
No sooner would I recover from the goodness of one wave than I would be hit by yet another and another and another! Waves that spoke healing and guidance and forgiveness and mercy and mental stability and emotional security and waves that opened my eyes to the reality that I had been lied to my whole life…but that the waves of God’s love - truth - could set me free from anything!
Like an ocean of endless waves, they keep coming over me…waves of God’s love. Waves that sing songs of deliverance to me through the night. Waves that remind me I am never alone. Waves that show me the powerful love of God so great it would not waste any part of my life…even my failures.
Here are a few more waves directly from God’s Word to us:
A wave so massive it covers all my sin…
Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.
Proverbs 10:12 NASB
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober [spirit] for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:7-8 NASB
A wave that tells me I was worth His very life…
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NASB
A wave that tells me I was wanted and that I have a specific purpose and destiny…
'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’ Jeremiah 29:11 NASB
The waves of God’s love are always rolling over us. We can either forget they are there or we can choose to not believe they are there. I choose to believe - even when waves of illness wrack my physical body…even when strife raises its ugly head…even when bad things happen to good people…even when the world thinks it gets to define what love is…even when I don’t feel anything. I simply step into the continual waves of God’s love for me and allow Him to consume me with the ride of a lifetime with Him!
Of course, there are tons of tangible ways God’s love rolls over me in waves…
A faithful, adoring, supportive, always-ready-to-love-me wife…
Nine amazing children and their spouses who constantly shower me with love…
Eleven grandchildren who roll over me with the innocence of loving me just because I exist…
Friends literally all around the world who fight the good fight of faith with me and for me…
The love of God is both Solid Rock on which to stand and incredible wave upon massive wave of His love for me. It is the only place in our existence where we get to live a beautiful paradox…being knocked off our feet of self-centeredness by wave after wave of His amazing love and yet always standing firm and safe on the Solid Rock and foundation of Jesus Christ.
I say to the God Who loves me like that, “Sweep over me, Father. I want to be swept over and carried away by the very essence of Who You are within the boundless, depths of the ocean of your love standing firmly on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ…”
Dennis Jernigan
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/wave-water-surf-ocean-sea-spray-3473335/
For more on this topic, listen to this episode of The Dennis Jernigan Podcast at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/sweep-over-me/
Why do I love Jesus? The answer to that question is really quite simple. I love Jesus because He first loved me!
We love, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19 NASB
The next obvious answer that comes to my mind is equally as simple. I love Him simply for Who He is! He is worthy of my love and honor and praise because of Who He is. He is God! He is Savior! He is Redeemer! He is King! He is Lord! He is love!
"Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Revelations 4:11 NASB
To help me with my own attitude and with the renewal of my own mind today, I decided to make a quick list of all the reasons I have to love Jesus. Here is what came off the top of my head is in the order in which they came to me.
I love Jesus because…
He brought me out of darkness.
He changed my identity forever.
He healed my broken heart.
He is with me always.
He is for me.
He forgave me of my sin.
He rescued me from certain death and destruction.
He broke the chains of sin that used to bind my mind.
He is my best Friend.
He is my Brother.
He carries me when I am weak.
He comforts me in sorrow.
He calls me by name.
He delights in my presence.
He surrounds me with songs of deliverance.
He has blessed me with the perfect wife.
He has blessed me with nine children.
He has blessed me with 11 ( so far ) grandchildren.
He has given me friends to walk alongside.
He fills my heart and soul with music.
He lets me see life from His point of view.
He loves me right where I am.
He loves me enough to not leave me there.
His name causes the enemy to flee from my mind.
He is my peace.
He is my provider.
He is my holiness.
He is my righteousness.
He is my victory.
He is my healer.
He is my shepherd.
He is my all in all.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea! I challenge you to make a list of all the reasons you love Jesus…and then thank Him for all the blessings that list reveals…and then, go and be like Him - imitate that love to those around you - by walking the journey of life in love!
Dennis Jernigan
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesian 5:1-2 NASB
Listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast titled O, I Love Him at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/o-i-love-him/
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/adventure-back-carefree-casual-2548133/
Spring blossoms into Summer. Summer lazes into Autumn. Autumn poetically paints a brilliant display as it fades away into the cold, blustery winter. Winter roars into spring…and the whole cycle starts all over again.
Life is full of seasons. Childhood and the fun memories created by just learning to be alive. We wish those days could last forever. The teen years when our bodies become engorged in the confusing infusion of hormones and the way we can’t wait to grow out of that confusion and into adulthood. Adulthood arrives and the passion of young men and women grows into working to provide, building careers, following our dreams. Marriages take place. Families begin. Children come and grow and leave home. Old age comes in reminding us of winter. So many seasons of life.
Seasons of despair and suffering. Seasons of ecstasy and delight. Seasons of heartache and disappointment. Seasons of joy and contentment. Seasons of sorrow and mourning. Seasons of welcome and friendship. Seasons of betrayal and loss. Seasons of good health and prosperity. Seasons of disease and confusion. Seasons of healing and hope. Seasons of wounds and death. Seasons always change…but seasons always end…and that is good news.
I have enjoyed a very blessed and wonderful life, yet that life has been riddled with scorn and mockery due to my deliverance and faith. My life has gone through periods of wondering where our next meal would come from to having more than enough to share with others. I have known seasons of great success and seasons of great failure. I am currently facing a season of little income yet enjoying the beauty and mystery of God’s always-faithful provision. I am currently going through a season of the very real battle for my life as I learn to navigate the warfare required to battle Parkinson’s Disease yet enjoying the utter joy of knowing my God wastes nothing. As I look back upon the many seasons of my life - the seasons within the seasons - I am buoyed with hope…my soul feels as if it is soaring. How can this be, especially when facing a literal life and death battle? It’s really quite simple. God wastes nothing…and every season must come to an end. After my physical life on this earth ends, guess what? I get to start a whole new season in life with Jesus. If the seasons I have experienced here on earth are any indication, the seasons of heaven will be nothing less than spectacular and glorious and joyful and nowhere near boring!
If you are facing a difficult season of life, know two things. One: God will not waste it if you give it to Him and allow Him to show you His perspective. Two: this season will come to an end. That’s the way it is.
Changing seasons makes me happy. Changing seasons brings growth. Changing seasons ushers in periods of rest. Changing seasons means beauty is about to explode all around me like the blossoms of spring. Changing seasons means a new adventure is about to begin…and that brings joy and contentment to my soul.
Seasons come and seasons go, but one things remains constant. God is with us…
Dennis Jernigan
1 There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven--
2 A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NASB
I would encourage you to listen to The Dennis Jernigan podcast and the song “I Will Still Be With You”. It is all about the seasons of life and how to live them from God’s point of view. Listen at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-will-still-be-with-you/
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/fall-autumn-red-season-woods-1072821/
I realize it is not the air I breathe that gives me life. It is the One who decides if I get my next breath who gives me life. Apart from Him I am nothing and I have nothing. But thanks be to God! I am His child! What is mine is His. And all the He is is mine! Reality is that I really do need Him and the truth is I need to remember how desperately my life depends on Him.
[Psa 121:1-8 NASB]
1 A Song of Ascents.
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help [comes] from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
Need I say more? God’s Word says it all and sums it up nicely. God is the keeper and sustainer of our lives. Let’s live like we believe that this week!
Dennis Jernigan
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/sheep-farmer-shepherd-agriculture-690198/
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast concerning this teaching and to hear the song, Keeper and Sustainer of My Life, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/keeper-and-sustainer-of-my-life/
In Exodus 33, Moses asks God to allow him to see His glory and God responds in verse 20, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
I believe that if we, as humans, saw the face of God we would not be able to survive the magnificence and majesty and beauty and holiness and glory and redeeming love expressed in His face due to the fact that seeing His face would overload our human minds! Yet, we find in Psalm 11:7 that God’s Word says, “For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.” How can this be true in light of God’s Word to Moses?
On one hand, there will come a day when we see God face to face in heaven…but what about the here and now? I believe both are possible. When I worship God, I believe I see glimpses of His face…His persona. Like catching small glimpses of the Lord’s perfect love or short glances of His amazing grace or stealing a peek at how my Father sees me, I believe - in a sense - that I see and meet with Him face to face as I worship. Although I have not seen Him with my physical eyes, I have seen Him with and through my spiritual eyes!
His Word is very clear: the righteous will see His face. If I am born again, I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus…therefore I can ‘see’ His face with and through my spiritual eyes!
How awesome to think that we are righteous by virtue of the blood of Jesus – and nothing else. I cannot work for His approval. I have it. And to think He calls me His own? I cannot contain it. Bless You, Lord!
Matthew 5:8 NASB says, "Blessed are the pure in heart [the righteous], for they shall see God.”
It is in the walking out of our relationship with God - renewing our minds with the truth of who Father says we are - that we experience true intimacy with God! And I don’t think that means we have to wait until heaven to experience that! This is here and now relationship with God Almighty!
Philippians 3:8-9 NASB 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith…
Let’s walk in righteousness by faith today and let the Word of God permeate our hearts and minds this week as we remind ourselves that we are the righteousness of God in and through Christ Jesus by virtue of His blood! Let’s meet with Him face to face - nothing hidden between us. This is the place of abundant life…regardless of our circumstances. Believe it and receive it!
Dennis Jernigan
Photo courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/man-face-look-people-sad-emotion-164217/
