RETIRING OR RE-FIRING?
I feel confident in saying that no one reading this article would be unaware of the death of Michael Jackson. Whilst there must be hundreds of Michael Jackson’s in the world, for millions of his adoring fans they would echo “There’s only one Michael Jackson”. He has certainly left a legacy in all kinds of ways, but I guess it is through music that he will be most fondly remembered.
It’s undoubtedly my age, but Michael Jackson’s is not the only death I have been confronted with recently as over the last month or two there have been five other people that I have known to a greater or lesser degree who have died; some suddenly and some after a period of illness. Death is a sobering thing and when there are several of them in a short space of time, they can have the effect of causing you to refocus and reassess your priorities.
At the tender age of 64, I have become a little disappointed at the number of God’s people who have decided to literally as well as metaphorically “Retire to the country”. I can understand people growing weary and feeling the need to take a rest etc, but I hate to see passion die. I love the fact that Abraham & Sarah were still going for it in their 90s (even in the bedroom!) and that despite a number of very public misdemeanours along the way, they kept on going, pursuing the purposes of God for their lives.
By faith, you and I as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are connected to Abraham and the promise is that through Abraham’s seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. If you are alive therefore and you belong to Jesus it follows that you are called to bring blessing wherever you go.
Every morning when you awake it is good to thank God that you have the gift of life and that by his wonderful grace you have breath in your body and you can make a difference to the world today. You have the life of god within you, you have the mind of Christ and the love of God has filled your heart by the Holy spirit. The joy of the Lord is your strength, you are an overcomer and you can do all things through Christ who gives you the strength.
Consider for a moment the woman in the Gospels who had the issue of blood; she had been ill for more than 12 years and there was no cure. She was considered an outcast of society. She had spent all her money on doctors, medicines and potions, but nothing worked for her and now she was broke and filled with despair. One day she must have heard about Jesus, of the miracles he did and that he would be passing nearby. The woman, though weary and no doubt full of rejection and emotional pain, made a decision to get out of her house and get to Jesus. Initially she might have been put off by the crowds as you and I might have been. She had, however, arrived at the point of desperation in her life. Last chance saloon had arrived for this woman, it was now or never. With determination and desperation throbbing in her veins she pressed through the crowd and fell at the feet of Jesus just managing to connect and touch his garment. The power of god hit the woman and she was immediately healed and her life was transformed.
What then about the blind man Bartimaeus? He had been blind from birth and begging at the side of the road for a long time. Again, as with the woman previously, he must have heard about Jesus and the miracles he had been performing. When news reached him that Jesus would be passing by, hope and faith arose in his heart that just maybe things could be different. He waited, listening intently for news of Jesus’ impending arrival. When he heard the commotion because Jesus was getting nearer, he began to shout excitedly to attract Jesus’ attention. Jesus the miracle worker was passing by and in no way did Bartimaeus want to miss him. Some of the religious people of course told the man to shut up and have a little respect, but again as with the woman we looked at earlier, this was no time for being quiet. This again seemed like last chance saloon and Bartimaeus cried out all the more. The Scripture says that he shouted with a loud voice “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me”. Of course we now know that Jesus restored the man’s sight and he became a devoted follower from then on.
Even though I am physically blind and have been since the age of 19, Jesus opened my spiritual eyes when I was 21. ON my one and only visit to a service at Westminster Chapel I saw that Jesus had died for my sins and that he had been raised to life for evermore. I heard and believed that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world and that I needed to surrender my life to him and accept him as my Lord and Saviour. I have walked with him ever since in the knowledge that by his grace and mercy my sins are forgiven and that I have the free gift of eternal life. I am so excited about that and I want the world to know that there is only one god and only one King and his name is Jesus.
Just as with the man and the woman in the Bible stories outlined above, there are still millions of desperate people out there in the world who are pressing in and shouting for Jesus not to pass them by. Clamouring voices and desperate cries are reaching the ears of our God every moment of every day and he responds to those needs wherever they be in the world. Desperate people get their prayers answered, just like the guys who ripped the roof off a house in order to bring their sick friend to Jesus.
How desperate are you and I to get our needs met? How desperate are we to see our loved ones saved or healed. How desperate are we to see revival in this land? Lukewarmness, apathy, indifference and cynicism won’t stop Jesus in his tracks when so many are calling out with hungry hearts and thirsty souls. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst Jesus said so maybe we need to begin by praying and asking God to create in us that hunger and thirst.
For some of us, this might be “Last chance saloon” for none of us knows how many days we have left here on planet Earth. We wake up each day and have breath in our bodies only by the grace of God. It was said of David that he served the purposes of God in his generation and that should be our desire too.
God has promised in these last days to pour out his Holy spirit on all flesh, even yours and mine. Will you join me in crying out to God, just as Jabez did? “Oh Lord that you would bless me and enlarge my borders”. Jabez’s cry was from deep within his heart; it was a passionate longing for the blessings of God upon himself and his generation. Let you and I cry out therefore for God to visit us with his Holy spirit. Refresh, revive and restore us oh Lord individually, in our families, in our local churches and in the nation as a whole. Set us on fire Lord and cause us to burn brightly for you and spread to all the nations of the world. Through me oh God let the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and the dead be raised just as you promised.
Lord let your Kingdom come here on Earth as it is in Heaven and may your glorious Church become the beautiful bride of Christ in order to welcome King Jesus to commence his reign on Earth.
I began by referring to Michael Jackson so I will conclude in the same manner. How exciting it was at the memorial concert for the singer to hear the Andre Crouch classic “Soon and very soon we are going to see the King” being broadcast live to an estimated one billion people. Well for some of us we are going to see the King very soon when we die. For many others, however, we are going to see the King as part of that final generation, who have done the will of God, have proclaimed the Gospel to every nation in the world and are truly walking in our God-given authority as believers and have subdued the powers of darkness under our feet. Then and only then Jesus will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to receive his beautiful bride – one glorious united Church ruling and reigning in all the Earth.
I would love to be alive when that happens, but one thing is sure, I have determined in my heart to be like Abraham and to keep on pressing in for more and more of God and to experience his presence, power and anointing more and more in my life. No settling down or retirement for me, how about you?
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