The Message

"Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because My message does not find a place in your hearts." John 8:37

In one of my prayer journals, I've written in response to the above Scripture, "Father, may Your messages never cease to find their place in my heart." That needs to be my prayer, and I expect yours as well, because His messages so often don't find a place in our heart.

Jesus brought a message of life to the Jewish people. He was the Messiah they had been looking for and expecting, but the majority of them, especially their religious leaders, missed Him completely. They didn't like His message. They didn't like the way He brought His message, and they especially didn't like what the reception of His message would mean; total inward transformation. They had attitudes and expectations that Jesus and His message didn't meet. They wanted a Messiah, a King, who would drive off the Romans, and raise Israel to power and authority over the Gentile nations. They were looking for a world style kingdom, but Christ offered and invited them to the Kingdom of God. His message so disappointed and angered them that some thought Him too dangerous to allow to live, and so they sought His death. His message didn't find its way into their hearts. Has it fully found its way into ours?

We call the Gospel of Christ "The Good News," and if you count yourself among those who affirm that they have received the good news of Jesus Christ and His offer of new life, you'd likely say that His message has found its way into your heart. Perhaps it has in part, but has it done so in the whole? Can we dare to admit that His good news is not good news to our flesh, to our self-centeredness and pride, and to our determination to be in control of our lives. It is not good news to the sinful desires we want to cling to, or the toxic attitudes and habits we want to indulge. Like the Jews, we want a Savior, but we don't want one that means to totally transform us from the inside out. We'd like a Savior that will leave us mostly untouched....from the inside out.

I don't remember who said it, but it too is written down in my prayer journal. "Stop asking God to save you. He wants to kill you." That sounds harsh at first, until we realize that is exactly what He does wish to do, and exactly what our fallen flesh doesn't want. The whole message of the Gospel is that it wishes to "kill" all that is killing us. Sin, and all its effects in our lives. We professing believers can show a remarkable ability to "make a decision for Christ," and yet allow the ongoing and growing presence of sinful behaviors in our lives. We get comfortable with them, even cling to them. Jesus Christ means to bring them, and us, to the cross, and crucify both. That isn't good news to our fallen flesh, but it is life to those that will receive it.

We may not live in the place of all that I speak of above, but can we dare to allow Him to search us for where we haven't received His "message" into our hearts? How many times over the course of just the last week have we been convicted, convinced, of a spiritual need, of something He wished to change, cleanse, or heal in our lives? Whether He did so through reading His Word, hearing a biblical message, or even a song, we felt the gentle but sure sting of His Spirit telling us this thing had to go. When that happened, did His "message" find a place in our hearts, or did we find a way to "kill it" by ignoring it, or saying we'd address it later, or just convince ourselves it really isn't that big an issue? Where, in the day to day matters of our lives, is His message not finding a place in our heart?

He is always speaking to us. What are we hearing and receiving? What do we take into our hearts, and to what are we closing the door on? Do we really desire His whole message, even when we feel the sting of His rebuke? Does His message find its way into your heart, or do you find a way to avoid His message?

Blessings,

Pastor O