That's My King

When I think about what Jesus did on the cross I must think about what he endured prior to being crucified. In John 19 we see just what happened as told by John. John 19: 1 So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple cloak on Him; 3 and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapped Him in the face again and again. 4 And then Pilate came out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.” 5 Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” 6 So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for I find no grounds for charges in His case!” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

Jesus died so that we might have the opportunity to receive eternal life in heaven and abundant life here on earth. Without Him there is no hope, but with Him there is eternal hope. When I think and read about the pain Jesus went through for me, I make it very personal and not just what He did for the world. This sacrifice should hit deep for me and you, but sometimes we can look at what Jesus did and miss the personal part of the sacrifice. When I was a youth pastor I would take a group of youth to camp every year and they would hear great preaching and experience Bible Study that was more intense and real. We would have them get away in a personal quiet time every day and we would require they spend about 30 minutes alone with God.

On the last night of camp God would have begun to be very real to them and those who were lost began to see that Jesus was the way to salvation. Those who were just "church kids" who had not grown in the Lord were convicted about their lack of spiritual growth and their sin was made evident to them. There would be a very large movement on that last night of camp due to God working, but there was some misunderstanding by some of what was happening. One particular year at camp there was a group of girls who hung around each other the whole week and one of those girls was needing Jesus. Apparently her quiet times with her God were starting to wear away at her excuses for running from God. On the last night of camp she was so convicted that she came forward to receive Jesus, and all of those other girls came forward with her like it was a group decision. When I talked to her the other girls were all gathered around and they were all weeping. The girl prayed to receive Jesus and then I turned to the other girls one by one. The first girl looked surprised when I asked her "What is your decision?" She was under the impression that Jesus was combining her with first girls commitment, to which I told her "It doesn't work that way." She proceeded to say "But didn’t Jesus die for the whole world?" I told her He did die for the sins of the world but we come to Him as individual souls needing salvation and we can't receive Him through someone else. We must deal with Jesus one on one and nothing else.

Her misunderstanding of what was happening surprised me so I proceeded to tell her that Jesus died individually for her sin and when she repents and turns to Him in faith He saves her as an individual. She felt great conviction for her sins and received Jesus by faith when she heard the truth. There is at times a great misrepresentation of what a "personal" relationship is with Jesus. Church folk sometimes think that if they have attended a church all their life and lived a relatively good life, they will go to heaven. NOPE. Jesus deals with us on a very personal and individual way and when we repent we are not repenting to be better than others, we are repenting because we are going the wrong way and we need Jesus to be made right. We do an injustice to the cross and all the suffering of Jesus to try and make any decision we make a group decision. That is religion and it is worthless for salvation. Religion is what put Jesus on the cross. Man-flawed religion. Anything that has any of man in it is flawed, so we must come to Jesus by faith and ask Him to save us and the Word of God promises we are born again in the Spirit. Without this born again experience we are lost and going to hell should we die. John 3:3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We see the need to read God's Word and ask God speak to us as individuals and show us His ways. God has a very personal plan for your life and it does not come from a group decision. That plan is personally made for you and you alone, so get alone with God, maybe in a quiet time, and spend some time in His Word and ask Him to show you His ways, and He will!!

Jesus is not just a king!! Jesus is MY king and He cares so much for you and where you are going and He wants to lead the way. It will probably be different than any other person on this earth, but that is ok, because He knows what is best for You!! Get into God's Word and spend some quality time in prayer with God asking for His guidance, and you might be surprised when He gives you a Word from His Word. I believe in Him and how He is working in my life because THAT'S MY KING!!

Today's Message,

David Warren