You're the One That I Want!!
The movie Grease came out in 1978 with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the starring roles playing Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. Their interaction was highlighted by a song that became a hit to you Grease followers. That song title is You're the One That I Want!! It is so well known you probably in your mind said the following when you heard the title; ooo. ooo. ooo, honey! Here are a few more lyrics. You better shape up 'Cause I need a man And my heart is set on you You better shape up You better understand To my heart I must be true Nothing left Nothing left for me to do. You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed
In Luke 1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,favored woman! The Lord is with you! 9 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!
How bout that? God comes to Mary with a plan that will change everything for all time. Of course Mary was confused as to how God would want to use her, since she was just a young girl, but Mary had a purpose when God gave her a purpose and God does the same thing for you and me!!
When I was almost eleven years old God layed my name on a dear lady's heart and she began steps to reach out to my mother and me. The lady was Audra Lee Stone, and her heart for serving God impacted my life forever, as she proceeded to reach out to my lost mother and then to me by asking me to come to Vacation Bible School. In the days ahead I attended Vacation Bible School and the church followed up on my name and the pastor, Jim Hylton came to my home and led my mom to Christ! I didn't accept the offer at that time but one of my friends, Bruce Kissinger shared Christ with me after church one day in the prayer room of the church and I really starting realizing I needed Christ. So the next week in church the pastor invited all who wanted to receive Christ to come forward and I walked the aisle to the front where a Godly man by the name of Joe Harris shared Christ with me on the front row and I received Christ as my Savior. Our pastor, Jim Hylton, is my spiritual father in so many ways because He made the commitment to be my Gabriel and in his message told me that God wanted to give me eternal life.
In the midst of all of that God continued to deal with me in the years ahead and soon I realized He had a great plan for my life and I surrendered to His call for me to devote my life to full time Christian service. God set me aside for His purpose and I have been living out of that calling to this very day. He has given me the ability to write music from the testimony of my life and translate that into a message for others who need Christ. I am unique, as we all are, and my calling is very personal to me and is different than any other person's calling because I am "fearfully and wonderfully made." My calling is not wrapped up in a seminary class or an inherited experience from my earthly father, but a very personal call to me....Me!
This doesn't make me any better or worse than anyone else, but it further nails down that God has a great, specific plan for each of us. Which means "our life has great purpose!"
At age 65 I have seen plenty of "Christian Stuff" and some of it is even good, but there is so much more that God wants in my life and in your life. God is so much specific in the purposes of our lives and I have found out that seeking Him in all things is a necessary thing that further draws us into a deeper relationship with Him.
It is like a video game that my oldest son Ty and I played when he was a kid. In the game, as in most games, you have to complete a level to go to the next level. The more you play the game the better you get at completing those levels and then you are equipped to fight the BIG monster at the end. By the way, Ty and I defeated the monster at the end and all of the earlier game playing helped us make that happen! In following God and His purposes the process of completing levels is called the Christian Life and the monster we defeat is our old sinful self. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1-14 and it speaks to this very subject and I will expose God's truth through those scriptures in tomorrow's blog. Suffice it to say "God has a great plan for each of us and He says "You're the One That I Want!" It is up to us to make the choice of following God's plan or not. What will you do when He calls your name?
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren