“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with [all] thy heart (emotional), and with [all] thy soul (spiritual), and with [all] thy mind (intellectual), and with [all] thy strength (physical).~ Mk. 12:30
For well over half a century my love and loyalty has been, is, and ever will be, first and foremost, to the person of Jesus Christ; all other relationships dwarf in comparison. In fact, looking from their perspective, one might surmise He is my one and only love. All others, no matter how near and dear have to play “second fiddle” to Him. I unashamedly confess this assessment as being one-hundred-percent true. I’m gloriously guilty as charged! There are lots of things I cannot do, but I can love and be true to Him!
To quote another, “If Jesus Christ is who He says He is, and if He did what the Bible says He did, then he deserves my undying love and loyalty!” If you cannot turn your back and walk away from the dearest person you have on this earth, when the choice is between them and Christ, then never refer to yourself as one of His disciples. He gave up everything for us; He demands no more than what He Himself did. “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.”
There are going to be times in your life when, if you’re to honour Christ, it will be necessary to do it at others’ expense. I guess some think me fanatical when it comes to The Lover of My Soul, and I guess they’re right. For example, I’ve given instructions that at my funeral everything is to be about Him: the sermon, songs, and any testimonies. No one is to have part in it that does not own Him as the most precious thing in their lives. This includes not just friends, but my nearest kin.
I’ve been a source of embarrassment to some through these long years. I don’t seem to be getting any better; in fact, it may be even worse. Like at the end of the movie, The Passion of Christ, when I stood in the theatre and cried with a loud voice,“Thank God for Jesus Christ.” You might not like hanging out with me.
Almost as soon as the umbilical cord was cut in my New Birth, I read of the martyrdom of Polycarp; a disciple of the Apostle John, and Bishop of Smyrna, A.D. 156 .As a result, I promised Jesus Christ at the altar of devotion that I would forsake all others, to keep myself only unto him as long as I shall live. Many of my loved ones and friends through the years decided to live their lives without Christ; that has painfully necessitated me living my life without them!
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
When they would have fastened him to the stake, he said, "Leave me as I am; for he who giveth me strength to sustain the fire, will enable me also, without your securing me with nails, to remain without flinching in the pile."
Upon which they bound him without nailing him. So he said thus: — "O Father, I bless thee that thou hast counted me worthy to receive my portion among the martyrs."
As soon as he had uttered the word "Amen," the officers lighted the fire. The flame, forming the appearance of an arch, as the sail of a vessel filled with wind, surrounded, as with a wall, the body of the martyr; which was in the midst, not as burning flesh, but as gold and silver refining in the furnace.
When asked to recant and save himself he replied: "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?"
“REVIVAL IS A REDISCOVERY OF JESUS CHRIST.”