I Surrender...All?

                         

All to Jesus, I surrender

All to Him I freely give...

The words from the old hymn drift upward from the radio as I drive home on this lovely Spring day. What memories it brings back!

When I was young, I loved this song. I sang it with gusto. Of course I surrendered all to Jesus! I was completely secure in my "surrender;" maybe even a bit proud. 

I had no idea what I was talking about.

Fast forward twenty years--to a time when things had been taken away from me that I didn't know were up for discussion. A time when my well-planned life had completely fallen apart, and my hopes, dreams, expectations, and absolute assurances had all crumbled into dust. 

Suddenly, the song is not so easy to sing. Discussing the song with a new friend, we shook our heads together and agreed the song should not even be in the church repertoire, because no one could sing it truthfully. They either didn't know what "all" meant, or they were lying through their teeth.

That was four years ago, and once again my perspective has changed. 

Over the past ten years, I have been asked to surrender my church, my friends, my husband, the house I loved, my control...even my children. Instead of tossing the song aside as unrealistic, I have come to understand I do need to surrender all. I have also learned that "all" in this case actually means, "ALL."

Some things I fought God over for years before I finally surrendered--only to find my struggle had been keeping me from a beautiful treasure He wanted to give me. The surrender gets easier as I

1) acknowledge God's sovereignty and bow to His power over my weakness and

2) remember He is always working for His glory...and my good.

Sometimes I believe I have finally done it--finally surrendered it all. Pat myself on the back. What a good Christian I am!

But Jesus knows my heart, He sees the things I've hidden even from myself, and He wants it ALL. 

I'm walking along, minding my own business, thinking I'm doing pretty good at submitting to my Lord and WHAM! Out of nowhere, something I have held onto is ripped from my grasp.

"But Lord, YOU gave me that! I'm supposed to hold onto it." I protest in agony.

No answer. 

"You talked directly to Abraham and Samuel," I grumble under my breath.

Still no answer.

Reluctantly, rebellious to my core, I take it to the Lord in prayer.

"Lord, I confess I'm rebellious. I want to surrender, but I can't."

Then I remember. I really can't. Nor is it my job. My job is to do what I have just done: confess my weakness and inability to Christ. Through my tears, a calming peace steals over my soul. The answer, as always, is in the Word of God.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." I John 1:9

I don't have to do this on my own. Slowly, I mentally pry open my fingers and ask my Lord to help me surrender even this thing to Him.

And He does.

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give.

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live.

This song is not the self-righteous proclamation of the hypocrite. It is the heart cry of the true believer. As I sing the song, I am reminded right now, today, there are things I need to surrender. I sing in faith and humility and brokenness, opening my hands to release what I am clinging to in this moment.

Tomorrow there will be other things. Tomorrow I will need to sing the song again. And the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. And next week. And next year. And...you get the picture.

Is there something in your life you have not surrendered? Do you understand how much Jesus loves you and wants to mold it into something that will bring glory to Him and good to you?

Jesus is not jealous and spiteful. But He is jealous in His intense love for us, determined that nothing block the healing relationship He wants with us.

Many things He asks of us seem opposite to logic. Surrender in the world is defeat.

Surrender in Christ is victory.

Trust His plan, rest in His love, and let go of all else.

May your day be richly blessed, 

Jules

Embraced - But At What Cost?

                                                                                                                           


                                                                                                                               
Do you know what it feels like to be embraced? To be wrapped in arms of love and held close?

Do you know what it feels like to be embraced by your Heavenly Father?

It's having wounds break open wide and knowing God is not angry with you for hurting. It's crying over something no one else can understand and knowing you are not crying alone. It's having grief rip you apart but feeling strangely comforted at the same time.

It's watching your world crumble but knowing you stand on solid ground.

It's watching a young man on his seventeenth birthday choose to be baptized. Choose to stand before his church family and proclaim his love and faith in the Lord who has embraced him. Barely six months ago, this young man lost his father. Watching his joy that Sunday, I could not stop my tears. In his loss, this young man has been embraced by his Heavenly Father.

Just guessing, but I think in that moment, his widowed mother was feeling embraced as well.

Do we have any idea how much our Savior loves us?

Do you realize that before Jesus came to earth, He had never felt pain--never even had a body that could feel pain? Did He really know how bad it would be?

What kept Him here the first time He scraped His knee or felt hungry or cold or sick?

By the time He reached Gethsemene, He knew the meaning of pain. Furthermore, He was well aware of the agony Romans liked to inflict. The Romans were deliberate and public with their torturous executions.

Jesus had seen enough and felt enough to be filled with dread at the ordeal He knew was coming. He even asked His Father, "Isn't there any other way?"

The answer, apparently was, "No," because Jesus said, "Okay, if this is how it must be, I will do it." (Major paraphrase there.)

Our "humane" Western minds cannot even begin to grasp the horrors of Jesus' day. Christianity has revolutionized the way humans treat each other, even among those who do not believe. But Rome had not yet met the Christianity about to be born. Speaking of births, we westerners think labor pain is the worst pain a human body can endure.

We're wrong.

The Gospels say Jesus actually sweat drops of blood over what He saw coming. Did you know this is actually possible? It is a very rare condition brought on by intensely high stress. The capillaries in the sweat glands break, leaving one's sweat tinted with blood. But that's just the visible side of this condition. Th invisible side is that it also makes the skin extremely sensitive. When Jesus took the stripes for our healing, He did it with no resistance to the pain.

How could He have loved us that much?

Those lashes were not just skin deep. Rumor is a Roman lashing laid bare the bones of the whipped. These lashings were so brutal that even Rome took pity at this point and decreed the convicted could not be both whipped and crucified.

Pilate ignored that law--or perhaps hoped Jesus would invoke it. Instead, "...as the sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."

Quivering with pain and shock from loss of blood, Jesus allowed them to put the horizontal beam of the cross across His shoulders and attempted to stagger up Calvary's hill.

Interesting piece of trivia here: the convicted did not carry their entire cross, as it would have been too heavy. Instead, the Romans left the vertical stakes in the ground at the execution site, and had their prisoners carry the horizontal cross-piece, which was not so heavy.

However, in Jesus' weakened condition even the cross-piece was too heavy. He fell, and a man named Simon was conscripted into carrying it the rest of the way. Then they nailed Jesus' hands to that horizontal piece and raised Him up for the world to see.

Our eyes want to turn away from the shame and agony of that moment.

We want it to be less.

Instead, it is more. In the midst of incomprehensible physical suffering, the pure soul of the Son of God became black with our sins. Sins His holy nature could not bear. Sins that caused His Father to turn away from Him in His darkest hour.

Have you ever done something you were so ashamed of you wanted to crawl out of your skin to get away from it? Experienced guilt so great your chest constricted in physical pain?

I have.

Like a diabetic whose sugar runs high, I'm somewhat used to it--toughened up by hundreds of little sins committed. It's part of being human.

But Jesus--He'd never felt that before. As His body screamed in agony, His soul was crushed beneath the sins I, in a healthy body, could not bear. And not just mine. Not just one person's; a life for a life as dictated by the law of Moses. No, Jesus took on the sins of every believer, past, present, and future...a nearly infinite crushing weight as agonizing to His soul as the crucifixion was to His body.

He bore this weight and agony for about six hours before His human body could take no more, and He breathed His last.

They laid Him in a tomb, rolled the biggest stone they could find over the entry, posted soldiers to make sure no one stole the body, and left Him there. For three days He suffered the punishment ordained for my sins--and yours--standing in our place, taking our shame. For three days, God's enemies rejoiced, certain they had won.

But Sunday was coming...

On Sunday morning, He burst out of that grave with His body healed, His soul pure, and our debt paid.

This is what it means to be redeemed.

This is what my seventeen-year-old friend proclaimed at his baptism. What joy to begin life freed from sin and walking with Jesus!

What joy to know you are never too old to begin!

Jesus sacrifice, as great as it was, is given to us as a free gift. All we have to do is accept it. It's never too late.

Oh my friend! Don't struggle to pay for your own sins! What could you possibly add to the sacrifice Jesus has already made? Instead, answer His plea,

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28


Do you know how much Jesus loves you?


May you find rest in His love.

Jules

God Loves It When A Plan Comes Together

         

                

Several months ago, our pastor challenged us to memorize the book of Ephesians. Not just a verse or two, but the entire book. When I was young, I could have memorized it in two weeks or less. But I’m getting older. After several months, I’m almost through chapter three.

It isn’t just that my brain is older and slower. It’s that my attention gets caught by different words…different phrases. They stick in my brain and de-rail my rote memorization as my brain attempts to grasp what is really being said. I can say with no exaggeration that Ephesians is currently my favorite book of the Bible.

Did you know that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing…such as the fact that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world!? (Ephesians 1:3-4)

If you don’t think that’s personal and specific, keep reading. I spent weeks on just the first four or five verses. The book of Ephesians is dripping with God’s love for us. For you. For me.

As I struggle to engrave these precious words into my permanent memory, I occasionally find a concept that seems to have many layers. The most recent of these was Ephesians 2:14-22 (ESV[1])

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

“For He, Himself is our peace.” 

I need peace right now. It doesn’t matter what circumstances we face. As believers, our peace can always be found in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. I found that thought incredibly comforting – until a nasty voice in the back of my mind accused, “You’re taking that out of context. That’s not the peace Paul’s talking about.”

Maybe not, I thought rebelliously, but it’s still true.

Paul is referring to the conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles in this passage, and the miracle of love shown by Jesus when He included Gentiles in God’s kingdom through His sacrifice. In our day, we have the opposite problem. We Gentiles have to be reminded that the Jews are also included – if we know any Jews to include. Our culture is not the clear-cut mix it was in Paul’s day. Aside from general racism, I really have to stretch to find a corresponding example in my life.

I had a difficult time with this passage because it seemed too specific to have any relevance for me. Everybody knows the Gentiles are included – why keep harping on it?

“For He, Himself is our peace…and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” (vs. 14)

What does that mean? Romans 8:7-8 flitted across my mental screen.

 “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

I sat up a little straighter. Maybe there was a way I could apply these verses in my life.

“For he himself is our peace, who … has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances…” (vs.14-15)

My mind was hostile, at war with God, until Jesus came - as a man - prone to that same hostility, but broke down in His flesh the wall of hostility by living a sinless life and allowing Himself to be slain as a sacrifice, both fulfilling the law and abolishing the “law of commandments expressed in (639) ordinances” – the law that made God impossible to please and left me consumed with guilt, dead in my trespasses and sin. But He abolished it – put a stop to it…

“that He … might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (vs. 16)

What a way to put it! He didn’t just make peace, He killed the hostility. Killed it, buried it, left it in the grave when He resurrected. It is gone. Forever!

“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”(vs. 17)

Then He came and told His disciples about it, and sent them into the world to declare that

 “ … through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (vs. 18)

Both Jews and Gentiles, “us” and “them”, whoever that may be today.

Then Paul reveals the true miracle:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (vs. 19)

Me? Really? Can it be true?

I, who was once

“…separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (vs. 12)

I am now included among the saints as a member of the household of God. If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, so are you.

This is a household, not a bachelor pad. I find I have come full circle from what Christ has done for me personally, to what He has done for those who are hostile to each other.

I am not allowed hostility toward others because He did not break down the wall of hostility between myself and God only, He broke it down between each of us as well.

“that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,” (vs.15)

His desire for His people is that we would become one. He emphasizes this again and again in the prayer he prayed for us in John 17:22-23

  … “that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

He has brought us together for a reason. Returning to Ephesians 2, the household of God is

“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” (vs. 20)

The whole structure…this is not a physical building, Paul clarifies in the next verse:

  “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (vs. 22)

This is the reason for the command found in Hebrews 10:25,

“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We are not islands.

The “church” is not a building, or an institution, or a religious system. It is the act of assembling together.

We gather together as a church to worship together, to learn from each other, to correct each other when we start to get off course, to encourage each other… to love each other.

And in this gathering, a temple for the Lord is being built – a microcosm of the plan set in motion before the foundation of the world. A plan Paul reveals in Ephesians 1:9-10

“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

One day all of creation will be united in Christ. That unity began in God and continues in us.

We see the moments. We see the brokenness, we see the failures, we see the abuse, and we see the hurt.

But let us not forget the plan God has set forth in His Son.

A plan for eternity, for healing, for victory, for love, for joy…

For His glory.

And it will be more beautiful than anything our human minds can comprehend.

Have faith, hold on to His nail-scarred hands, and accept the spiritual blessings He has prepared for you.

And go read Ephesians - maybe even memorize it. 

God bless!

Jules

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[1] For those of you who know me, I have switched to the ESV – but that is material for a different blog.

Writing By Faith

Voices.

It's the voices that get to me.

Soundless voices that echo endlessly in the back of my head.

It began with a still, small voice that told me to write. A compulsive command that resonated through my veins and made my fingers itch. I ignored it as long as I could, but it was relentless. Almost a year ago now, I gave up, and I began to write my story.

I like that voice. That voice gives me permission to do what I want to do anyway. To play with words and weave pictures and somehow, somehow proclaim to the world the glorious song of redemption that plays endlessly in my heart. I can't sing it - but maybe I can write it.

But as I get deeper into my story, deeper into the pit from which I've been redeemed, the other voices begin hounding me. Sometimes barely audible, sometimes like a pack of yipping chihuahuas, tearing at the edges of my paper,

"What do you think you're doing? Nobody's going to want to read this! Why would they? Who wants to read about someone else's personal angst?"

I hesitate. My fingers fumble at the keys. My words refuse to flow smoothly. Maybe the chihuahuas are right, I am being stupid.

"Write."

It's that still, quiet voice again, and it is a command. I obey, but inside, the battle rages.

However, as my Bible Study Fellowship leader keeps repeating, we serve a kind, gracious God who never calls us to do what He will not equip us to finish.

Just when the yipping starts to pull me under, it is time for the Winter 2015 Oregon Christian Writer's Conference. I am tired. I am ready to give up. I don't really want to go - but my son and my sister are going. I have promised a report to my critique group. I've already registered. Pride won't let me back out, so I go.

I go to a place my Heavenly Father prepared for me months ago, before I even knew I would have a need. I find I am not the only one who writes simply because that quiet voice won't let me stop.

It begins early...before the keynote speaker is even introduced. Maxine begins with devotions, reminding us for whom we write, asking God to be the center of our works, asking that He will use our writing to bring glory to Him and value to the reader.

She then brings us to Isaiah 41:17-20

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

Trees found in the desert. Many varieties, each with a distinctive use. Because we all come from different backgrounds - different soils, if you will - yet those very differences have equipped us with everything we need to accomplish the purpose God has designed for us. We are HIS. What He has spoken will come to pass.  Isaiah 55:11

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

As these words sink into my doubting heart, the keynote speaker, Bill Giovannetti is introduced.

Bill brings us to the story of Peter walking on the water - but he gives the story a twist. He points out that the miracle of the story is not that Peter walked on water - physics is easy for the creator of physics. The real miracle of the story is that Peter got out of the ship. He hitched up his robe and stepped over the side with the other disciples (like my yipping chihuahuas) watching in fear from the safety of the ship. He likened Peter stepping out on the water to our putting pen to paper - or fingers to the keyboard, for the more technologically minded.

The point is that our job is faith. Our job is to get out of the boat - to start writing. It is God's job to control the outcome. He sees the big picture and weaves together our stories with the stories of others. We can't see where our writing may lead - all we see is the mess. "Heaven is less interested in our getting published than in our keeping faith with God." Nothing leaves you as vulnerable as stepping out in faith. However, "If you walk in faith, grace will find you."

"If God has called you to write, the only way to sink is to stop writing."

Forget the yapping chihuahuas, the nay-sayers, the fearful who try to keep you in the boat. Jesus expects you to live a life of bold faith.

Why?

Because He is standing right beside you. It is not the size of your faith that matters. It is the fact of your faith - and the size of your Savior. "If you have enough faith to pray, you have faith enough."

That was just the first session. In the second session, Bill got personal.

He talked about the labels that have been slapped on us. Words and attitudes that have been hammered at us until we believed them and made them our own.

But those labels are not who we are - not anymore - not once we have accepted the sacrifice of Christ.

As Christians, Christ is our identity.

Paul said it best in Galatians 2:20

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

When we come to Christ and accept His grace, the first thing grace does is rehab our identity.

Through grace we are transformed from sinner to saint; addict to redeemed.

Through grace the guilty are forgiven and the worthless become precious.

By grace, those labeled stupid or incompetent find themselves able to do all things through Christ.

By grace, the lost and forgotten are engraved on the palms of His hands.

Forget the labels this world has pasted on you - go write the words God has given you. Write from your pain, your passion, your fear, your joys. All good writing is emotional. Emotions are the threads that bind our writing to the hearts of our readers. Humans need heat and light - the light of God's truth mediated through the heat of our emotions.

In the end, the goal of our writing, our aim, the outcome we pray the Lord will grant us is to

"Take the reader by the hand, and walk them home to their true self in Christ."


If my story can do that for one person, then it is worth it to write.

God bless,

Jules

Am I Saved?

I've had an interesting month.  It started with a Ladies' Retreat in Seattle.  I went because I wanted to see some friends I've not seen in a while.  The entire retreat was an echo of the grief that prompted me to write my previous post.  Women grieving for their children and grandchildren who are not serving the Lord.  Children who are being devoured by the world and the "I have a right to be happy" mentality... a mentality that ironically brings the opposite: anxiety and depressive self-centeredness that ends in misery and loneliness.  I prayed and grieved with these women, but had very little comfort to give.  I am struggling to teach my own children why the "I have a right to be happy" worldview can never succeed. The other reason that I could not give comfort is, of course, because none of these children are still at home.  Their mothers' time is done.  Mine has just begun.

Am I doing any better?

One of the most distressing things I witnessed at the Retreat was the testimony of one of the few younger women there.  In desperation, the moderator asked this 24-year-old why she was still in the church.  Her answer, "Because I follow the path of least resistance.  I'm still living at home... it is easier to go with my parents than not."  I am not making this up.  Even worse, no one saw a problem with her statement.

It broke my heart.

As the others smiled indulgently,  I cried over what I did not hear.  I did not hear, "I stayed because I love the Lord. Because Jesus died on the cross to cover my sins. Because I am hungry for the Word of God. Because I want to be with God's people. Because I want to serve the Lord."

"Because I am saved."

I did not hear those things because they are not there.  Because this young woman whom I care about very much is not saved.  Therefore, over time, the thin threads of family and friends and convenience that keep her darkening the church doors will fray and separate, and she, like so many before her, will be lost.

I do not want my children to be lost.

Yet, how can I help them, when I feel lost myself.  You see, I traveled over 6000 miles this summer.  I saw people from many different churches, and I learned something important.  The people who are saved?  You can see it in their eyes and in their life... and what I have seen in them I do not always see in me.  It is the life of Christ that bubbles out of them and brings peace, joy, and assurance no matter what their circumstances.  I have tasted it, but I do not live it.  And it is the one thing that can save my children.

But am I saved?  How can I lead my children to Christ if I am not saved?

I have a pedigree that reads like the Apostle Paul's.  My father was a minister in the church that I attended faithfully for 38 years.

But am I saved?

I was raised up under one of the greatest Bible teachers in the Body of Christ. I studied diligently.  I have been memorizing scripture since I was 5 years old.

But am I saved?

I served God's people faithfully.  I was in Band and Choir.  I made coffee every Sunday.  I was at every work-day, I worked long hours with no sleep every Conference.  I did it all with joy.

But am I saved?

Like Paul, I speak as a fool.

Because when my circumstances changed, my joy disappeared.  When I could no longer do the works, my faith crumbled.  If I could not do the works, God must not want me anymore.  How could I possibly be saved if I was not doing enough good works?

Can you hear it? The sound of works righteousness.  The sound of me trying to gain salvation through my own works.


James 2:18-20

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

This scripture is my creed.  Yet, in the end, my works could not save me.  My righteousness is nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  Oh, and when the scripture makes that statement, it isn't talking about ordinary dirt.  The actual translation would read "menstrual rags".  Ewww!

When I was attending to all the good works in the church, I never understood this scripture.  I understand it now.  When the peripheries were taken away and I had to focus on myself and my family, I found that all my knowledge and good works meant nothing.  In spite of all I "know" about how to be a good wife and mother, I find I fail at it every day.  I cannot do it by myself.  My own sense of righteousness is not enough; I have not the strength and the energy to show my husband the reverence God has asked of me, nor to show my children the patience and love they need on a daily basis.  All the good I thought I had has vanished in the daily grind of trying to be perfect through my own works.

Turns out, I am not saved.

I forgot Galatians 2:21-22

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

I am a fantastic law keeper.  My mistake was in thinking that the law would save me.  "If I just dress right, attend the right church, pray right, serve right, then God will love me and bless me."  Then, when things go wrong, "I must not be doing something right.  Jesus, just tell me what to do and I'll do it.  What am I doing wrong?!"

The answer?  Nothing.  I need to be saved.  I need to understand that there is none good in themselves.  Jesus makes a point of this in Mark:
Mark 10:17-18

17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

What? Do you mean Jesus was not good?  That's not what He said. He said there is none good but God. The man was kneeling at His feet asking for eternal life. Did the man know that Jesus was the Christ? That He was God and therefore good? The Lord then tests him - He tells him to keep the law. The man proudly asserts he's done all that - he's been good. Has he really? Jesus asks him one more question:

21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

The man had bowed to Jesus and spoken to Him as though he believed He was the Messiah, yet was unwilling to follow Him. Why?

Romans 8:7-8

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

This man had done all he knew to do in the flesh, and it was not enough - it can never be enough.

What, then, must I do to be saved?

In Acts, there was another who asked that question.  Paul was thrown in prison.  The prison was hit with an earthquake that not only opened the prison doors, but also freed Paul and Silas from their chains.  But, instead of getting out while the getting was good, they stayed and preached to their jailer instead.  In awe at the power of their God, he asked that question:

Acts 16:27-31

26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

He and his house were saved.  Right then.  Right there.  They were not given a list of things to do, they were only asked to do one thing.  Just one.

Believe.

Okay, great! I believe.  Now what do I do to be saved?

Believe.

Yes, yes, then what?

Believe.

But I need to "work out my own salvation"... I need to earn this grace. I need to show I'm something special.  I need to...

Believe.

It is not up to me to make myself righteous. My righteousness is not just worthless, it is bloody and disgusting and needs to be thrown away - preferably burned. Only the righteousness of Jesus can make me clean.

Romans 5:18

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Jesus came that we might have life, that righteousness might reign in our hearts.  We cannot do it in ourselves, but must turn our eyes on Jesus who is the "author and finisher of our faith".  (Hebrews 12:2) What does that mean?  The author decides the outcome of the story.  He also decides every event that happens.  He even writes how we get through those events.  We can have faith that He is in control and so live in peace.

Romans 5:1-2

5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

But everything is going wrong!  He's either not in control, or He just doesn't care about me anymore.

Believe.

Romans 5:3-5

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Believe that our God does all things well.  Believe that what He is doing right now is to work His glory in your life.  He called you, specifically, because he loves you specifically.

John 14:6

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

You would not even be interested in God if He had not drawn you, personally to Him.  Still think you can gain or destroy your own salvation?  Here is another scripture for you:

John 6:44

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Not only did God draw you to His Son, but His Son has drawn you back to the Father. They are both interested in your salvation.  Did you read the last line?  Both God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ have predestined you for salvation.  You could not know nor care about Him otherwise.

This gives new meaning to Ecclesiastes 4:12

12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

You can resist, but they two will prevail against you.  What happens when you surrender?  When you allow yourself to become part of that threefold cord?

Romans 8:31

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Believe.

Having drawn you, He has no intention of letting you go.  Remember, He is not just the author of your faith, but also the finisher.

Romans 8:35-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus does not lose those who are truly His.

Believe.

Lord, I believe.  Help thou mine unbelief.