Pick Me, Pick Me!

Uphill Climb has a winning strategy and some heartfelt bluegrass gospel for those who are still asking Jesus to "Pick me, pick me!" 

I am so, so happy about the tremendous miracles that Jesus has been performing in some of your lives. I have had reports of prodigal sons and daughters coming back to the fold. I've had reports of hardcore non-believers hearing the truth about the Gospel for the very first time in their lives, and confessing Jesus Christ. 

See, Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and He is alive to perform miracles like these for anyone and everyone who confesses that He is God and that He died to purchase eternal life for us. 

Some of you are wondering when we're gonna pass the plate. 

It's not gonna happen. The Gospel is a free gift, too. 

Some of you, though, have heavier issues on your minds. Some of you don't believe that Jesus will heal you, of all people. How ever you came to believe that, I want you to know that it's a vicious lie, one that Satan tells people like you because you've been such loyal employees of his for so many years. 

Well, no more. 

Today, Jesus says, you belong to Him. 

Does He hate your sins? You bet He does, and He's been telling you that in no uncertain terms for a long time now. You've been getting that message -- sometimes on a daily basis -- and fighting it tooth and nail because you believe that Jesus hates you. 

The truth is that Satan hates you. He hates that you can be an adopted child of the Most High God simply by asking Jesus into your heart. Satan hates the idea that you can have eternal life by repenting -- turning away from -- all the sins that "make you who you are". 

Folks, sin does not make you who you are. Only by turning your will and your life over to Jesus Christ will you ever reach your full potential. Yes, even those of you who've been struggling against His Word, His love, and His prophets for, well, ever. 

In the gospel of Mark, we see a Jesus who is beset on all sides by sick and sinning people. He is constantly on the move, and wherever He goes, He's met by huge crowds, some of them literally dying for His touch. Which ones will be healed and which ones will have to outrun the boat to His next stop, hoping they'll be the first to greet Him, hoping He sees them first and heals them? 

"And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.' And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him." (Mark 5:21-24)

Maybe He'll finish early. Maybe He won't stay to supper with Jairus. Maybe He'll have mercy on some nobody today, maybe even me. 

"And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.' And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?' And his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’' And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.'" (Mark 5:25-34) 

Waiting on the sidelines is for weak, spineless people. If you want anything in this world, you have to reach out and take it. 

"While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, 'Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?'" (verse 35)

People won't just give you anything (unless they want something in return), but they will take everything you have if you let them, so you better hold on with all your might. After all, there's only so much to go around.

 "But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not fear, only believe.' And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, 'Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.' And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, 'Talitha cumi,' which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.' And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat." (verses 36-43) 

After all, Jairus was one of the temple VIPs.

Is that what you believe? That Jesus only looks with favor on powerful people? That you have to shove everyone else aside in order to get anything from Him? That Jesus, the creator of the universe and everything in it, only has a finite amount of love, miracles, and healing to go around? That you have to hold on to everything you have -- even take what other people have and cheat them out of what is rightfully theirs -- in order to benefit from any of God's promises? That "Papa may have/And mama may have/But God bless the child that's got his own"?

Is that what you believe?

Folks, that is Satan screaming in your ear, and don't you forget it!

Jesus doesn't care how long you've ignored Him, how long you've disobeyed Him, how furiously you've struggled against Him, how well you've played for the other team, how viciously you've treated others -- even His prophets.

He doesn't care. He will heal you and forgive your sins right this minute if you ask Him to. "Your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed," He tells the woman. "Do not fear, only believe," He tells Jairus.

Today, He's telling you those same things. Stop living in fear, and start living in faith, and Jesus will forgive you right now, no matter who you are, what you've done, or who you've done it to. That's not a request: Faith will make the difference between whether you're forgiven or just another sin-sick face in the crowd.

Some of you are still telling yourselves that you're on the outside looking in because of this passage in II Peter 2:18-22, "For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: 'The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.'"

What about that? What about those of you who used to love and obey God, and have turned away from Him? Think about where you are now -- physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Aren't you worse off than you were when you first turned your will and your life over to Jesus Christ? Aren't you?

Hurts like crazy, doesn't it? Does that mean there's no hope for you?

"But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." (Ezekiel 18:21-23, 31-32)

Do not fear, only believe, Jesus says. I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, so turn and live, God says. Yet, there you stand, feeling sorry for yourself because you think Jesus hasn't picked you. If you're reading this post, make no mistake, He has picked you. 

Now, get moving. 

Here's Uphill Climb with "Reach Out and Touch the Lord".

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