It was the largest rescue mission on the planet!
I FEEL RESTLESS
You may know the feeling. Something that is bothering you, but you just can’t put your finger on it. Call it restlessness or agitation I had it. I knew the remedy. I needed time with Jesus. He always makes me feel better and always answers my questions.
I went into my office and picked up my Bible and proceeded to sit on the couch in my family room. I sit in the same spot when I study. The seating is comfortable, I have a pillow for back support, and good lighting.
I always begin my Bible time with prayer. So, as I was talking with Jesus, the following questions came to mind 1) what do I want? 2) What is bothering me? I just sat there. And pretty soon, the following three topics bubbled forth from my mind, the first question being my primary target that morning, and the one that will be discussed further in this blog.
1) I want to know more of who Jesus is, His character
2) I want to know more about Prayer
3) I want to know more about The Health Message
LIFE EXPERIENCE
Throughout my lifetime, I have come to know who Jesus is. Scripture has provided me plenty of examples and details as to how Jesus lived and treated others. I understand how He has dealt with me in my own life and I can say I know who I believe in. But I wanted to know more that morning – a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. Little did I know how fast I would get my answer!
THE ANSWER CAME
I prefer a hard cover book so that I can underline and write my notes along the borders of each page. I went into my office and looked at my bookshelf to find a book in my collection that could help me with my thoughts along this topic. I have many wonderful books, and particularly enjoy reading the books written by Ellen White. As my finger ran across each upright book on the shelf, my finger rested upon her book entitled, “The Story of Redemption.” I opened the book to the table of contents and my eyes rested upon Chapter 5, “The Plan of Salvation.” I thought to myself, this may be of help.
THE PLAN
As I began reading, I got my answer. The character of Jesus IS found in the Plan of Salvation. The Plan was simple, intense, compact, precise. In essence: 1) we are loved; 2) we are desired; 3) we are wanted. All this, despite our failure, weakness, and sometimes rejection of His guidance. This is what I needed to be reminded of – his love and sacrifice for ME.
Ellen White writes in “The Story of Redemption,”
“Jesus had offered to give his life a ransom to take the sentence of death upon Himself, that through Him man might find pardon; that through the merits of His blood and obedience to the Law of God they could have the favor of God and be brought into the beautiful garden and eat of the fruit of the tree of life.” pg. 42
“Think ye that the Father yield up His dearly beloved Son without a struggle. No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven, whether to let guilty man perish or to give His beloved Son to die for Him.“ p. 45
“Through Christ a door of hope was opened that man notwithstanding his great sin, should not be under the absolute control of Satan. Faith in the merits of the Son of God would so elevate man that he could resist the devices of Satan. Probation would be granted him in which through a life of repentance and faith in the atonement of the Son of God, He might be redeemed from his transgression of the Father’s law and thus be elevated to a position where his efforts to keep his law could be accepted.”
THE COMMITMENT
It is evident that God and Jesus were both clearly involved and committed to us! When you know who Jesus is, you can’t forget Him. You fall in love with Him. You don’t want to hurt Him. And you are not willing to give that relationship up. We are each in a committed relationship with Jesus, and we don’t want to do anything to mess it up. Yes, we will stumble, but we have the assurance that if we repent, we are forgiven, we have learned, and we move forward a better person.
While we know who He is and how forgiving He is, it’s more than just knowing Him. It is following in his footsteps. Striving to emulate his character. It requires self-analysis, self-control, self-discipline, and an awareness of what is needed to nurture the relationship. The relationship is not one-sided. You can’t just say you believe in Him and go about doing things that are less-than Christlike. It goes deeper into just believing. There are heart-felt actions tied to it.
Sin is the transgression of the law. “Through repentance and obedience, relying by faith upon the merits of the sacrifice offered. Yet, notwithstanding the weakness and enfeebled mental, moral, and physical powers of the human race, Christ true to the purpose for which he left heaven continues his interest in the feeble, depreciated, degenerate specimens of humanity and invites them to hide their weakness and great deficiencies in Him. If they will come unto Him, He will supply all of their needs”. p. 50
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I encourage you to read the Plan of Salvation, Chapter 5, “The Story of Redemption” and ponder “The Plan”. One cannot help but be moved by it, gain a clearer picture of who God is, and fall in love with Him all over again.
We all need an anchor of hope in our lives. If you were to ask me to share in one sentence what that anchor could look like based upon the Plan of Salvation, it would look something like this:
The Father gave his Son. Jesus gave his life. He loves me that much. That is enough for me.
We are promised that if we ask and seek God, He will be found by us. Seek Him while He can still be found - - before it is too late. What a wonderful plan to take away my restlessness.