What Gospel Do We Embrace?

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

Timeless, beautiful words. Like cool water on a parched heart and refreshing breezes across a dry, weary dessert. Freedom from tyrannical yokes. Relief from oppressive burdens. Jesus simply said, “Come unto me.”

The older I get, the more I have begun to appreciate the simple elegance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After 51 years of living . . . 46 of those years in vital relationship with the Lord of the Universe . . . I continue to grow more deeply moved and more quietly contented with God’s Wisdom and Truth. But sometimes I need to be reminded about what the Gospel is . . . and what it really isn’t.

All of us . . . and I especially . . . have such a penchant for personalizing things. It just seems to be human nature to take something and make it our very own. Add our own flavor and perspective. It is usually just small things . . . a little color here, an extra dash of spices there . . . we just like to fix things . . . beautify them . . . make them personally appealing or relevant or palatable. However, the truth and beauty of original Truth can become completely transformed when we persist in personalizing it.

There can be many variations on a daisy:

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, is not amenable to such ministrations.

 The word “amenable” means:
answerable to
capable of submission to
suited to another
willing to submit to
responsible unto
obedient to

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not amenable to us.

It is true that The Gospel is intensely personal and infinitely capable of reaching every person “right where they are.” But it is not amenable to personalization. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not the gospel of us.

The time that we are at risk of trying to bring God’s Gospel into submission to our personalization of it is usually when we find ourselves especially in need. Perhaps we are ill. Maybe we are in severe financial straits. We might be at a point of confusion or consternation. Or maybe even someone we love is facing tragedy. Frailty, pain, vulnerability, and confusion can be very frightening and very difficult. It is hard to be calm and circumspect when your world is crumbling down around you. And it is extremely easy to do and to think and to believe a personalized version of the gospel when the real Gospel of Jesus Christ simply isn’t responding to our immediate hurt.

Psalm 69:1-3
A Psalm of David.
Save me, O God,
For the waters have threatened my life.
I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

So we create “mini” gospels, within the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to meet our glaring needs:
a gospel of physical healing
a gospel of emotional healing
a gospel of friendship and loyalty
a gospel of family faithfulness
a gospel of global acceptance and grace
a gospel of guaranteed prosperity
a gospel of mysterious powers
A gospel of glorious ecstasies

Of course, we find a plethora of scriptures to back our views and claims. And we usually recruit a “band of brothers and sisters” to join us in our fervency. And often, we slip into an “us-versus-them” mode of operating that insulates us from painful opposition and provides justification for our denigration of dissenters.

But Jesus never told us to do any of these things.  These personalized gospels merely siphon the real power and the real glory and the real Truth from the real Gospel of Jesus Christ. To put it simply . . . Jesus never told us:

“Come to healing.”
“Come to friendship.”
“Come to your family.”
“Come to grace.”
“Come to prosperity.”
“Come to special revelations and glories.”

Jesus simply said, “Come to Me . . .”

As I was reading this verse in Matthew a few days ago, I saw that my Bible’s footnotes mentioned that Jesus was quoting the Old Testament when He spoke these words. So I looked up the scripture reference. It is a selection from the book of Jeremiah, where the Lord is speaking about Israel’s sin:

They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, “Peace, peace,”
But there is no peace.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?
They were not even ashamed at all;
They did not even know how to blush . . .

Thus says the LORD:
"Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls."
But they said, “We will not walk in it.”

And I set watchmen over you, saying,
“Listen to the sound of the trumpet!”

But they said,
“We will not listen.”
Jeremiah 6:17-17

When we insist upon having our own gospel with our own revelations and tailorings within our own community in our own way then we have relegated the whole of our existence to very mortal, very capricious gods. We become burdened with things that are not from God. We become weary from the need to continually control and manipulate everything and everyone so that our constructed reality doesn’t fall apart. We anesthetize our pain and assuage our confusion and fear by the temporary work of our own hands and thoughts and words. We call forth “Peace, peace” and “Healing, healing,” and “Happiness, happiness,” and “Grace, grace,” but it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our gospel.

Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6). When we come to Him, He will be the “ancient path,” the “good way.” He is no guarantee that things will become exactly like we want them. Our pain will not mystically disappear. Sometimes, we must even face persecutions from our families, our communities, and even our friends when we narrow our perspective to that of only Jesus. But when we come to Jesus, we will have Life. Real Life.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, " FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

God calls to His people:
 “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.”

His Word stands as a Watchman over our souls, saying:
 “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!”

Jesus beckon us,:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.


If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:14-15

I love the words to this beautiful hymn.  They called to my heart to "come to Jesus" when I was a small girl at a huge Billy Graham Crusade.  They call to my heart even today . . .

I Surrender All
by: Judson W. Van de Venter

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.


All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.


All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!


I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

God can fill everything. He fills the empty, broken places with his healing and love. He fills the fearful or lonely places with His safety and comfort. He fills the places that seem already full with His wisdom and perspective and direction. There is a God who fills everything. And He is always more than enough.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Unedited.
Unembellished.
Elegant and simple.
Come to Jesus.
And rest.

Is God Your Lord or Your Steward?

I took a walk through the meadows and wooded trails of Kirkhaven a few days ago. The black-raspberries were beginning to ripen, so I picked a few to make some ice-cream topping. Clover, wild roses, and honeysuckle were blooming everywhere, leaving gentle scent bouquets wafting in the breeze. My son’s hunting dog, Pike, gleefully ran ahead of me, sniffing for critters in the brush, as I silently meandered in and out of cool shade patches.

My heart was overwhelmed with the goodness and the bounty of the Lord. Everywhere I looked, I saw mature poplar and oak trees I had not planted . . . thriving berry patches I had not tended . . . sun-bathed meadows of daisies I had not watered. Even the beautiful chirping and singing of blue birds, cardinals, and wood thrushes didn’t need my direction or care to serenade the summer afternoon.

In that simple, quiet walk, the God-ness of God completely overwhelmed the me-ness of me.

In a sense, I knew that I owned the land I was walking on.
I could see the red barn we had built with its newly finished chicken coop . . .
and hear our rooster practicing his crowing.
I could stroll beside earthy-smelling herbs in our lush, green garden . . .
and pick a hand-full of sweet peas for our evening salad.
I could look across the western meadow toward the well and the nearly-finished pond . . .
and dream about next year’s fishing ventures.

The seeds of our dreams and the plans of our hearts and the work of our hands were clearly evident on the landscape of my ridge-top home. And I knew that very soon, David’s red truck and Rachel’s gray car would roll down our gravel road . . . coming home from work . . . bringing fellowship, laughter, and joy with them.

All of these things were rich, colorful, threads being woven into the tapestry of my life.

But the overwhelming joy in my heart was not rooted in all the things my husband and I had done to build our family farm. The freedom I felt was in knowing that Kirkhaven was God’s property . . . His possession . . . not mine. And I was His possession, too. It was God’s loom that held the warp in place and His Hand that skillfully wove every specially-chosen welt. He was the weaver. He was Lord.

Whatever we believe about ourselves and our lives here on this earth,
we really need to know this crucial truth:

The bounty and the goodness are the Lord’s.
We are simply stewards.

Sometimes the people of God become entangled in error . . .
perhaps even dabbling in idolatry . . .
when they begin to think that they are the artists of their lives.

We can easily make the mistake of believing that
commendable accomplishments
or virtuous behavior
or disciplined habits
or cheerful demeanors
or charitable actions
or educated opinions
or enduring friendships
or healthy choices
or loving families
or prosperous lifestyles . . .

that all of these things
can be wielded as beautiful instruments
in our own hands
as we sculpt and paint and create our own living masterpieces . . .
life as we see it . . .
as we think it should be . . .
interpreted through our own, unique flourishes of texture and color.

Our own masterpieces.

But it is a grave mistake to believe any such things.

Because when we begin to believe that we are the creator . . . the gifted artist . . . , then we start to think of God as our steward. His character becomes a storehouse from which we gather riches for our kingdom. His Goodness becomes our birthright. His Mercy becomes our presumptuous expectation. His Healing becomes our much treasured prize. His Grace becomes our crown and glory. The things of the Kingdom of God become resources in the kingdom of me. And resources, as any good economist will tell you, can be bought and sold in the marketplace if you have the right currency.

A little insightful flattery.
A bit of well-timed denigration.
Eloquent application of promises and guarantees.
Artful use of cloaked warnings.
Creative splashes of humor and wit.
The right amount of hospitality mixed with a calculated measure of shunning.
A pinch of control here . . . a tweak of manipulation there.
It becomes far too easy to reach into our bag of royal coins and buy whatever reality we choose.

We become skilled in the nuances and craft of lordship
when we believe that heaven is our storehouse
and the hand of God is our ever-present valet.

Christians must not live this way.

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.
Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face—even Jacob.
Selah.
Psalms 24:1-6

He is the creator, the artist, the potter, the weaver at the loom.
We must be the stewards.

We are stewards, not lords.
And God cares very much about the hands and the hearts of His stewards.

For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires
and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed,
and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession,
zealous for good deeds.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.
Let no one disregard you.
Titus 2:11-15

Neither a happy life nor beautiful life-accoutrements truly indicate real Life in the Kingdom of God.

I sense, deep in my spirit, that God is calling His children to listen to Him.
To examine their gospel and see if it is the real Gospel.

There may be some very difficult times ahead of us. For many people, difficult times have already come. What will the canvas of our lives look like if the economy in America crashes? What story will our life tapestry tell if our Christian faith falls into dark social or political disfavor? What will be the testimony from our lips if the things we hold precious and dear are stolen or destroyed or fall away from us?

I believe the answers to these questions are dependent upon two factors:
Who is the Lord?
Who is the steward?

Are we the lord . . . the gifted artist . . . that creates the masterpiece of our life?
Or does the Lord God Almighty hold our life in the palms of His nail-scarred hands?

Is God the personalized steward of all our dreams and desires?
Or are we the faithful stewards of God’s costly, precious Truth?

Who is the Lord?
Who is the steward?
From whence does the goodness come?
Of whom is the testimony given?

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.
Psalms 73:28