Oh, How We Need Jesus

Oh, how we need Jesus!

I think of that infamous TV commercial where our hearts break seeing little, furry friends in so much pain. A slow motion rolls over the wounded, bound, starved, caged, and left-alone puppy faces. True confession: I hear that tune at the start of the commercial and I look away! I’m terrible, I know.  

But this makes me wonder. Is there a heavenly lament being hummed over the broken souls all around me, and at the very first notes I intentionally or in habit look away?

We are all in need at times and we each feel the pain of unhealed wounds and things that bind us. And if it’s not us right now, then it’s surely the precious souls who are sitting right next to us at church, school, work, home, the ballfield, the gym, etc.

Beloved, we need to be a people who see. We serve a God who sees us and so we, too, should see.

If we were to pull back the veil, I’m confident we would see and hear a deafening cry for help. Oh, how we need Jesus! The silent screams from the gender and sexually confused image bearer, the cry of exhausted believers addicted to pornography, sex, and substance. The sick, the hopeless, the grieving are there too. The wounded, abandoned, and rebellious wait at the edges. The bitter and unforgiving furl in the corners, while the fear and anxiety stalked are gasping for peace. It’s the ashamed, the lonely, the lost and the one about to lose their fight... Oh, how we need Jesus!

What shall we do then? We meet with God. We are blessed to be part of a solid Bible teaching church filled with the love of God. All the while, the need for us to be ready vessels, in season and out, is growing daily. The struggle in us, and around us, is real. Here’s the truth… we must be intentional about our time with God if we are going to be equipped and empowered to reach across to the hurting believer and the lost one.

“…pray to your Father who is in the secret place.” Matthew 6:6.

The kingdom of God has come near to us. Jesus Christ’s brutal death on the cross as payment for our sin, blew the gate wide open for us to obtain salvation and fellowship with God. Hallelujah!!

Do our hearts not burn within us at the beckoning of His voice to come away? God has made a marvelous sacred place where each of us can come and connect with Him. It’s the secret place He has made for just you and Him.

Remember, we come into the secret place with the truth. He already knows all of it. But God desires us to cast our cares upon Him and reveal our true heart. This transparent confession says “I trust you God." We may not know Him as well as we could (we are still learning), but we can be honest with him about ourselves. We can tell him everything about everything. And if we stay for more than just a minute, we may find that we can hardly hold a thought about ourselves in the light of His glory, His love and grace. After all, we know it’s not about “what we feel” but rather about the truth of “Who God is” and “who we are in Him.” And still God cares immensely about what we are going through, every bit of it. As believers our only way through all of the “everything” is to know God, connect with Him, trust Him, and obey… there’s no other way. In the secret place, His victory trumpets, and His goodness and peace quiets. And inevitably we will come to more fully understand Psalm 100:4 as thankfulness bursts from our chest and is tearfully set at His feet. It is true, come close to God and He will come close to you.

Remember, we can’t give away what we have not yet received for ourselves.

So, let us study God’s Word, sit regularly under the teaching of God’s Word, choose to be thankful and offer Him worshipful praise with our whole heart, pray and connect with God in the secret place, obey His Word, and have fellowship with others. It’s in these spiritually life giving spaces we will find the courage and strength from God to sing the song of victory over ourselves, the hurting, and the lost... “He has become my Salvation, my God is enough!”

Fill me up Lord to pour me out. Maybe we could ask the person next to us at church how we can be praying for them this week, or introduce ourselves and make a connection.

Oh, how we need Jesus! May this be the glory of God lived out in us and through us! Amen.



Scripture cited: Genesis 16:13; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 5:4; James 4:8; Psalm 34:4; John 15:5; Galatians 5:1; 1 Peter 5:7; 1 Chronicles 16:11; 2 Timothy 4:2;  Psalm 100:1-5;  Psalm 118:14