My sweet friend, Jill Bigelow, sent me a link to a sermon by Graham Cooke. He is one of my favorites to listen to, so I was grateful for the opportunity to listen to his sermons.
His sermon continued to just speak into this release of my worry...my striving...
Powerful sermon.
You can check it out at: http://blazingfire.podbean.com/.
In any case, Graham told of a prophetic dream he once had.
He was sitting at the top of this hill, inside of an open building. He was waiting for Jesus to come.
He saw Jesus coming up the hill towards him with a look on his face that Graham hadn't seen before, almost a frown. As Jesus drew nearer to him, Graham said he almost felt this "fear of the Lord" coming over him, leaving Graham mentally checking through all that he had done, wondering what had brought Jesus over to him in this manner.
And Jesus came to him and shouted, "Graham, gimme back my stuff."
Taken aback, Graham exclaimed, "Excuse me?"
"Gimme back my stuff!" Jesus said again.
"I don't have any of your stuff, " Graham said.
"Gimme back my stuff!"
"But, everything I've got, YOU gave me." Graham replied.
"No, I didn't give you this. You took something from me. Gimme back my stuff!" Jesus said.
Finally, Graham asked, "What stuff?"
To which Jesus responded, "That anxiety...that fear...that rejection...that betrayal...that worry. I died for it. I paid the price for it. Gimme back my stuff!"
And in the dream, Graham sank to his knees, crying. Suddenly, he could see it. Jesus died for all that stuff, but he still lived with it. Graham was acting as if it were his, but it wasn't. Someone had lied to him about all these things...that they belonged to him...that he had to work through it...but he didn't have to.
And Jesus said with a smile, "You need to understand something here. I was absolutely thrilled to die for you and to take all those things away from you so that you would never have to have them ever ever again. Forever. I was thrilled knowing that I would rob you of that anxiety, that fear of man, that striving, knowing I could take away that sting of betrayal. So that you would never have to be under that oppression again. And listen, Graham, if you don't gimme my stuff back, I can't give you what I want to give you. Son, that is not yours, it's mine. THIS is yours...the whole gospel, Graham, is about exchange. I take all your rubbish, and I give you all my glory. Gimme back my stuff. Gimme back my stuff. I am not counseling you over it. I am not pastoring you in it. It is dead. It is over. I am counseling you in your new nature. I am pastoring the newness of life in you. I am teaching you how to become new, not how to live in the old. Graham, you need to gimme back your stuff because it doesn't belong to you anymore. Gimme back my stuff. Give. Me. Back. My. Stuff. It's mine."
Whew!
Powerful.
True.
Good.
Surrendered...
His sermon continued to just speak into this release of my worry...my striving...
Powerful sermon.
You can check it out at: http://blazingfire.podbean.com/.
In any case, Graham told of a prophetic dream he once had.
He was sitting at the top of this hill, inside of an open building. He was waiting for Jesus to come.
He saw Jesus coming up the hill towards him with a look on his face that Graham hadn't seen before, almost a frown. As Jesus drew nearer to him, Graham said he almost felt this "fear of the Lord" coming over him, leaving Graham mentally checking through all that he had done, wondering what had brought Jesus over to him in this manner.
And Jesus came to him and shouted, "Graham, gimme back my stuff."
Taken aback, Graham exclaimed, "Excuse me?"
"Gimme back my stuff!" Jesus said again.
"I don't have any of your stuff, " Graham said.
"Gimme back my stuff!"
"But, everything I've got, YOU gave me." Graham replied.
"No, I didn't give you this. You took something from me. Gimme back my stuff!" Jesus said.
Finally, Graham asked, "What stuff?"
To which Jesus responded, "That anxiety...that fear...that rejection...that betrayal...that worry. I died for it. I paid the price for it. Gimme back my stuff!"
And in the dream, Graham sank to his knees, crying. Suddenly, he could see it. Jesus died for all that stuff, but he still lived with it. Graham was acting as if it were his, but it wasn't. Someone had lied to him about all these things...that they belonged to him...that he had to work through it...but he didn't have to.
And Jesus said with a smile, "You need to understand something here. I was absolutely thrilled to die for you and to take all those things away from you so that you would never have to have them ever ever again. Forever. I was thrilled knowing that I would rob you of that anxiety, that fear of man, that striving, knowing I could take away that sting of betrayal. So that you would never have to be under that oppression again. And listen, Graham, if you don't gimme my stuff back, I can't give you what I want to give you. Son, that is not yours, it's mine. THIS is yours...the whole gospel, Graham, is about exchange. I take all your rubbish, and I give you all my glory. Gimme back my stuff. Gimme back my stuff. I am not counseling you over it. I am not pastoring you in it. It is dead. It is over. I am counseling you in your new nature. I am pastoring the newness of life in you. I am teaching you how to become new, not how to live in the old. Graham, you need to gimme back your stuff because it doesn't belong to you anymore. Gimme back my stuff. Give. Me. Back. My. Stuff. It's mine."
Whew!
Powerful.
True.
Good.
Surrendered...
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