Come to me...

Quoted Devotion From My Utmost to His Highest
Coming to Jesus
Oct 08 2010
Come to Me . . . Matthew 11:28-30 — "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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."
Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— “Come to Me . . . .” In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, “Just as I am, I come.” As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to “Come . . . .”
“Come to Me . . . .” When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.
How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, “I’ve really received what I wanted this time!” And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, “Come to Me. . . .”
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When I read this devotional today, all I could think about were the people in my life that I have been praying for to “Come to Jesus,” wishing they had the courage to “cross the line,” or just accept Him/Jesus and the rest would follow. It sounds simple, but I know addiction is powerful and it can have a hold on a person for years or even a lifetime, I have seen it first hand. I wanted to share it with them but would it just be like all the other messages I have passed on to them? Note the sentence that talks about something YOU have to do, NOT us, but that person, has to UPROOT whatever is preventing them from getting to HIM.

I think that is one of the hardest things for all of us, the family members or friends of the alcoholic to understand, how can it be more important than a marriage, family, friendship or faith? How can the alcoholic want the disease to hold them when people who love them are willing to do so and God has his arms outstretched waiting for them to Come? I look at it as the addiction having a hold on the person and they can’t break free to find what is in them or reality or Jesus until they totally accept Him and the power of what He can do. They want to keep evading, staying sad, live the unmanageable life because that is easier and less painful. It may be less painful for the them but not for us, the ones that watch them let it destroy so much. Why can’t they see, that is the beauty of our Lord, He is ready for us to come any time.

There is no way I would have ever made it through my life without coming to Him and resting in His strong arms from time to time, especially these past two years. My Bible study this past year described those who want this from God, clinging to His legs like our kids did when they were young…my friend and me as mothers loved this! God is there waiting to pull us in whether we take a simple step forward or we grab hold of Him and cling tightly. The hard part is that movement to do so, simply…Come to Him.

My eyes welled with tears at the beautiful thought of God with his hands outstretched to take in my brother, the father of my children, my dad, or friends with the disease. I think they have all felt God’s presence or his arms reaching out to them and many of them have taken a step or two toward Him but I continue to pray that one day they simply Come.