Have You Embraced the Lord Personally?

Scripture: John 20:17-18

Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ”  Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Insights:  On Monday I indicated that we would discuss God’s standard a little more this week.  In today’s verse we see that standard come to light.  God’s standard is perfection, which is why He required a perfect sacrifice to be made for us and that sacrifice was His Son, Jesus Christ.  The reason God was willing to pay such a price for our salvation was because of His love for us and His desire for us to have an intimate relationship with Him.  At the hearing of her name, Mary understood this reality in her life personally.  She clung to Jesus.  She did not want to let Him go.  I believe she would have been content to spend the remainder of her days holding Jesus with no food or water, because He was sufficient to meet all of her needs in and of Himself.  She recognized her absolute dependence upon His mercy and grace.  She knew He was the only One with the words of life to transform who she had been into the person of faith she had become.  One of the statements I made Sunday was that this salvation experience is personal.  In other words, your parents or your grandparents or your best friend can not enter into this relationship with Jesus for you.  You have to personally relinquish all you have and personally appropriate the gift being extended to you.  You receive this gift by faith.  You ask Jesus to come into your life and to forgive you of your sin and to save you from an eternity in the Lake of Fire.  If you have never made that decision, then let me encourage you to stop right now and pray to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Let Him take your broken, dark and lonely life and make it full of the joy we see Mary expressing in the verses today.  Let your praise be given to Him for the salvation He has given to you.

Questions:

1.  Have you embraced the Lord personally?

2.  Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Prayer: Father, thank You for the new life I have in Your Son, Jesus.  Thank You for taking me from my place of sin and transforming me in an instant into a new creation with a new eternal destiny in front of me.  Thank You for my salvation. Amen.