“Give Me Jesus”

Billy Graham was an inspiration to me when I was a teenager.  We went to one of his evangelizing events with my home town church of Gemmell, Minnesota, USA.  We traveled to Minneapolis and stayed in a camper trailer in the parking lot of the convention center where he would speak.  It was an exciting event for a girl of aged seventeen, who, coming from a small town of about three hundred people, found herself in the “big city” and at the convention, standing before Billy Graham and offering her life to Christ.

Now, this young girl had already offered herself to Christ and as important as the first time is, I didn’t know it then, but now, find that it is important to offer myself to Christ every day in much the same way!  Everyday, I ask for him to take my hand and lead me; I commit myself to following him, ask for his Spirit to fill me afresh and that the fruit of his Spirit would abound over all else in my life.  The battle we fight today Spiritually is the most important one, all else hangs on this battle; preparing daily is imperative (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Included in this prayer ritual in the mornings is my plea before the throne of Christ to carry the animal kingdom’s suffering and to intervene through us, for us, because of us, in spite of us, without us, for them, for his coming Kingdom’s sake, for Jesus sake; to open eyes and hearts, to send rescue and shine like only he can into the deepest darkest pit where they may be, alone, hurting in all ways they do at the hands of man.  The darkness must flea when the Light of God shines (see this brilliant post and listen to this song by Aaron Shust!).
And I thank him for the victories, I thank him because I know that one day the suffering will end, and I can rest in his peace now knowing that only through the peace he gives me can I experience the fruit of the Spirit that will carry me through the knowing and seeing of animal suffering to be able to be used by God to help him in ways where I am planted to relieve that suffering.  Most often, he leads me to prayer as that way to help and partner with him.

I am reminded of Moses and Joshua; Moses was called to keep his hands in the air to win against the Amalekites as Joshua led the people in this battle. “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.”  (Exodus 17:11)
The scripture goes on to say, “But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.…” (Exodus 17:12)

These passages remind me how much we need each other, our prayers for one another, for the earth, the animal kingdom, for encouragement and to help each other stay under the Saviour’s wings where he will keep us at perfect peace so the Spirit and his fruit can rule supremely in our lives and character.
The Matthew Henry Commentary on these scriptures also offers us some important insights.  “The church’s cause is more or less successful, as her friends are more or less strong in faith, and fervent in prayer.”  The battle today is for our minds and our hearts, and when we stand firm, praying continually with one another, holding up each others arms when we grow weary, the Kingdom of God advances upon the earth against the enemy Satan – for us and the animals we care so much about!

So as you watch this video of Billy Graham speaking to a crowd asking them to come to Jesus, and listen to Fernando Ortega’s “Give me Jesus”, give yourself to him again, or for the first time if that should so apply!  (The video is also part of our video archives under the menu item “Media”)

For some inspirational words from Billy Graham about animals and their worth as well as our responsibilities for them, go to “The Humane Society of The United States” page here.
“Christ is both … our Joshua, the Captain of our salvation, who fights our battles, and our Moses, who ever lives, making intercession above, that our faith fail not.”  Matthew Henry Commentary Exodus 17:11

Thank you for reading and following our page!  So glad you are walking with us on this journey with Jesus, and we pray you are blessed by this blog and will share the messages widely with others!  ~Kathy