I sometimes just say “Lord Jesus, lovely Lord Jesus” over and over slowly, there is nothing better or more healing… There hath not fail one word of all His good promises. All the promises of God are “yea” and “amen,” and that’s enough right there to go on. — Dottie, my mother-in-law
Life on this planet can be tough. Jesus never promised otherwise:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
John recorded that in his gospel, but he doesn’t leave it there. In his first letter, John puts it in perspective for those who are born again:
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:3-5)
The core commandments to love, to trust, to live in Him, and to rest in Him—these give us a victory over the world that is so obvious that John says it is one of the “signs” that we are born of God. Personally, I know of no one whose life speaks as loudly to these truths as my mother-in-law. If you remember, when my wife was born, Dottie’s life was a complete mess, ravaged by brokenness. Now some forty-odd years later, her body is starting to break down. Yet listen to some of the words she wrote in a letter to us:
- “It all about His business, I take care of His business, HE takes care of my business.”
- “LORD, it’s your body, if this is what you want for your body, be my guest!”
- “Jesus is the only true reality in my life. Every word that comes out of the mouth of God matters, just like He said. The rest is just a bunch of scrambling around and babbling.”
- “He is alive and real in me. How much closer can He get than ‘in’? Mercifully, He and I are inseparable. No thanks to me, He did it all. If so, I can trust Him, He doeth all things well!”
Yes, MY mother-in-law. (And NO, you can’t have her.) She is an “unburdened overcomer” of the world. That characteristic of overcoming the world is one of the signs that we have been born again.
Jesus, be the only true reality in my life. I release my worldly burdens to You. I take on Your commands which are not burdensome at all when I allow You to live them through me in Your strength. Amen.
Listen to Pete, Jill & Stuart Briscoe on the Telling the Truth broadcast at OnePlace.com
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Originally published July 20, 2018.
