"Only Jesus"
I give thanks to God the Father for each of you. God has blessed me with a big family. I�m not talking about a family of flesh and blood, but a family brought together by one Father. I�m talking about every one of you that has the Holy Spirit abiding (living, taking up all the space) inside you. Each person that has knelt before the foot of the cross, and had their sins canceled by the blood of Jesus Christ, is part of a family. Jesus dying on the cross was essential for our salvation, to our promise of eternal life in Heaven. We are family and must treat each other in that way. We must be found demonstrating the love of God to each other and to the many souls that need Christ. Yes, we must be found pointing the lost to the cross for forgiveness. Sadly, many point others to miracles, abundance and even psychiatrists and counselors. Through many battles I�ve found that we can depend on �Only Jesus�.
Before I get too far into the message, I�d like to establish something with you. Some months back the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, �I won�t give you a message, but I will make YOU a message.� At that time I didn�t realize how hard that was going to be. You see, it isn�t hard to sit down and study the Word and get up and preach. Why, some folks even buy themselves a book of sermons. Some read books (not the Bible) and preach out of them. Or they will listen to someone else preach and mimic them. Some organizations even send their people the messages they want preached! You see, I could read something man has written all day long, and even get a certificate, giving me the right to put titles on my name. One preacher friend refers to it as having more degrees than a thermometer! Folks can do all that, but where is the anointing? That makes all the difference, and it comes at a great price! It�s not cheap. We use a bottle of olive oil as anointing oil � the price not too much. But how did that oil get in the bottle? It had to be put into a press and squeezed! Do you hear what I�m saying to you by the anointing of the Holy Spirit? God called me long ago; the anointing I have does not come cheap. I forget sometimes how the Holy Spirit teaches by experience! Sometimes I forget there are places I must walk that my wife cannot go, places my Pastor cannot go, places my family in Christ cannot go. Even though God has blessed me with all these for love, fellowship and encouragement, they will not always be able to understand what I�m going through. You see, they aren�t supposed to! This is where I came to realize that at the times when I think I�m in that press alone, I�m not! I look around and see �Only Jesus�.
Let me tell you why Jesus will always be there in the times when the pressures are pushing you from every side. That place of squeezing when your flesh feels like it will surely go on and die. That time when you look around and there�s no man beside you. I�m talking about a place where you�re tired, discouraged and can�t hardly get up. Jesus knew that feeling! He knew what it was to be under pressure. He knew what it was to turn around and see everyone gone. He knew what it was to find everyone asleep when He turned to them in His hour of need! There in Matthew 26:36-46, Christ�s physical and spiritual sufferings begin in the Garden of Gethsemane. It�s not surprising to me why Jesus chose that place to pray. It�s very symbolic. The very name �Gethsemane� means �oil press�. The garden was a short walk east of Jerusalem on the slope of the Mount of Olives. So here Jesus is in the place where olives are put into the press, every drop pressed out of them. He�s got His closest disciples with Him � Peter, James and John. He said to them, �Sit ye here, while I go pray yonder.� Jesus was very sorrowful, and asked them to tarry and watch. Jesus praying in agony there, the Word in Luke saying, ��and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.� Doctors say that under great stress the small capillaries in the sweat glands can break and mix blood with the sweat. So Jesus is under great stress, agonizing about what is to come. He comes back 3 times to find those He asked to tarry and watch, to just sit awhile, and they were asleep! Each time Jesus knew there was only one He could turn to. He turned to His Father! He turned to the Heavenly Father. You see, this Jesus didn�t have anything left in the baskets � no loaves, no fishes! The people that had reached out to touch Him had all received what they wanted� Don�t guess any of you have ever found yourself down, stressed, nothing left that people want, all alone? Your closest friends, those you need to just tarry awhile, all asleep? Jesus experienced all these things. He knows how you feel. That�s why down in the press when everything is closing in and you feel alone, there�s �ONLY JESUS� to turn to!
Psalm 27:10 says, �When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.� Oh what a promise! What hope! What hope, in a world where at times many suffer from loneliness, feeling cast down and forsaken. People get so busy with the things of the world that they become lulled to sleep! Being completely unaware of the needs of others. What we as Christians must realize before we can ever minister to others, is that we are valuable to God. No matter what we do, we never lose that value. Every man, woman, boy and girl that is and ever was, had such a great value that God�s Son shed His blood. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son! This is why I�ve found the things I�ve experienced so very important. Not only I find that I must depend on Jesus, but to understand my worth to God. Only then can any of us relay that to others. God is longsuffering with each of us. We are His creation, the object of His love. It is His will that all make it to Heaven and that no one is ever alone. In every situation there is help. As we learn to quit expecting others to fill the void or have all the answers, we become stronger. Then we learn to turn to �Only Jesus�.
I often receive much encouragement when I�m feeling alone, by reading about Paul. In II Timothy 4:16-18, Paul was in trouble. He preached the Word of God, didn�t back up, didn�t care what the theologians said against him. This often got him thrown in prisons and beatings. Because of the persecutions of Christians in Rome, Paul found himself alone. Paul the faithful, uncompromising and outspoken, an apostle deserted by all! �At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me�� (II Timothy 4:16) As we read verse 17, Paul knew he wasn�t alone: �Not withstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.� The next verse has a promise to us all: �And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.� Don�t think Paul wasn�t disappointed, a man that had now given 30 years of his life, giving up everything for Christ. He had received little other than persecution, hatred from his own and disgrace. The churches he had established and gave of himself for, were no longer loyal to him. They were falling away from him and the apostolic faith! He was in prison waiting to die. Paul suffered many things, but as he sat there awaiting death he showed no regrets. Paul knew where his strength was. He knew where his reward was. From the world�s perspective Paul�s life was about to come to a tragic end, in failure. Things may look like failure to you today, but we must remember that God works all things to the good for those who love Him. Death does not terminate what God can accomplish through a loyal and faithful servant. God can multiply our steadfast loyalty far beyond our dreams or expectations. We may even feel that we have accomplished little or nothing for God! Take into consideration that 2000 years after Paul, his writings and faithfulness still influences a countless number of lives! What we sow for God will be reaped without measure by others. Whatever you are going through today, no matter how useless you may feel. No matter how alone and misunderstood you feel or how let down and discouraged you may be. Remember Paul�s words, �Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that ALL the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.� Paul knew that �Only Jesus� was there and would never leave him!
I encourage you to read II Timothy 3:1-5 and let the Holy Spirit reveal Whom you must look to! I have the sweetest, loyalest gift of God in my wife Kim. I also know that there will be times that giving her best, still she will not be what it takes to sustain me. She encourages and so do many that love me. Yet, �Only Jesus� and staying focused on Him will take us through.
Read about Daniel, Joseph and the three Hebrew children� God was with them all, when no one else was there. They were deserted by family and friends, yet still they stood and never lost their dream. Let not your heart be troubled. You need �Only Jesus�.
In Christ, Bro. Don George
A NEW YEAR�S PROMISE FROM JESUS
(Author Unknown)
Another year I enter,
Its history unknown;
Oh, how my feet would tremble
To tread its paths alone!
But I have heard a whisper,
I know I shall be blest:
�My Presence shall go with thee,
And I will give you rest.�
What will the new year bring me?
I may not, must not know.
Will it be love and rapture,
Or loneliness and woe?
Hush! Hush! I hear His whisper,
I surely shall be blest:
�My Presence shall go with thee,
And I will give you rest.�
