Fully Alive
by James Robison
Week of October 3, 2004
“And if you give yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire
of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your
gloom will become like the midday.” (Isaiah 58:10, NAS)
Life Today viewers tell us that they feel like we have brought the mission fields right into their living room. They are grateful for the opportunity to join us in reaching out to the less fortunate, and we are thrilled that they have caught our vision and heart for the world.
Recently, LIFE sponsored an evangelistic outreach with our missionaries in the Congo and half-million people gave their lives to Christ. I believe that one reason for this incredible harvest of souls is our commitment to care for Congolese orphans in our Rwandan orphanage. For several years, Congolese children, orphaned by civil war in their own country, were placed in our Rwandan orphanage in Gitarama. These children, raised in a nurturing environment, were physically and emotionally healthy and educated when they were relocated back to their native country. The leaders in Congo noticed and invited our mission partners to share how they did this.
I believe that the whole world is waiting for us to take His love and “loose the bonds of the wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke. He waits for us to divide our bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into the house, and to cover the naked.” (Isaiah 58: 6,7) Our God is big. He is bigger than our enemies. He is bigger than any terrorist.
The Lord guided me as I carried His light and love right into meetings with Communist leaders in China. For days, they were stunned as they listened to us share the love of God. They left saying, “ We have seen capitalists and we have seen the West, but we have never seen love like this.”
The same thing happened with the communists in Angola and in Mozambique. I watched God break them and bring restoration and healing.
God is looking for a means for His life to flow, if we will only be His channels. There is a river flowing out of me that all hell will not stop. There is a light burning in my life that has transforming power. That light is Jesus Christ. He is so real.
I love the Lord and I want you to love others, not because you can preach to them, but because you love them. If they are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them a drink. Jesus said if you did it for them, you did it for me. It is a blast to give Jesus a drink. It is a joy to cover His nakedness when His body is exposed. It is joy to visit Him.
I’m asking you to spend the rest of your life allowing this river of life and love to flow. I’m asking you to be known as a “repairer of the breech” and a “restorer of the streets”. (Isaiah 58:12)
Do you realize that you can affect what leaders in our capitol will do? There are people in Washington D.C. who once thought prayer didn’t matter, and now they realize they can’t make it through a day without people’s prayers!
The Berlin wall was prayed down because the gates of Hell will not prevail against the power of God’s love and those sensitive to His heart. That same power will be the only defense against the suicidal assaults of the terrorists that seek to steal our peace and kill our children. It is the only hope for this nation—not a political candidate, president, or party. “The government shall be upon His shoulders.” (Isaiah. 9:6) Our hope rests upon the Lord.
If we place our lives in His hand with a yielded heart, then the difficult times that we are sure to face will serve to hone our character and make us a vessel worthy of honor. I want to live that way.
I want to put more into the life of every person that I meet than they can put into me. I meet some very wealthy people, but I don’t envy them. I weep for them. If I ever have the chance to meet Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, I would be thinking, “I want to give you much more than you could ever give me, Mr. Gates. Just give me a chance.”
You must to learn to live that way in every relationship. When you do, you will not only be expressing life, but you will start experiencing it. Jesus said when you lose your life for His purpose you can be fully alive. (Matthew 16:25)
This Week
God wants to fill your heart with Him. Commit to hear and do His will and His love will keep you on course.
Prayer
"Lord, thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit that enables me to be a restorer and a repairer in and love the way you love. Let me be a light that goes forth and glorifies Jesus in all I do. Amen."
