Around 4:30 AM I awoke from a disturbing dream where I felt suffocated in my bed. I called on Jesus my rock, and I awoke. Jesus never fails me, He always brings me to life.
There are currently over seven billion people living on earth. Many who haven’t had a life-giving understanding of Jesus. They don’t know the secret of life is found in Jesus.
Maybe you say…how can you be sure that Jesus is the key to life? How can you be sure that Jesus is the answer? My response is that I and a legacy of many others can testify about the difference Jesus has made in our lives. We can tell you how putting our faith in his name has brought us to life.
The Jesus Party is the party of deliverance. The name Jesus means deliverance. When Jesus died, and paid for our sins he released to us the Holy Spirit who is our advocate ( John 14:16 ) and “ Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
In 2020, we have complicated the gospel by trying to be political. Politics pollutes, culture divides, but Jesus unites. At this very moment in history, we need Jesus more than ever. We need his rule and reign in our lives more than ever.
I think of my associates, friends, and family who don’t know Jesus, who don’t know his deliverance, they live their life in a prison of lies, fear, and depression. They live their life under the oppression of the devil and the world-ruling them. But if they knew Jesus the way I know Jesus. If they knew him as Lord, then they would fear no man nor demon.
There are many who profess Christ but don’t walk in his power, truth, and love. They think that cultural Christianity is enough. They think to go to church, and saying a little prayer here and there is enough. But God is calling those Christians to a higher level. The power of the Kingdom of God flows through a believer who is wholeheartedly committed to God in every part of their life. A half-hearted Christian will not fulfill the will of God. Knowing a few Bible stories, principles, and scriptures are of no use if it doesn’t change our actions, and attitudes. Only by trusting the words of Jesus and following through with his instructions will we advance the kingdom of God.
We need to get back to evangelizing and doing it with the Spirit of wisdom. We need to first sit a the feet of Jesus and ask “ Lord what is your strategy?” How do you want me to impact this nation? The scriptures command us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. But many times we exclude one of those parts. Some people are all heart, and no mind, some are all mind, and no heart and others cut out the soul. But God wants it all!
What I’m calling for is wholehearted evangelism, which is a reformation of our worship, heart, and attitudes to look like Jesus. The gospel was made to be shared, it’s for all people because all people need deliverance from death. From the rich to the poor, great and small, black, white…. we all have an enemy called Satan who wishes to destroy us. But Jesus came to give us abundant life ( John 10:10). We need to tell people about this life in Jesus and not get polluted by the things of this world.
The world needs the real deliverer, not a diluted self-righteous person. The world needs the real Jesus that works, that moves, that acts out of love, and speaks with grace. We need the real Jesus who restores the blind, the deaf, and the mute. We need the real Jesus who lends to the poor and creates value. We need the prince of peace, Yes, we need the real Jesus.
Michael aka “Malan Jones” is a worship leader, writer, artist, and producer born in Georgia but now resides in Tucson where he creates music and videos that proclaim the gospel. He has a B.A. in Film and Media Arts from the University of Tampa and an M.A. in Christian Leadership from Grand Canyon University.