All In

EPHESIANS 4: 1-6

1 ¶ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

We end verse 6 with, of all, over all, through all and in all. It’s this thought of all that I want to focus on for a few minutes.

I have been a Christian for a while now. Not as long as some but longer than others. That’s ok cause I’m not as old as some and older than others. It’s just how it works. Don’t worry about where you are in the process just thank God you are now part of the process. 

I say all that to say that I have seen some mighty men of God and I’ve seen some beat down worn out figures of men that used to be. Used to be on fire, used to be alive with passion. Used to be filled with love for their fellow man. But now they are just fragile outlines of the men they once were. 

I myself have waged a few “tug of war” battles with that line in the sand. On one side I’m in love with what I do and on the other side I’m throwing in the towel. We’ve all had our moments. 

We have to ask ourselves this question. What is it that makes the difference between us pressing on and giving up? 

As You ponder that I would like to reference back to our sponsor. In the Bible, when I read of the ministry of Jesus here, He was constantly moving. Constantly having the next thing to do in mind while still finishing up with the problem at hand. When he healed it was not a halfway handshake and a hope of things to come. No he commanded deliverance. 

We read of the restoration of the demon possessed man in the tombs. ( Matt. 8:38-32, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39)

Matthew tells us Jesus told them to “GO.”. There wasn’t any negotiation. It says he allowed them to go into the pigs but wherever they were going the fact was they weren’t staying in the man after Jesus told them to go. 

There are many instances of healing and restoring as Jesus went. Now,  do you not think that maybe, just for a moment, that He was ever pushed to the limit with the people or problems of the day?We must remember that Jesus took on human form. The Bible says that He became one of us to save us all. He had aches and pains. I’m sure his feet were sore from all the walking from town to town. He was surrounded by a group of less than stellar men. They questioned everything. They were constantly fighting , whining and bickering about everything. I’m sure that Jesus had headaches from dealing with the disciples alone. The Bible says that Jesus took on all our sin. Most only think of the cross experience when we hear that. The truth is that He took on all this during His entire human experience here. From cradle to the cross it was all part of His process to make a way to restore all of us. So those “sins”, anger, frustration, worry, bitterness, etc.. They all confronted Him just like they still confront us. 

So where am I going with all this? Simple. Jesus had made up His mind. He was “ALL IN”.

He knew what It was He came to do. He knew how it would end and He knew it was for us and He knew that without Him we would all perish. 

He never flinched when confronted by the men who found the woman in the act of adultery. He never even looked up. He spoke the truth and moved on. ( John 8:1-11)

He never took hold of fear when the seas were tossing the boat all over the place. When the disciples were trembling and screaming for fear of their lives. No, he knew what he was here for and it wasn’t finished yet. So he simply commanded the sea to be still. (Luke 8: 21-25)

When they laughed at Him because they thought the little girl was dead and he told them she was only asleep, it didn’t phase Him. He didn’t run off and leave the girl because they hurt his feelings. No he sat the little girl up and told them she’s hungry, y’all hurry up and feed her. (Mark 5:21-24,35-43)

When one of his inner circle betrayed him with a kiss, he still moved forward. ( Matthew 26:45-49, Mark 14:43-46, John 18:2-5)

When they shoved a crown of thorns in his head and mocked him. He merely kept moving and doing what he set out to do. He was all in. (Matthew 27:27-41, John 19:1-6)

When He endured the pain on the cross. Nails in his hands and feet. The weight of his body hanging on those nails. He had the power to come down whenever he wanted. But he was “All In”. He knew what was to come and he knew it wasn’t time yet. He still had purpose even on the cross. 

Jesus was “All In”. Now that scripture in Ephesians said God is over all, through all and in all. Jesus said that he was only doing that that he saw his father do. 

John 5:19 (ESV): 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.  

Jesus was speaking of his authority in this scripture. He can only do what he has seen his father do. Well, that takes me to another scripture. When Jesus was talking to the disciples about him going away in John 14.

John 14:12–14 (ESV): 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

So if we claim that we are followers of Jesus. Shouldn’t this mean that according to the scriptures, if we are doing as Jesus did,  that we should be all in?

Back to my question about what makes us press on or give up. I believe it’s the difference between being sold out and just along for the ride. 

I’ve been guilty of starting a project and really enjoying the process only to quit because it got hard. Why? Because it was a good idea and I didn’t sell out. I just sorta rented the idea until I no longer wanted to pay for it.

You wanna see a difference in your life. Go all in. Sell the farm and put all the proceeds on Jesus. Give up on all of you and give it all to Him. Families are on their way to hell because we are selling out to ourselves and not to God. We rent God like a timeshare and don’t truly sell all our ideas and dreams to him. We have those things that God is doing that we’re a part of and then we have our ideas and dreams. That’s not truthfully being all in. That’s floating by with a back up plan.

The times we live in aren’t much different from the times of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were forced to serve a King due to things outside their control. Through the grace of God and their good character, they were living peacefully in this new king’s land until the king made an absurd request. He demanded that everyone bow to an image of him. Because of their love and loyalty to God they could not and would not. So they had to suffer the fire. If they had bowed what an effect this would’ve had for future generations. But instead they were all in. All in the fire. They were prepared to go the distance. Instead of dying in a fire they had a divine appointment with what the king said looked like the son of man. Upon their retrieval from the fire the whole nation now served God. 

Look at Daniel in the lion’s den. He kept praying to God even if it meant death. He was sold out. All in. He also turned the heart of a king and a nation to God because of his faithfulness.

You say man I’ve tried and I always seem to come up short. How can I be all in and stay there?

Let’s go to 2 Peter 3-11 for this answer.

2 Peter 1:3–11 (ESV): 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He has granted us great promises…

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

8 qualities that assure you to never fail. Faith, virtue,knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. 

It’s funny that there are eight of these qualities and the number 8 is the number for resurrection or new beginnings in the Bible. So it is with our old man as we walk out these qualities to never fall. Our old man dies to the old thinking as we dig into the Bible and turn our hearts to these new ways of operating and living. Trading our minds to process things as Jesus did until we reach a place of complete renewing of our minds as Paul talked about in 

Romans 12:2 (ESV):  2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What is it going to take for you to go all in? Just step out into the things that God has waiting for you. Now I’m not preaching a feel good, smell the roses gospel. But that you will truly believe and walk out your full destiny in the kingdom. No strings or safety vests. Just you and God.