Are You All In?

(click on pic to listen) World War II was at its height. Forces were engaged in what was known as, “The Battle of the Bulge” — or “The Christmas War of 1944.” The fighting was fierce in the bitter cold and snow.
The Allied Forces bombed and established control of a strategic area. The commanding officer turned to several of his men and said, “Sweep across that field, and kill all German soldiers still entrenched in the snow. I want no prisoners. Absolutely none!”
One of the American soldiers selected gives his account of what happened next. “As I walked, I immediately shot and killed two wounded and suffering soldiers.” He continues, “Then, suddenly I approached a tall, young guy with a broad germanic forehead.
“He was leaning against a tree. He wasn’t wounded — simply exhausted. He had no food, no water, no comrades in sight, no ammunition. Fear, fatigue, defeat, and loneliness overwhelmed him. He spoke English with a beautiful vonderful- vorld-type accent.
“When I noticed a little black Bible in his shirt pocket,” he reminisces, “we started to talk about Jesus and salvation. Wouldn’t you know it, that lanky German soldier turned out to be a born-again Christian who deeply loved the Lord. I gave him water from my canteen; I even gave him crackers. Then, we prayed and read God’s Word together. And we wept together too.”
His voice began to tremble, as tears splashed down his cheeks. His face began to reflect anguish.
“It seems like only yesterday. We stood a foot or so apart, as he read a Psalm from his German Bible. Then, I read Romans 12 from my King James translation. He showed me a black – and-white picture of his wife and daughter.”
The soldier took a deep breath. “You see, in those days, I was a young man in my early twenties. I had just graduated from a Christian college in Illinois and hadn’t had time to sort out my thoughts on the war.
“Maybe that’s why I did what I did. “I bid my German brother farewell, took several steps away, then returned to the soldier. Romans 13, the ‘thou shalt not kill’ commandment, the promises of eternal life, the Prince of Peace, the Sunday school distinction between killing and murder, the irrationality of war — all swirled in my mind.
“When the German soldier saw me returning, he bowed his head and closed his eyes in that classic prayer posture. Then it happened. I said three crisp sentences that I still repeat once or twice a week when I have nightmares about the war, ‘You’re a Christian. I am too. See you later.’
“In less than a second, I transformed that defenseless Christian soldier into a corpse.”

Sometimes being obedient just doesn’t make any sense.

Thousands of years before Jesus was born people were obedient when it didn’t make sense. You have Abraham leading his family to an unknown land simply because God told him to go. You have Moses leading 2 plus million people out of Egypt simply because God told him to go. You have Gideon leading an army of 300 against an army of thousands because God told him to go. You have Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, and countless other prophets going to the people of Israel and telling them to return to God (and hardly anybody listened) because God told them to go.These are all people who were obedient when it didn’t make sense to be obedient.

Then for 400 years,  God was silent. God didn’t speak to anyone. Until he spoke to Mary. What did he say to Mary? God said to Mary through an angel, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Way before Jesus was born the prophet Isaiah said this …. (Is 7:14)
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. This was written 600-700 years before Jesus was born.

Mary was very young and yet she was a woman of her people, the nation of Israel through whom God had chosen to reveal himself. There is a reason why God chose Mary out of all the other woman:
• She was humble
• She was poor
• She was obedient

And she was highly favored.

This doesn’t mean she was better than everyone else but that she was a sincere, godly young woman. She lived a righteous life and obeyed her authority. She honored God with her life. God didn’t choose her based on their heritage, family name, or social status. God chose her based on their spiritual maturity. Mary, though she was young, was able to be used by God because she had followed Him, lived by His commands, and kept herself pure.

In other words, she was obedient when it didn’t make sense to be obedient. She was all in. Adversity didn’t affect her. Discouragement didn’t control her. She had no intentions of turning back.

She now had a baby inside of her given to her by God. They call it the immaculate conception. Once conception took place She couldn’t turn back. I am sure this wasn’t the way she planned it. She was betrothed (which is like being married) to Joseph but they hadn’t gone through the traditional ceremony and they weren’t living together.  I am confident that her plan was to go through the ceremony and then conceive. Once conception took place, well, she had to be all in. I am sure this didn’t make a sense at the time.

Why would God allow her to go through the all of this – Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Joseph couldn’t be the father. As good and righteous as Joseph was, He too, was obedient when it didn’t make sense to be obedient but he wasn’t perfect. Jesus had no DNA of Joseph.  Joseph was his imperfect step father. God was his perfect heavenly mother. I remember when Dana told me we were pregnant with Lyndsay and I was going to be a dad. I knew we were going to have kids some day  I just didn’t know when. As exciting as it was for me, I don’t know any guy who understands what it means to be a dad until they become one. You can read all the books to prepare yourself. But until you become one ….. do you begin to understand the incredible responsibility. As much as a perfect dad as I wanted to be – there was no way to accomplish it. I would mess up hundreds of times.

You would think being pregnant would be with the Son of God would give you some status. Only Mary and Joseph knew it was the Son of God. They are the only ones who knew for a while. Despite being the mother of the Son of God,  Mary still had to deal with the shame people heaped on her.  Mary had to deal with being looked at as a prostitute. Mary had to worry whether she was going to live or not. Mary had to deal with the snickers behind her back. Mary had to deal with the town gossip. Through all of this, she was obedient when being obedient didn’t make sense. The scriptures tell us she rejoiced! Despite all the stuff that was going wrong around her – she rejoiced.

Luke 1:46-48
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,

While walking through all these things,  she still loved God. She was willing to be obedient despite what it was going to cost her.  With all the things that were going on around her, she remained obedient when it didn’t make sense to remain obedient. When the circumstances in her life didn’t make sense and the fact it didn’t go in the order that she had planned, she remained obedient when didn’t make sense to be obedient.

How was Mary was able to remain obedient when it didn’t make sense to be obedient?

A: She was all in!

Like Elijah, once he had an encounter with God, he went and burned all of his farm equipment. He knew he wasn’t turning back. Like Abraham, once he had an encounter with God, he left everything he knew. He knew he wasn’t coming back. Like Paul, once he had an encounter God, he left everything he knew – his job and, his previous life. He knew he wasn’t going back to his old way of life. Each of them we’re all in.

Each of them were all in!
When you are all in – you are able to rejoice in situations that just don’t make sense.
When you are all in – God turns those drumbeats of doom in your head into a song in your heart.
When you are all in – You will not be dependent on the company of others to ease your loneliness. For he is Emmanuel – God with us.
When you are all in – The praise of others will not send your spirit soaring, nor will criticism plunge you into a pit.
When you are all in – you will move from I should pray to I must pray.
When you are all in – you will move from I should read the scriptures to I must read the scriptures.
When you are all in – you understand that not only does God love you – he even likes you.
When you are all in – you stop comparing yourself with others. In the same way you will not trumpet your own importance.
When you are all in – you see God dancing for joy because of you.
When you are all in – you know you are constantly in the presence of Jesus and when you see him you see tenderness.

How do you get all in?

1. Return to your relationship with God.

This is all God asked Israel to do in the Old Testament. This is what God asked Paul and countless others  to do in the New Testament. From Genesis to Revelation he is pleading with us to return to him. Still today, Isaiah reminds us, we all like sheep have gone astray. We are constantly walking away from the relationship.This (returning to God) is what God is asking all of us to do. Because when you return to God that’s when salvation happens. That’s when your life begins to change.

Then he did the most incredible thing. This is what sets him above all other gods. Since we weren’t coming to him, He came to us. He made himself known by coming to earth in human flesh.

2. Walk with God

Always be aware of his presence. This is all that matters when you are walking with Him. He is always with us. Immanuel means God with us. It is up to us to recognize his presence. This is what Mary did. This is what Joseph did. With the hand they had been dealt and the difficult circumstances they lived in, they knew God was with them. How did they know that? They believed his promises were true. 

3. Honor God with your life

Be obedient when it doesn’t make sense to be obedient.

• Loving our enemy doesn’t make sense.
• Loving those who persecute you doesn’t make sense.
• Going the extra mile doesn’t make sense.
• Being generous with your resources doesn’t make sense.
• Investing in someone’s life when we don’t have our own life together just doesn’t make sense.
• Losing your life so that you can find it just doesn’t make sense.
• Not building bigger barns just doesn’t make sense.

There is nothing about following Christ that makes sense. Not everybody is doing it any more.

Are you all in?www.marionfchog.org