Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say this—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe..
[Psalm 107:1-2 NIV]
Dennis Jernigan shares about being a young guy in church wishing that someone would give him hope. Knowing Jesus has been worth every struggle that Dennis has been through.
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DENNIS JERNIGAN: John 8:32 is very special to me. You know, we hear that quoted all the time, “You will know the truth, the truth will set you free.” Well, a really cool thing my mentor taught me about that word for “know” in the Hebrew is when the angel came to Mary and said, “Mary, you are going to bring forth a son,” Mary said, “But I’ve known no man.” Well, what she meant was that she’d not had an intimate relationship with a man. The same word that is used for known in that scripture is used in John 8:32, you will have an intimate relationship with the truth. Well, who’s the truth? Jesus Christ. You mean, I’ll have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and then I”ll be set free? Well, what’s the first step? Truth. It’s my honesty. I did not get set free in my own life until I took the first step that truth requires, and that’s honesty. Two very dear scriptures to me, one is Zephaniah 3:17. “The Lord you God is in your midst. He is a victorious warrior.” It ends by saying, “and he rejoices over you with singing.” God, you sing over me? Well, what does that sound like? And by the way, the word “rejoice” in the Hebrew literally means “to spin around wildly in anticipation of something, to jump and down for joy.” That’s how excited you get about me, Lord? Oh my goodness, you know what that says to me in that instance? When I hear that verse and understand the concept that he sings over me, it’s very relational. I don’t get to decide if God loves me. That’s so simple but it’s so freeing to me. I have two choices at any given moment: if he rejoices over me, then Lord, I embrace that. My choice is either accept his love or I reject it. Psalm 32:7 says “He is our hiding place and He will surround us with songs of deliverance.” There he is, singing again. For the last 25 years, what I’ve tried to do is sing to my God and then take time to sit there and listen for what he’s singing over me. It’s one of my favorite things to do. So I get involved in the lives of my friends, my minister’s in my living room, come here and sit and let me sing over you what I’ve heard my Father sing over me, and you’d be surprised at what God will do. It’s amazing.
