Jesus, Our Ransom

Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.

Ransom – noun – a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity.

Ransom – verb – to deliver, especially from sin or its penalty, to free from captivity or punishment by paying a price.

Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

Praying In The Spirit

Like many other couples, when Sam and I were first married with two little babies, money was tight. The end of the paycheck always seemed to come before the end of the month. One afternoon, the stress rose and as I prayed, the Holy Spirit took over. I distinctly remember praying in the Spirit, a way I had never really experienced before and the stress turned to laughter.

I had been driving home when all of this happened with my two little ones in the back seat. As I drove over the overpass, was when the weight of all the stress lifted. When I turned into the neighborhood, I knew everything would be ok.

The next morning, I drove to the pool where I taught a water fitness class. I pondered the prayer from the afternoon before and marveled at the peace I felt, but wondered why. I still had bills to pay.

I taught the class and as I toweled off; I saw a folded up calendar page drop from one participant’s towel. She picked it up and said yesterday the Lord had told her to give this to me. I got into my minivan, unfolded the calendar page to find a check that covered all of our expenses. This was the first of many times God has provided for our needs. I sat in the car and rejoiced at His goodness.

Jesus Paid Our Ransom

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45 NIV

Not only did God provide for my needs that day, and many after, but He sent His Son to pay the ultimate debt for me and for you. Over the last few months, I have felt challenged about how far I will go for Jesus, for the sake of the gospel. He paid the utmost ransom for me. Am I willing to do the same in return?

Prayer Plus Action

A lady I have taken some classes from reminds us often that we must do more than pray. At first I thought, “no we don’t. God can do anything.” Then she continued on sharing about some of the horrible issues in our world today. Yes, we need to pray about it, but we also need to take action.

We have to do our part. God provided for me many times miraculously, but I bet if I can work, but chose not to and sat and just prayed for God to provide, it would probably not come. When we do our part, do the work, and pray, God often moves in abundance.

One person I have read of that lived this out is Rees Howells. If you could only read one more book for the rest of your life, other than the Bible, I would highly recommend “Intercessor” by Norman Grubb. It is a book on the life of Rees Howells who lived during the Welsh Revival. His book is story after story of prayer, action, and miracles.

The Lord Provides

Two stories from the book have stuck with me for years. I am only giving you a small part of the story because I want you to read it. In the first story, Rees talks about a friend coming to him to ask for prayer for money to pay this rent. Rees prayed and felt the Lord say to him, “Give it to him you have what he needs.” Rees thought, “Yes, but my rent is due next week. How will I pay mine?” The Lord replied, “You have time to pray for me to provide for you.”

If we have the answer to someone’s prayer, why don’t we give it? Why do we pray for God to find someone else to provide? I will be the first to admit, even after seeing God move repeatedly, I still need reassurance. We are human.

The Lord Heals

The other story shared was about a time Rees went to pray for a woman with a life-threatening disease. I believe it was tuberculosis. As he walked to the home of this woman, the Lord put on his heart to pray for God to transfer the disease from her to him. Then Rees would need to pray for himself to receive healing. He prayed this with the woman and he left the house with her disease. A short time later, he received miraculous healing.

God works in strange yet powerful ways. Rees had incredible faith to pray such powerful prayers, but He got to see God move in miraculous ways. So again, I ask myself and I ask you, how far are we willing to go for the sake of Christ?

How Far Am I Willing To Go?

Because God loves us so much, He sent His Son to us. Jesus experienced everything we could ever experience and then He was beaten and hung on a cross to die. In His death, He took away all of our sin to restore us to God. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus the strength to endure, and now we have the Spirit living within us when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

There is nothing we can do that could compare to that, but again I have to ask how far will I go? How much am I willing to give for the sake of the gospel? We get upset about the state of the world. We get outraged by the sin that is happening to young children. Sex trafficking breaks our hearts, but what are we really willing to do about it?

God has challenged me to step beyond the walls of my prayer closet, and I want to challenge each of you to do the same. The teacher I mentioned above, who experienced abuse by a pedophile as a child, said to start with those you are close to. Protect your children, your grandchildren. Do what you can for them. Keep watch over the children in the neighborhood. If you see something out of the ordinary, speak up.

What Stirs Your Heart?

I encourage you to pay close attention to the things that stir your heart the most. When you watch the news, what gets you fired up the most? When you read the Bible, what sets your heart aflame? Pay attention to what breaks your heart in our world today and move on that. Pray and ask God what He would have you do. Pray for the situation, but be prepared to take action as well.

Jesus, our ransom. He took on all of our sin and paid the ultimate price for us. Let’s live lives that truly represent the sacrifice He made for us.