I Give It All

The purpose of this teaching blog is really very simple. It’s intended to encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Reminding people of how massive and far-reaching the love of God is, in spite of their circumstances, is something I want to convey each and every week. I hope to do that by sharing the stories behind the songs God has given me through the years and then by sharing those songs with you.

I have experienced things in my life that I would want no one else to ever experience. I have done things in this life that have brought me much shame and caused me much regret. I, even now, am dealing with Parkinson’s Disease that, frankly, is no walk in the Parkinson’s - pun intended. I have had moments in my life in which the burdens felt too much to bear…felt like I would be crushed mentally, emotionally, and spiritually…but that all changed the day I surrendered all of those things to Jesus Christ and His massive, amazing, cleansing, healing love. And just how did I do that? I got honest with God…and honest with myself.

The moments of sexual abuse I experienced as a child proved too heavy for me to bear, so I gave them to Jesus and He has carried them for me ever since. He has even shown me He was there with me through every moment of those encounters, lovingly speaking and singing hope into my heart and mind even when I felt hopeless and did not know He was even there. Someone got me through.

Concerning the moments of sin and failure in my life - the many regrets I have had to deal with - I came to a place where I realized I could not do one thing to change my past…so I did what I knew to do. I gave each and every one of those mind-crushing failures to Jesus and He forgave me. He spoke to my mind and told me I should stop trying to change the past and that He would use even my past failures to bring about good in my life because He wastes nothing. He forgave me and I received His forgiveness…but, I admit, I still felt ashamed. You know what He told me to do next? Forgive myself. Forgive myself and move on down the road toward Him because He had forgotten all my past and that He had a plan for my future.

Even though I am experiencing Parkinson’s and often deal with physical and mental suffering, I have found a peace and joy I do not think I would have come to otherwise. I get to choose how I think…and choosing how I think about PD involves choosing to see it from Father God’s point of view. When I choose to think differently than the world would have me think, I feel hope rather than despair. I feel joyful rather than sorrowful. It is in John 8:32 that we find the remedy for sharing our burdens. It simply says, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

The first step truth requires is getting honest with God about our thoughts and feelings and failures because we never get to the freedom until we get to the truth…and truth is simple honest confession of our burdens to the only One Who can truly bear them for us and with us. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,

The God [who] is our salvation.

Selah

Psalm 68:19 NASB

Today I would like to share a song that came to me on November 27, 2004 that truly does express in song what I have tried to express in words. Even though I wrote it in 2004, it still rings true for me now…I would say it rings even MORE true than when I first wrote it. Here is a brief summary of what I said about the song when I first received it. I wrote:

This past year (2004), I did not have very many opportunities to lead worship at my home church. I always look forward to those times because I feel connected to the people when given these moments of leading. As we came through the Thanksgiving season, I knew one of those days was coming soon. As I began to seek the Lord for direction, I felt impressed that there were many hurting people in our body. The verses came as I began to think about the lies people are bombarded with. The chorus came as I began to think about words that would help people lay those burdens and lies down at the feet of Jesus. I love this song and I love to sing this song!

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Psalm 55:22 NASB

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NASB

Nothing catches our God by surprise. He knew I would face PD and met me there - meets me there - with grace. In like manner, there is no burden too big for our God to carry…but He cannot carry what we won’t let go of. I know it sounds overused, but there is power and freedom in the old saying, “Just let go and let God.” Just surrender your burdens to Him - as often as necessary. He is never too busy for His children…and you are His child…and you can trust Him.

Let’s take a few minutes and listen to the song (you will find the link below), I Give It All, and as we listen, let’s give our burdens - whatever they may be - to Jesus. Let’s rid our minds of the lies of the enemy and put off stinkin’ thinkin’ and put on the thoughts our Father God thinks toward us. And then go and live like you believe God loves you…and simply be who your Father says you are.

Dennis Jernigan

Listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast called I Give It All and hear this week’s song. Use this link - http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-give-it-all/

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