Are you clinging?

We were privileged to hear Koky Lopez preach at the hotel last Sunday.  Koky is the campus pastor at Lourdes and usually he is called on to preach at that site.  However, this last weekend, he preached all four morning services in San Salvador and the afternoon service at our Apopa campus.  

It was our first Sunday back in El Salvaldor and, as always, after being gone for awhile, it takes a great deal of concentration to get our "Spanish" ears tuned back in.  Thankfully, the praise and worship time helps to get us ready for the preaching.  Koky's sermon was both timely and convicting, asking the question, "Were you satisfied with your personal relationship with Jesus in 2014?"  If not, what do you need to do to build a solid relationship with Jesus in 2015?  

His text was John 6:51-69, which is the point in Jesus' ministry that many of his "disciples" abandoned him because they found his teaching too "hard."  For the most part after this point, only the twelve stayed faithful.

Here are Koky's points (they all started with A's in Spanish, but that's lost in translation) for how to build a solid relationship with Jesus:

1)  Be nourished by the Word, John 6:39

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

2)  Cling to Jesus, John 6:67-68

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

3)  Affirm who Jesus is, John 6:69

Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

I loved the picture of the rock climber clinging to the side of the mountain that he used to illustrate the second point.  He challenged us to remember that Jesus is the rock, enormous, powerful and unmoving, and we need to cling to him in all our circumstances.  I needed to hear that and to remember that building a strong relationship with Jesus means I must cling to him like he's the only thing that's keeping me from falling down the side of the rock cliff--He is, after all, my Savior.  Only when I abandon all my own efforts to "climb" can I understand what it means to rest in Him and his marvelous promises.

I'm praying that this image and the following song will be my focus throughout 2015!  

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.