Laying Down Your Rights

Aloha from Kona!

This past week, we had the honor of hearing from the founder of our mission, Loren Cunningham, and his wife, Darlene Cunningham. Though each day was powerful, Wednesday afternoon was spent with Loren Cunningham on laying down our rights. Starting with Mark 8:34-38,

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me..." (34) There is a cost to following Jesus. Understanding his immense love is the key to weighing the cost of following Jesus, but their is a cost.

There were times in Loren's life where God challenged him to lay down a multi-million dollar job, his office as an ordained pastor in the Assemblies of God denomination, his wife and his own life. As Loren shared the stories of walking out these trials, my heart was gripped when he shared on surrendering his wife, Darlene, to the Lord. Years ago, Loren and Darlene were traveling in Mexico and the vehicle they were driving spun out of control. Both were flung from the vehicle and injured severely. As Loren came to his senses, he saw Darlene lying unconscious. As he looked into what appeared to be his wife departing to be with Jesus, Loren heard God ask if he would still follow him. With tears in his eyes, he realized that he had nothing left but Jesus. His commitment to following Jesus was unwavering in his heart. Shortly after, the ambulance arrived saying that she would not make it through the night, but she recovered over the following days!

Do I think God restored Darlene based on Loren's obedience to surrender her? I don't know, but I know that Loren learned the secret of giving your life to Jesus. After each of these stories of laying down good things for the sake of the Gospel, there was an obvious freedom and thankfulness flowing from Loren's words.

The day ended with a challenge from Loren. Would you surrender your right to food? sleep? your money? your possessions? a family? marriage? your life? As the Lord challenged me, I realized that freedom lies in surrender to Jesus. For

"what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36)

As the entire class was laying down personal right the Lord was highlighting, an obvious joy was resting on everyone's heart. The less we hang on to the things of this world, the more we can know Jesus. Isn't it good to lay down our rights?

Please check out the podcasts from all our lectures online at http://www.awakendts.com/podcasts/