The Commission

The next entry for my Blog is The Commission, which was written by David Neesmith, Carter Frodge, Madison Cain, Taylor Cain, and Logan Cain.  The song was initially released December 11, 2021.  A link to Cain performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

The Commission

See my hands and look at my feet
It’s okay if it’s hard to believe
I have faith you will do greater things
It’s my time to go but before I leave

Go tell the world about me
I was dead but now I live
I’ve gotta go now for a little while
But goodbye is not the end

Don’t forget the things that I taught you
I’ve conquered death and I hold the keys
Where I go you will go too, someday
But there’s much to do here before you leave

Go tell the world about me
I was dead but now I live
I’ve gotta go now for a little while
But goodbye is not the

End of the journey, the end of the road
My spirit is with you wherever you go
You have a purpose and I have a plan
I’ll make you this promise
I’ll come back again but until then

Go tell the world about me
I was dead but now I live
I’ve gotta go now for a little while
But goodbye is not the end

go tell them about me
(Go tell the world) I’ve gotta go
(Go tell the world) for a little while
But goodbye is not the end

I write a lot of Blog entries focused on becoming a Christian and what Christ can do in our lives, but have never really written much about what Christ expects of each of us who have accepted him as our personal savior.  I believe this song provides definition around Christ’s expectations of us. 

The very first line has us drawing our attention to the sacrifice Christ made for us, he was nailed to the cross and died for our sins.  He knows that it is perfectly normal, as human beings, to doubt that it would be Christ standing in front of any of us.  He then makes an amazing statement, he who has conquered death says, “I know you will do even greater things.”  Wow, stop and give that some thought!   My first thought is, you have to be kidding, how can any of us possibly accomplish more than Christ?

The simple statement that follows, in the first line of the chorus, is to basically tell the world about him.   He is asking us to essentially tell his story since he will be leaving them, but he did promise to return again one day, so it was more of “I will see you later” as opposed to “this is good bye.”  This is the same commission Christ gives all of us in Matthew 28:16-20.   16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”.

He doesn’t just ask us to go out into the world without preparation.  To be successful in our task, we are firstly told to focus on the things Christ has taught us.  Each of us needs to take a quiet time and reflect upon everything we have been taught via his teachings.  How we should love everyone, how we should pray for everyone, that we should never be ashamed of his teachings, and that we proclaim his word wherever we go.  Many of these things he has commanded us to do will take us outside of our comfort zone.  Take a minute or two and reflect on these things we are told to do and assess your willingness to follow through on his commands for us. 

A strong encouragement he gives us is that he conquered death and he now holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Those that accept him as their Lord and Savior will join him one day.  Jesus knows there is a lot for each of us to do as we try to reach the world around us, but he died for our eternal life, so I don’t think it is an unfair request. 

Jesus tells them his time on earth is done, but he leaves us with the Holy Spirit, which dwells in every believer, to guide and comfort us.  In John 14:26, we find this promise, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” 

Another point of note is that we are all given a purpose, but only he knows the plan.  For these who believe they know all of God’s plans for them are terribly mistaken, we all want to operate within God’s plan since that is the only valid and successful plan.  Jeremiah 26:4 tells us, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.    

Jesus promised eternal life to all of those who accept him as their personal Savior, and he also promised that he would return to the earth one day.  We do not know the day of his return, but we all need to work on the commission he has laid out before us.  We want to work on The Commission until he takes us home.  When we are finally called to our eternal home, wouldn’t it be great to hear our Savior say, “well done my good and faithful servant?”

Click to Hear Cain Sing Great Commission

People Get Ready, Jesus is Comin’

The next song for my Blog was written by Brian Ray and first released in 1996. A link to Crystal Lewis performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

People Get Ready… Jesus is Comin’

Lord I’m ready now.
I’m waiting for your triumphant return. (You’re coming so soon).
This world has nothing for me,
I find my peace and joy solely in You. (Only in You).
I want the world to see,
You’re alive and living well in me.
Let me be a part,
of the harvest for the days are few. (You’re coming soon).

So People get ready,
Jesus is coming
Soon we’ll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
to take from the world his own.
People get ready, Jesus is coming.
Soon we’ll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
soon we’ll be going home. (We’ll be going home).

There’s a day that comes
when we will be divided right and left.
(For those who know Him and those that do not know).
And those who know Him well, will meet Him in the air.
Hallelujah! (God is within us).
And those that do not know, they will hear “Depart I knew you not.”
For my friends you see,
there will be a day when we’ll be counted.
So know Him well, know Him well.

People get ready,
Jesus is coming
Soon we’ll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
to take from the world his own.
People get ready, Jesus is coming.
Soon we’ll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
soon we’ll be going home. (We’ll be going home).

(We’ll be going home; we’ll be going home…).

For my friends you see,
there will be a day when we’ll be counted.
So know him well, know him well.

So People get ready,
Jesus is coming
Soon we’ll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
to take from the world his own.
People get ready, Jesus is coming.
Soon we’ll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
soon we’ll be going home. (We’ll be going home).
People get ready…

The song starts out with a strong proclamation, I am ready to go now and I am just waiting on you to take me! We are told in Matthew 24:44 that we will not know when Jesus is coming back, we only know he is coming back and we always need to be ready.

So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

The key question is, how do we know we are ready for the return of our Savior? It is a little different than keeping the spare bedroom ready for company at all times, since that is more of a physical task. For us as people to truly be ready for Christ’s return, we must first accept him as our Savior. Once we have accepted him, we know we will be spending eternity with him; this is a promise he made to all who accept him. The second part of being ready is devoting our life and our heart to what God wants us to be. He wants us to look to him first, he wants us to not conform to the ways of the world, but be transformed into the person he wants us to be. He wants us to open our hearts fully to him and to spread his message of love to everyone. As we reach this point, we realize there is nothing in this world more important than the love of Christ and living our lives the way he has commanded us to live. We begin to realize there is nothing in the world that can truly make us happy forever or give us the eternal peace we are always seeking. As this reality sinks in we, like the writer, are ready for Christ to return and take us home with him.

We also need to become more focused on the work Christ left for each of us. He loves all of us and he wants everyone to love him and accept him as their personal Lord and Savior. All people will not come to know Christ because the pull of the things of the world and of the evils of the world are just too strong for them to overcome and they do not have Christ to help since they have rejected him. Our mission is to share the gospel at every opportunity and wherever we go, we are not bound by individuals nor location. He gave his life for us to have eternal life and his only ask of us is to live for him and do his will. Matthew 28:19-20 gives us that great commission:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Note that Jesus says he will always be with us, that he never leaves our heart. He left us with the Holy Spirit to provide us with the guidance we need and to remind us of this commandment from Jesus.

As we accept and internalize the above, we are now in sync with the writer when he states that he wants others to see Jesus through him. He wants to help fulfill the great commission since he now knows this is what Christ has wanted from us since we accepted him. We need to get ourselves ready for the return of Christ so we can get others prepared as well. I love it when the writer says “Let me be a part”, this is what our charter is all about. Each of us wants to be loved, wants to be respected, but most importantly we should want to be known as a servant of Christ and one day hear that message “Well done good and faithful servant.”

The day of his return will come at some point and as he comes, those who have accepted him will be called up into the clouds with him and there will be a tremendous sound of rejoicing and perhaps the angels singing. Those who rejected him will be left behind and the sounds coming from them will be of sorrow and despair and regret. Some of those left behind will be friends and family who rejected Christ, perhaps people we loved dearly. Which side will you be counted on and are there people you know who are still being counted on the wrong side? We all need to think about what we have done and still can do to get people counted on the right side, to be one of those who has accepted Christ.

Even though we may already be Christians, I believe we all have a lot to do in order to be ready. You may say you are ready to go, but are you as ready as you should be? By accepting Christ as our Savior, we know we are going to heaven. He died for us to have eternal life, shouldn’t we be willing to follow his command and “Get Ready?

Click to Hear Crystal Lewis Sing People Get Ready