Joy of Salvation Restoration

From the conviction of your sin to lovingly reaching out to others is a wonderful process.

Psalm 51:10    Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11    Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12    Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13    Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

This morning during worship the Lord touched my heart in a wonderful way with a song about Jesus doing all He did at the cross He did all for love. There is a line that says, “The love that tore the veil within my heart.” Suddenly I was transported back in time to the day and evening when I got saved, Dec. 17, 1971. My girl friend and I stepped in the door of what had been a barn, now in transformation to become much more, and my personal walls were destroyed by a Presence I knew nothing about. You could say that the veil within my heart was shredded.

Earlier this morning, during prayer meeting before the service, the verses from Psalms came strongly to mind. We often sang that chorus back in the 1970’s. Thinking about that these two things that the Lord spoke to my heart I realized the connection. The four verses quoted above are a progression, indeed a process every Christian goes through. Before going into this marvelous process, please come with me back to Dec. of 1971 in a place called Freeville, NY where there was a Christian commune called Love Inn.

My first visit to that Christian commune in Freeville, NY was the result of a complex series of events that the Lord used to bring many of us “hippies” of the 60’s era to Himself. I Googled Love Inn and found the following quote,

Begun in the late 1960's as a community of young people seeking Jesus, Love Inn occupied the farm of Peg Hardesty. The community eventually expanded to include a radio and tape ministry as well as coffeehouses, worship seminars, and various publications. The church was later incorporated and the name was officially changed to Covenant Love Community. http://covenantlove.squarespace.com/about

The Lord moved on Peggy’s heart to give the farm to those starting this commune. The way I remember it, the women lived in her house and the guys slept in a part of the barn that was transformed into a dormitory. Peg’s kitchen served all these “strays” until a kitchen was built in the barn. The Lord miraculously provided for everything they needed and that was one of the things that really caught the attention of this former “commun-ist” (misspelling intentional). The other draw was a very beautiful “hip chic” I recently met, she had a joy I didn’t understand, her inward and outward beauty was irresistible to me. Her invitation to go Love Inn with her was impossible to pass up.

Here it was, a “self-sufficient” (really God dependent) commune, something I dreamed of for several years. Great thanks to Peggy, who I only met very briefly, and to Scott Ross who was the founder and Pastor, for following God’s leading. Thanks to whomever provided all those groceries that were bagged on the floor with everyone was gathered around in Peggy’s living room, thanking the Lord in ways I never experienced. Then there was Susan, the girl who captivated my heart. Add to that a big bunch of people still in the uniform of the 60’s (types of clothing and length of men’s hair) who looked like I did. On top of all that was the most important factor of all, the Presence of God all over that farm. It was God’s time, God’s place and my heart had been prepared for the end of my search for something real in this life. All things in place, after dinner there were three of us around a table when the Holy Ghost showed up in great power. I got saved and Susan received the Baptism in the Holy Ghost. What a Divinely orchestrated day!! I got back to my apartment and needed to celebrate. I walked up Court St. hill to the college, in thigh  deep snow in the middle of the night shouting Hallelujah, experiencing that joy and peace that could not be kept inside.

Other verses in that song from this morning’s worship asked what would I have done, what would I have become, if it wasn’t for the Cross, if it wasn’t for that love that tore the veil in my heart. What if Susan hadn’t invited me to go there? What if Love Inn wasn’t there, less than ½ hr drive from Cortland State where we were students? No doubt I, and many hundreds of similar people, would have been dead or in jail.

Now let’s look at the process that starts at such a cross road.

Step 1: Psalm 51:10    Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Salvation requires repentance, the turning from the sinful life we lived before. In order for that to happen we need to understand, in our inner man, that our heart isn’t clean and we can’t clean it up ourselves. Thus comes the prayer for a clean heart. I didn’t understand this concept very well that night, in fact I smoked some hash to celebrate. The Lord’s grace was amazing in that the drugs had no effect on me; I was just so excited about have a new boss of my life, Jesus the King of the Universe.

Step 2: Verse 11    Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Having experienced His presence enjoins this prayer; it is far too wonderful to ever desire to away from. I learned this lesson the hard way. A few weeks after I got saved I took my guitar to and audition for a band at someone’s house in the country. The pipe was coming around as several us where jamming. I didn’t know better than to take what was freely offered. We smoked a lot of pot that night, the air was completely filled with the smoke. When we stopped playing I felt that separation from His Presence. The old paranoia hit me harder than I could remember. Repentance followed swiftly.

Step 3: Verse 12    Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation…

I think it gives the Lord Heart ache when His kids don’t remember, nor experience with ever increasing dimensions, this unspeakable joy. We are saved and can experience Him in ways within and beyond our senses constantly. We all try to do so much on our own, and usually fail or just don’t measure up to His expectations. If we would just stop striving and listen to His usually gentle leading life would get better. His joy will grow in our hearts and we’ll be more successful in every way. The RESTORATION of the JOY OF SALVATION can be a daily experience, even if it is just a depth breath and heartfelt utterance of,”Thank you Jesus.”

Step 4: This is perhaps the most important and most rewarding. With the previous steps taken we can declare our intent to follow the Great Commission,

Psalm 51:13    Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Matthew 28:19    Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…

20:    Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen

Don’t you just get excited about the end of verse 20, the promise of His Presence with us always and everywhere? How can we do anything less than what He said to do? The love of God in our hearts should stir us with compassion and love for people who don’t personally know Him. To know Jesus is to love Him and consequently all those He died for – that doesn’t exclude anybody. The joy of salvation equates to the joy of the Lord, is exceeds the realm of “happiness,” it is the source of inner strength. This is my biggest motivation for writing these blogs.

In conclusion, look at the command to those who just went quickly through this process. The Law of the Lord had been ignored for a long time. The book was found and read to the people. They experienced deep conviction for their sin and tears of repentance flowed. Now with this new outlook on life, with their commitment to follow the Lord, their leader commands them,

Nehemiah 8:10    Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.