Being Lifted and Carried by Christ.

"In his love and in his pity

he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them

all the days of old."

(from Isaiah 63:7-9)

John Wesley felt lifted and carried by Christ.

Wesley, upon returning from Georgia feeling discouraged and depressed, attended a prayer meeting in Aldersgate Street where he heard Luther's preface to Romans.

Wesley described having a heartwarming experience because he heard an assurance that his sins had been forgiven and that God loved him, even him.

"I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

(John Wesley, May 24, 1738)

The Aldersgate, redeeming, life changing event, became the foundation of the Methodist Movement and a re-awakening of Wesley's faith and relationship to God.

Mike felt lifted and carried by Christ.

For years Mike had been struggling with the addictive powers of alcoholism leading him down paths he regretted traveling, and straining his marriage, family, and finances.

Mike hit bottom after a weekend bender when he came home near dawn on to find his wife had left, taken their son, and was getting a divorce. 

A friend took him to AA where he learned it is possible get on the road to recovery so he made that choice.

At one of the meetings, he realized God loved him unconditionally, even though he needed to change.

For him that was a redeeming, life-saving awareness of hope and worth and the re-awakening of Mike's faith and relationship to God.

In that re-awakening, Mike heard God's call to pastoral ministry.

What Isaiah wrote, what Wesley felt, what Mike experienced, is true for anyone going through a rough spot in life:

One can be lifted and carried by Christ.