Jesus takes hold of me.

Phil 3:12-14 Jesus takes hold of me
There was a husband who went mad on gambling. He hardly came home because of gambling. And he never took care of his family so that his wife and children left him. Of course he tried to quit gambling but he failed.
At last he cut off his fingers with the straw cutter in order not to gamble again. But this man went to the gambling house again, where he gambled again with his cut fingers. Why did he become like this ? It's because he was caught by the habit of gambling.
Brothers and sisters, if we are seized by the bad habit or bad thought, our family, society and nation are destroyed by them.
Let's see the human history. When Hitler was caught by superiority complex, he made war and slaughtered 6 millions Jews.
And when Japanese were caught by militarism, they also made war and lots of people were killed, and Japan was bombed with the atomic bomb.
And when the Soviet Union and other countries were caught by communism, they lost freedom and prosperity. And North Korea is going the way of isolation because they are caught by the Kim Il Sung's Joo Che Sa Sang which means 'independent thought'
And the people of this world are caught by egoism, so that this world is going forward to destruction. That is, our happiness and unhappiness, success and failure, blessing and curse depend on what we are caught by.
Let's see Samson. in the bible. When he was caught by the Spirit of God, he could kill a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone.
But when he was fascinated by a prostitute Delilah, he broke the promise with God, and his eyes were gouged out by the Philistines.
Let's see the king Saul. When he was caught by the Spirit of God, he could win the victory over Ammonites and Philistines. And he could have a good start as a first king of Israel. But when he was caught by the evil spirit, he became the king of tragedy who committed suicide.
Let's see the apostle Paul.. He was once caught by the wrong thought, so that he persecuted the church and imprisoned many Christians. And he helped to kill the deacon Stephen. Furthermore he tried to destroy the church in Damascus.
But when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was set free from the wrong thought. And he was captured by the thought of Jesus, by the truth of Jesus and by the gospel of Jesus, so that he could be the greatest apostle Paul. In today's scripture he confessed, "Christ Jesus took hold of me."
Brothers and sisters, our life depends on what we are caught by. If we are caught by the bad habit or bad thought, our faith does not grow, and our end will not be good, and we may be the persecutors or destroyers.
But if we are caught by the words of God and by the love of God, we can live joyful, hopeful life even in this foreign country, and we can built up the church, and our end will be very good.
Today think of yourself. What are you caught by ? Are you now caught by egoism, hedoism, mammonism or prejudiced view which lead you and others to pain ? Or are you caught by God like the great persons in the bible ? Every one of the great persons in the bible were caught by God. And the kingdom of heaven was built up by them.
Brothers and sisters, who led you to come to Canada ? Who caught your heart ? Did your husband catch your heart, so that you have come to Canada ? Or your wife, or your friend, or your relatives ?
If you are here in Canada because other person led you and caught your heart, does it mean, you are caught by man, not by God ?
But think. If you are caught by the man who is imperfect, can your future be guaranteed in this foreign country ? I think your answer to this question will be 'No !' That means, our future cannot be guaranteed by the imperfect humans but by the perfect God only.
Don't you think you can exist only when God takes hold of you ? And your family can survive in this foreign country only when God takes hold of your family's health and business ? How can we live if God does not take hold of us ?
It is same in our religious life. 'Believing in God' means 'Being caught by God.'. We can go to the kingdom of heaven only when we are caught by God. And we can be helped by God when we are caught by God. Let me ask you a question. Are you caught by God Or are you wandering alone in this wilderness ?
In my case, when I was a high school student, I went to the church because my mother led me. But at that time I tried not to go to the church with many excuses.
But after army service, I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. From that time, my faith has changed. In the past, I was caught by God only on Sunday morning. But after receiving the Holy Spirit I could be caught by God not only on Sunday but on every day.
And my money, my mind, my heart could be caught by God, And I am pressing on to take hold of that for which God takes hold of me.
If we try to take hold of the worldly pleasure, it makes us thirstier. But if we takes hold of the grace of God, there is the living water of joy and happiness.
Let me tell you my dream. When I was in my youth, I had a strange dream. In the dream there were a good highway, rubbish heap and few boxes. When I opened the
boxes, there were many maches and many toothpicks in them.
What does this dream mean ? At that time I could not know the meaning. But I wrote down the dream in my diary. After few years passed I could know the meaning of the dream.
"The good highway means Jesus because he said, 'I am the way.'. And the rubbish means me because I am sinful and dirty. And the match means the fire of the Holy Spirit. And the toothpicks mean the richness because we use toothpicks after eating meat !"
In this dream I could hear the voice of God. "Won Hyo, you have lived a dirty and sinful life like rubbish. But I have moved you on the highway of Jesus from the dumping ground. I want you to go along this way and set the fire of the Holy Spirit. Then I will give you lots of matches which means richness." Hallelujah !
Brothers and sisters, if I stray from the way of Jesus I will be a kind of rubbish, And I cannot enjoy the rich life. It means, if I am not caught by Jesus I can do nothing, I can get nothing good, and I cannot go to the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) "I am the vine ; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit ; apart
from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Brothers and sisters, even if you have a nice car, but if it is off from the road, it is useless. Likewise if you are apart from Jesus, it is not freedom nor peace but agony and curse and hell.
Brothers and sister, let me ask you a question. Who do you want to be caught by ? And whom do you want to take hold of ? Jesus or devil ?
God did not make us like robots. But he gave us freewill. Therefore we have to decide whom we follow. But don't forget. We have to reap the result and fruit of the decision.