Who is Jesus to You?

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  John 7:4-5: For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him.
• John 7:12-13: And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
• John 7:20: The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
• John 7:26: And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
• John 7:40-41: When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 

At the time of this passage Jesus was still in Galilee, but there is probably several months between chapters 6 and 7 of the book of John.  Jesus didn't wan't to stay in Judea because it was the headquarters of the Jews where the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus. The Feast of Tabernacles was a harvest festival that was a very joyous time of celebration. It was to remind them of leaving Egypt when the Israelites lived in booths or tents, temporary shelters. It was to make them think of the coming of the Messiah who would reign forever and save them eternally. In verse 4, Jesus’ brothers did not believe he was the Messiah yet, so they sarcastically mocked him, or possibly wanted fame from being kin to him when he performed his miracles, or maybe even were jealous enough of his fame to want him killed. You gotta love some sibling rivalry! His brothers didn't really know what to think of him, nor did the religious leaders of the day. The common everyday people were confused too. Opinions of Jesus were all over the place...so I am asking you - WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? Is it just a story. The Messiah. Your Redeemer. Your Get Out of Hell Free Card. Your Lord and Savior. No One (it actually makes my anxious to type that one). We will ALL stand before Him as a perfect and righteous Judge to give an account of our lives one day. How will you respond to My Jesus?

In this life we are often mocked or made fun of for being “bible-thumpers”,  “goodie-goodies”,  that are too churchy and we can’t have any real fun. Well, don’t let those opinions bother you, they don't really matter---true joy and happiness comes from following Christ and living a Godly life. All of the things in this world that we think are so important will all fade away and souls are the only things that will last eternally. We must be about the business of make disciples.  We need to go about this with the right attitudes and approach it the right way. How sad it must have been for Jesus to be mocked by his own family. While He was alive, they didn’t believe in Him as the One True Messiah. The people mocked Him. Some said Jesus was a fraud, of Satan, that He was good, demon-possessed, the Christ, and the Prophet. Opinions were all over the place about Him. This is how people will think of us too. Most importantly, We must make up our minds about WHAT WE THINK ABOUT JESUS. Whatever we decide WILL have eternal consequences. Lots of people are talking ABOUT Jesus, but are talking TO JESUS? We can wear all the religious t-shirts, read our bibles, go to church, check all the boxes, but if we are not talking TO Jesus, as in, HAVE A REAL REALATIONSHIP with Him that CHANGES how we live every day, then it is meaningless. He called us to GO MAKE DISCIPLES (Matthew 28:18-20) but when it comes time to speak up about Him in public do we? Are we like his brothers? Are we like Nicodemus who took a while to come out of the dark? We have to privilege to teach, preach, and worship without persecution, unlike many of our brothers and sisters around the world, but do we take it for granted? Do we do it without passion or less than we should? Are we thankful to go into the House of the Lord and worship, study, pray, learn, be held accountable and share with other believers? Don’t let fear stifle our boldness to proclaim the Gospel around the world. We have a command to spread it, and we should do so BOLDLY with passion and enthusiasm, without being embarrassed. If my Jesus is already your Jesus then go tell someone else about Him today! If you don't have a TRUE live changing relationship with him then ask me how, so you can start a NEW LIFE today!

Father God, Your Word tells me in Matthew10:32, that Christ will confess me to You when I confess Him to others. Help me to BOLDLY proclaim your Word, your miracles, your goodness, and your salvation to all the nations. Help me to not be hindered by fear, emotions, embarrassment, or any other obstacles that Satan or this world may throw at me. Help me to realize your convicting power for what it is and not try to make excuses or avoid it. Help me to realize and confess my sins so that you can mold me and make me into what you have designed me to be. Lord be the Master of my life and remove all pride from me. Help me to be able to reason in a rational way and see things through your eyes and recognize my own sinful flesh. Help me to live by what is good and right and the ways of Your Word always. Help me to soak up your Word and understand it the way it is written. Help me to never twist it or try to take it out of context. Help me to be a better disciple. Thank you for all the blessing you give me everyday that I take for granted. Thank you for my freedom to worship You. Thank you for our missionaries proclaiming your love and salvation around the world today; be with each of their families and their ministries. Help their words to fall on receptive ears. Thank you for giving your Only Son for a sinner like me. I ask these things in Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.

My Jesus - Anne Wilson 

Cost of Discipleship

Discipleship comes at a "high cost", are you willing to pay it? 

Jesus talked about the differences in the easy way that most of the world wants to take and the hard pathway of following Him. Accepting Jesus and the salvation He provides is easy, but actively growing and following Jesus will impact every part of our lives and takes time and effort.

The choice to follow Jesus may cost us a high price in earthly terms, but when we are determined to follow Him, the Lord will change our desires. Discipleship is a lifelong process! We will never learn all we can about our Precious Jesus! Becoming a disciple is free; there is nothing we can do to buy our salvation. There is nothing we can do to earn it, but we WILL have to make sacrifices in order to follow Jesus. The cost of being a disciple comes from those sacrifices. We may have to stop doing some activities because we know they are not pleasing to God. 

We need to live differently than the world around us. This will not always be easy, but it will always be worth it. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us, and we can honor Him by listening to His Word and following Him.

Is there anything you or your family needs to give up for Christ?
I can promise you, if you totally give up everything for Jesus, you will never regret it.

Make sure HE is in the #1 place in your life and in your kid's lives today. Let HIM be in control of all that your family does! 

 (Today's blog is paraphrased from Elements Kids Worship Discipleship Lesson 2)