Outcast or Cast out to Seek Men

“Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”” ‭‭John‬ ‭9:35‬ ‭ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ 

This man was blind from birth, then miraculously  healed.  The Pharisees question him; his parents bailed on him; he was excommunicated from the church and could no longer worship. He surely felt all alone, but then Jesus sought after him. Jesus always sought out the outcast, the sinners, those that were looked down on in society. Think about Zacchaeus, the tax collector, the sinner, the short guy that no one liked or thought highly of. Look at the men He called to be His apostles none of them were the ones that were making it as Jewish rabbis; they weren’t the ones that were called to continue their education. They were fishermen they, were tax collectors, they were normal everyday people, yet Jesus chose them to come follow Him.

How do we look at the look at the outcast in society? Do we seek them out and say "Do you know Jesus? Come along with me and I’ll teach you about him!" Or do we look for the "up- to-do/popular" people the arrogant, the rich, the proud, the high in society, and choose those to hang out with and Worship with? Is that the list of who we are aspiring to be like. The Pharisees were not the in crowd to hang out with even though they thought they were. The "right" in crowd was the meek and lowly who chose to worship Jesus and truly understood who He was. Those were the ones who truly believed.

Dear Lord, help me always try to live the example that You demonstrated for us. Help me to seek out those who truly seek You and see You as their Father God. Help me to encircle myself with those who want a relationship with You; with those who will help me seek out those who are longing to come and worship you authentically. Help me to cast myself out to reach everyone, even those who society may consider an outcast. 

Abide in Me

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” John 8:31

To abide is to live, continue, or remain. So, to abide in Christ is to live in Him or remain in Him; to know or have a relationship with Him: To abide in Jesus’ word means to continue believing what Jesus has said and walking in obedience to Him. This verse shows that continuing to trust Jesus and obey Him is a way to test who is truly disciples of His. Abiding in Christ is not a special status for a few believers as a process of sanctification. True believers ABIDE! The difference between those abiding in Christ and those not abiding in Christ is the difference between the saved and unsaved. John 15:4 tells us: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." Believers ABIDE!

Are we truly abiding in Christ? The phrase abiding in Christ means an intimate, close relationship, and not just a superficial acquaintance. Are we going through the motions or do we have an intimate, authentic, love relationship with Christ? Do we bear fruit, or do we need to be cut off and tossed into the fire? Yikes! If we have no fruit, or rotten fruit, woe is us…we are abiding in the world and not in Christ! Many in this world may be fooled by just going through the motions, and never truly experiencing an abiding relationship with Christ.

Father God, help me to always ABIDE in You. Help me to rely on You and glean from Your Word. Thank You for the godly people you place in my life. Help me to continue to grow and to have others hold me accountable. Thank you for the privilege to teach children about Your Love, Your Son and Your Word.

Are you left carrying a basket of leftovers?

“So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.” John‬ ‭6:13

In this miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves there are several things to be learned. Jesus met the physical needs of the people so that He could then start ministering to their spiritual needs. It is hard to teach the hungry. Jesus asked his disciple, Philip, who was from the area for a "human solution" to test their faith. Since there was no logical human solution, Jesus' miracle was allowed to shine even brighter. 

What can we learn from this? Are we like the boy who was willing to give ALL of what he had? It wasn’t much, like the widow with her 2 coins, the boy was willing to give his everything to Christ. Even when we don't feel like we have much to offer, when we give it all to Jesus, He can do amazing things with it. No matter our age, if we are willing, God can and will use us. We should never feel like we are too old or too young to be used. Also God multiplies and blesses what we give to Him. This can be our time, our abilities, our talents, our money, our family…what are we willing to let Him use? Will we give to Him without hesitation? Will we lay it at His feet to do great things with? Also, take note, there is no waste with Christ, He provided more than enough. There was a bountiful supply with plenty of leftover--enough for each disciple to have a basket to carry as a reminder. The leftovers were far greater then the beginning supply. This is how amazing God is. When we give our everything to Him, we come out with so much more of a blessing on the other side from where we began!

Dear Lord, help me to always offer my all to You. Allow me to be used for a blessing to others. I don't want to be left carrying a basket of leftovers to remind me that I didn't offer my all to You. 

Crowd Pleaser or Christ Pleaser?

“And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.”

‭‭John‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus heals a man  who had been crippled for 38 years. He is persecuted by the Jews because the healing happened on a Sabbath (Saturday). God had commanded that people rest from their work on the Sabbath (in Exodus 20:8-11). The Jewish leaders were prideful because they “knew” the law/God’s Word. yet in all their knowledge they didn’t have wisdom to realize who Christ was. The problem of the Jewish leaders was that they practiced religion, but did not pursue a relationship with God.

God placed Christ in the position as Judge over us and our sins. When we take God’s law and add to it, complicate it, or twist it like the Jewish leaders did we will be held accountable. .Jesus will be impartial because He seeks to honor God and not himself. He is not concerned with pleasing man. Throughout His life, Jesus purposefully sought out people who were hurting, sick, or disabled. As followers of Jesus, we need to do the same.

Lord, help us to never get in the habit of knowing about You without ever really knowing and trusting You. Help me to never be on an intellectual pursuit instead of a personal passionate relationship with You. Help me to fully trust You and completely surrender everything I am and all that I have to You. Help to live for an audience of One. Help me to live to please You and not the crowd.

Inviting Others to Christ

“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”  John 4:29

Witnessing 101 - In this passage we see an example of inviting others to Christ. It in not hard, but we must be intentional. The woman at the well, dropped all she was doing, she left her watering pot, she went into town, thinking about OTHERS instead of HERSELF. She was thinking about who else needed the living water of eternal life.

Do we have this same urgency to witness to others? Do we truly care for lost souls? We drop what we are doing to share the Gospel? Do we go and say, "Come see what Christ is doing in my life,? Let me tell you about Him!" What the women had to share was very simple, but it was effective. We don't have to be Bible scholars to share what the Lord is doing in our lives. We have a living testimony, our personal story He is writing every day.

Father God, help us be committed to memorizing your Word and sharing it with the world around us. Help us to say to others, "Come and see" what the Lord is doing in and through me, for His Honor and His Glory. Help us boldly proclaim your Word to all the nations. What is we each one were to reach one as Babbie Mason sings?

"He tells them that God is able to make their house a home.
He wants to win this world for Christ, but he can't do it alone,
but each one, can reach one,
As we follow after Christ we all can lead one.
We can lead one to the savior
and together we can tell the world that Jesus is the way.
If we each one reach one…" ---Babbie Mason

 

Eternal Life or Wrath of God…it's our choice!

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 

Faith in Christ yields eternal life. However, faith without works is dead. We cannot have true faith if we do also OBEY His Word. The wrath of God is not something we should want anyone to ever face. God's wrath is holy and necessary to show how Awesome He is. Everyone who rejects Him, His Love, His salvation and chooses to continually/willfully sin will receive the wrath of God instead of eternal life.

The truth of eternal life and the truth of the wrath of God are things we must be open to teach and share. We should not do this in order to "scare" people out of hell and into heaven, but because we serve a perfect, holy and just God who cannot look upon sin. We need to teach of putting off of the old self and its sinful desires. None of us should desire to continue to willfully live in sin or abide in separation from God when we can abide in Him and His love.

Father God, let us boldly proclaim Your Word to all of the Nations. Let us preach and teach the message of salvation to all who will listen. Help us share Your Love Story of everlasting life and joy with everyone you put in our path. Help us also boldly proclaim your message for all those who choose not to believe with compassion and mercy, so that we may persuade them to follow You. Help is teach of your love and mercy and judgement. Help us teach of the effects of sin in this life and the life to come. In your Name I ask these things, always.

Jesus Knows Us

"But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."  John 2:24-25 ESV

God truly knows all men. Since Jesus is fully man and fully God, He knew the true inward thoughts of the people. He knew His true followers and their true character. He knows who is truly His, the upright, the weak, the meek, the lowly; and He also knows the wayward, the self-righteous, those easily led astray. He knew the "inconstancy" and "fickleness" of the multitude surrounding him. He knew how easily they might be turned against Him by the Jewish leaders, and how His ministry could be cut short too soon. Even though the crowd acted as though they wanted to believe and follow Him, He did not/could not "entrust" or take these people totally under His wings as true believers and commune with them because He "KNEW" them and the true state of their hearts - how sad.

We look at the outward appearance of man to make decisions. Sometimes we can look at the fruit others bear to make character judgements. Christ truly knows all of us. He looks at the inward parts; at the true intentions of the heart. We need to be cautious of being like the Pharisees or others with dead faith. We need to make sure we are aligned with Christ; that our true intentions are Christ-like. We need to bear good fruit. When Christ examines us, as He "knows what is in man" what does He see?

Lord, please help me examine and test my ways as Lamentations tells us to do, and if any are out of alignment, help me to return to You. Convict me of any errors or sins in my life so that when you see me, you will want to call me your own and draw me into your inner circle. Thank You for walking the path you chose so freely during Holy Week for all sinners everywhere. Thank You for your Triumphal Entry, as you looked over that Holy City that would reject You, as we still do today, I can't imagine the heartache, as you knew the hearts of man, but I am eternally grateful that you chose to do so. Thank you for your willing sacrifice as Your Holy and Perfect Father turned His back on You for ME! I love You, Jesus. I plead the blood!

God’s children have been tested and fought on every side

But there is one sure weapon when we face the enemy

It’s still the blood of Jesus that brings our victory

I plead the blood, I plead the blood

That was shed on Calvary, bringing hope for you and me

I plead the blood, I plead the blood

Over all the power of hell, Satan you cannot prevail

I plead the blood

For our lost and dying loved ones, the blood still saves today

And when we cry for healing, the blood is ours to claim

The blood is still the answer for every battle of the mind

There is no greater power, demons tremble when we cry.

I plead the blood