JESUS SPEAKING

             “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.  For the son of Man has come to save that which was lost.  What do you think?  If a man has a hundred sheep, and one goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?  And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.  Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Mathew 18: 10-14.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            Jesus gives a warning here, and when he gives a warning, it’s best to take it very seriously.  Indifference and distain for sinners is a symptom of an inner sickness.  Pride is the cause; those who fancy themselves as ‘good’ in comparison to those who are engaging in evil have become distant from God.  Followers of God share His heart and God’s heart beats for all people; sinners and saints alike.  Many of the religious leaders were criticizing Jesus for being friendly to tax collectors and prostitutes.  Those who were self-righteous misjudged God’s love for all of His children.  God loves sinners so much he sent his Son in to the world as His shepherd; his purpose, to gather together the lost sheep and to bring them back in to ‘the fold.’  God, contrary to popular belief, is not some distant, vengeful, angry God, but rather a loving Father, eager and ready to forgive [but many refuse to accept His love and His forgiveness.]  God feels pain when he sees one of his children destroying themselves.  So if God feels compassion and sorrow and love for the lost, those who call Him Father should share his concerns, his desires, and a love.  A love for God Himself, a true love, spills over in to a love for the things that God loves; and God loves the lost.

            Jesus illustrates this when he describes the story of the Prodigal Son.  I will paraphrase the story for you, ‘There were two sons of a wealthy Father [the Father represented by God.]  One of the Sons asked for his inheritance early, and he went in to a far country and spent it on wild living (women, parties.)  When the money was gone, he tried to work, and he began to be starved; as he was feeding the pigs, he wanted to eat the food he was giving to them.  He came to his senses, and decided to return home, hoping that his Father would take him back as a lowly servant and not a son.  When he came home, his Father ran to him, kissed him, put sandals on his feet, and a robe on him, and demanded that all of the household celebrate.  They killed an animal to cook and went in doors and began to dance and play music.  The Father said ‘my son was dead, but is alive again to me.  He was lost and is found.’  The father had gotten something back that was irreplaceable.  The Son was mistaken about his Father’s reaction to his return, because he misjudged the love of a father for his son (much like we do today as well when it comes to God.)  As they were all celebrating, the Son who had stayed (the one who had acted and behaved properly all of those years) refused to celebrate.  He wasn’t happy that his brother was alive, and that his brother had returned.  The Father came out from the party and begged his Son to join them as they celebrated; but he hated his hatred for his brother created a rift between he and his Father.  (In this parable, the Jews who were self-righteous were represented by ‘The Good Son.’  The sinners and prostitutes who were coming to Jesus to give their lives back to God were represented in this story by ‘the son who returned home.’  The Party is heaven, where God is, which the second son refused to enter because he hated his brother so much.)  Instead of celebrating and being happy that lost people were coming back to God in the days of Jesus, the religious leaders condemned Jesus, because they had always valued themselves in comparison to the ungodly and unrighteous.  (Suddenly, they were losing their value) and so they turned on Jesus and refused to join in on the celebration.  This hatred, this pride, had separated them from the very God they proposed to worship and love.

            Today, in this place, anyone who comes to believe in Jesus Christ becomes a shepherd, sent out in to the world to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ.  The shepherds share the same heart with God.  As shepherds we must never look down upon sinners or separate ourselves from them.  Rather, we need to love them and let them know about the loving Father they have that has sent us out to seek after them.  Has God called you to reach out to the person sitting next to you?  Are there any people at your work, in your family, on the bus, in the coffee shop, that need to hear about this Father?  The message is love, and we are His messengers in this place.  Let’s reach out to our brothers and sisters who are struggling, and let’s do it with the love of God in our hearts.

            “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You now and we lift You up; You are an awesome and mighty God.  Lord, we ask that you remove any pride in our hearts that is separating us from You.  We ask that You help us to have Your compassion, and Your love for those who are lost.  Help us to continue Your work here in this place, and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

            Mary came to the tomb on the third day to find it empty; she was weeping and peering in to the tomb when she turned around to see a man standing before her, but she didn’t know that it was Jesus.  The scripture is what follows,

            Jesus spoke to her and said, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom are you seeking?”  She, supposing him to be the Gardner, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary!”  She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (Which is to say, Teacher).  Jesus said to her, teacher, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”  Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things to her (John 20: 15-18.) 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

              Jesus Christ had been spit on, whipped, kicked, beaten, punched, yelled at, stabbed, and pierced with nails and a spear, and Mary Magdalene had been there to witness it all.  She had most likely held his Mother Mary who was also there to witness her Son being disrespected.  When she arrived to find an empty tomb her heart and mind were overwhelmed with grief, supposing that someone had desecrated his body even after his death.  She did not yell at the person she thought was the Gardner, but asked in humility where the body was.  The man she supposed was a stranger called her by name, saying “Mary” and her despair turned to elation.  She had desired to find the missing lifeless body of her master, but instead she discovered the living Son of God standing before her.  She was so overjoyed she wanted to embrace him, but Jesus would not allow it; instead he told her to take a message to his brothers who were mourning as well.  He wanted her to tell the disciples that he had been resurrected and was going to ascend.  What began with a search for a dead body, resulted in the discovery of the risen Christ.

             Many people have gone to the tomb looking for a dead Jesus, but when they get there, they find that he has been raised.  One man that comes to mind is Frank Morrison.  He was famous for writing his book, “Who moved the stone.”  Frank had grown up in a family where he was taught to think in a rationalistic way.  During his life, he decided to take three years off from work to disprove the resurrection of Jesus.  After examining the evidence, he came to conclude that the resurrection did in fact take place.  He wrote the book ‘who moved the stone,’ and the first chapter was entitled ‘the book that refused to be written,’ in honor of the book he didn’t write that would have disproven the resurrection.  Frank Morrison went to the tomb, just like Mary Magdalene, and just like Mary Magdalene he found a risen Lord.

             Today, the majority of the world, Christian and non-Christian alike, would concede that a man named Jesus Christ lived; they will even concede that he was crucified on the cross, and perhaps that he taught many good things.  I have met many atheists who would not debate these facts.  The great majority of them would even say, Mary did find the tomb empty.  (They may give a rationalistic explanation for why it was empty; many non-believers will say his followers came and broke in and stole the body to make it look like he had risen from the dead.)  Where do the believer and the non-believer part ways.  Might I suggest it occurs right when Mary says ‘Rabboni.’  The moment she sees Jesus Christ alive and well is where the believer believes, and the doubters scoff.  Today, the question remains.  Do you believe that Jesus Christ stood before Mary?  Do you believe he is ascended in to heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God?  If you believe, then your sadness will turn to joy, your doubt will be transformed in to hope, and your life will be sustained by a future with the Lord in His kingdom.  Christ has risen indeed, and because he has risen, we will rise with Him.

             “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You now, knowing that Your Son is beside You, and Your Holy Spirit is within us.  We thank You that You raised Your Son from the dead and we believe; we trust that You will raise us up just like You raised Him up, and we look forward to our future with You and with Him, in Your Kingdom?  Lord, help us to bring the report of the resurrection to others that their tears may turn to joy.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”      

 

JESUS SPEAKING

             “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast in to hell” (Mathew 5: 27-30)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                In the Old Testament God told the Israelites that they weren’t to commit adultery.  The focus was on the outward action.  But Jesus does something unheard of; with the authority of God he adds to what was commanded by God in the Old Testament.  Jesus makes the motivation in the heart equal to the action itself.  A person no longer needed to murder his neighbor physically; instead, a strong hatred for another person was the same as murder in the eyes of God.  A person no longer needed to sleep with his neighbor’s wife; a man needed only to look at his neighbor’s wife strongly with a deep desire for her sexually, and God counted that desire to be the same as the physical act of sex.  So what is the heart?  The heart is a place deep down inside of every human being that motivates them; a place that is secret; a place where a person hides their fears, worries, and intentions, but not from God.  God wanted originally to dwell within the hearts of his people.  Instead, they built a temple, and asked him to dwell there.  He wanted their hearts, but they only wanted to give him their actions.  Jesus again redirects everything back to the heart.  He identifies the eyes as a tool that can be used to lust, and tells them to pluck out their eyes if they are causing a person to sin.  He draws a parallel between the eternal and the temporal.  Those things which last forever are far more important than any pleasures a person may indulge in on this earth.  If one places an emphasis on the things in this world, they lose sight of the things that are important in the world to come.  For example, a person can desire money, and so they put their careers before love for their families.  They spend more time at the office than they do at home.  They grow distant from taking care of and nurturing the gift God has given them in their wives.

                When a man receives a wife from God, he is supposed to take care of her, and to love her, and to not commit adultery.  Pornography is adultery.  Pornography is not just a passing glance; it’s not a momentary unconscious glance at a woman that can’t be controlled.  If you are out in the community, and you are a man, although you should try to not look at any women, it is sometimes impractical.  The Pharisees during the time of Jesus would walk around with their heads down everywhere they went to make sure they never looked at a woman.  They would run in to objects and people.  If you live in a monastery, you might be able to avoid looking at a woman, but then you would be useless in reaching other people in the world around you; how could you minister to those who were lost.  Lusting is looking at a woman to desire after her; this is a sustained, repeated, or prolonged focus.  It’s not a thought, or imaginary idea, it’s filling your head and heart with a strong desire for something, which Jesus makes clear here pertains to the eyes (Note:  if you have a wife, lusting after her is not only good, it’s Godly.  You should desire to look at your wife naked, and she should want to do the same with you.)  Pornography destroys marriages, not to mention lives.  Ted Bundy, the day before he died was interviewed.  When asked where it all started, he said that he began to look at the pornography he would find in trash cans.  He saw violent pornography, and from then on he continued to progress down a road that led him to his violent rape and murder of many women.  Pornography is a pathway away from God, away from a wife, and toward something that is not God’s will for a man’s life.

                Today there are many who are addicted to pornography; they can’t seem to stop lusting after women they don’t even know.  Many don’t understand the damage that it is doing in their relationship with God, and with others.  Giving it up can be difficult, but with God’s help, with prayer, and with earnest effort and accountability to others, and to God, what seems impossible, can become possible.  God can take away this desire to lust, if, and only if, a person is willing to let Him.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we ask and pray that You make us pure in heart, and convict our hearts of any lusting that might be going on in us.  We pray that You will help us to make the changes that need to be made.  If any of us are struggling with addiction to pornography, or any other kind of lusting, remove it from our lives, and give us victory in this area, that we can better serve You, in all that we do.  We love you Lord, we praise you, and we thank you, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.