Category: Jesus Speaks

What is ‘the thing you want the most?’

~ servantone1

JESUS SPEAKING

            And he said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ‘for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11: 5-10.)

 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            During the days of our Lord, there were no phones, no text messages, and no emails; there weren’t even telegraph machines.  Scary, isn’t it?  This made it impossible to prepare for someone’s arrival from a distant place.  There was no way to call your family or friends in a different town to let them know you would be dropping by.  Many guests and visitors simply showed up unannounced.  First century Middle Eastern culture was one of extreme hospitality.  There were very few ‘hotels’ because it was desirable to take guests and strangers in to one’s home.  Commonly, travelers would simply go to a public place, and wait until someone invited them in to their home for the evening.  If you were lucky enough to have a guest in your home, you were required to take care of them like they were your own family.  A visitor was the responsibility of those who were hosting them; they provided food, shelter, and protection.  To be without food to set before a guest was a very serious dishonor.

            The average first century Jew was not wealthy.  A Jewish home consisted of one main room, in which everyone in the household slept.  Fathers, children, in-laws, and even important livestock were gathered together in this room, and the door was locked until morning.  To knock at a man’s door at midnight would rouse an entire household from a previously settled state of sleep.  This was no minor inconvenience, which is why the man refused the initial request for bread.  The one knocking received the bread he asked for, simply because he refused to take ‘no for an answer.’  Jesus is using this illustration to bring to light the necessity for persistence in prayer, and diligence in tirelessly seeking God.  The Lord is also drawing a parallel between Godly desires and worldly desires.  A man sought after bread with such fervor he was willing to forgo manners and etiquette and wake up an entire household to get it; he ‘refused to take no for an answer.’  This is paralleled with the hunger to satisfy the need for God’s Spirit in the lives of those who desire it.  How many people seek after God Zealously?  How many people would put the need to satisfy their hearts with God above the need to satisfy their stomachs with food?  Those who seek God are seeking what is most important. 

            In the movie, ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean,’ there is an interesting Pirate named ‘Captain Jack Sparrow;’ this captain possesses what appears to be a broken compass.  The compass doesn’t point North, South, East or West, but instead point’s to the thing the person holding it wants the most.  For instance, a pirate holding the compass might be lead toward some buried treasure, if that is what they desired the most.  A person who desired property might be lead to a new home.  A person who desired beauty might be lead to a beautiful man or woman to marry.  The number of things to desire and seek after is seemingly endless.  How many though, would hold the compass and be pointed toward God?  How many would find that in their hearts God was ‘the thing they wanted most’?

            Today, the majority of people in this world are not seeking God first; most don’t even have God on their ‘top ten list of things to chase after.’  If they were holding ‘Jack’s magic compass’ it would point them to a woman or man; a job; a car; a drug; a home; a family; the list could go on forever.  What is God’s greatest desire?  God desires to be the number one thing in each person’s heart.  He wants to be ‘the thing you want the most.’  He gave His only Son on a cross to make that possible.  Commonly, many people profess to be seeking God, but are more concerned with a job, or a relationship, or a lifestyle.  Many start off seeking God, but after the road becomes difficult, they replace their want for Him with a want for something fleshly.  The question is, to what length are you willing to go?  Are you a person who would knock on your neighbor’s door, but who has stopped knocking on God’s door?  Are worldly things more important to you than Godly things, or are you willing to make God ‘the thing you want the most’?  Today, you have the chance to search your heart, and to make sure that your compass is leading you toward eternal life with Christ.  May the Lord help you in your search?     

            “Lord Heavenly Father, we ask and pray that You would open Your door to us and give us Your Holy Spirit.  Father we’re standing at the door and we’re not walking away, not until You give us what we ask for.  Give us patience, endurance, and persistence to follow Your Son, and to finish the race that we have started.  Help us to not be divided, and help us to search our hearts, so that we may see and know what we are truly seeking.  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.

Generosity

~ aydinhartt

JESUS SPEAKING

                “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs from the rich man’s table.  Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  The rich man also died and was buried.  And being in torments in Hades (hell), he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.  ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’  Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my Father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’  Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, Father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead’” (Luke 16: 19-31.)

 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                Jesus reveals the reality of hell, laid out plainly for us in this parable.  He speaks of Abraham, who is the original Father of all of the Jews that live today.  His children are the people that God chose to send prophets and messengers too.  Jesus describes heaven and hell, and what paths lead to each place.  The man who has a wonderful life, a life filled with luxury is a man who is doomed.  Those who are oppressed in this life; those who find more value in loving others instead of chasing after wealth and beauty; those who have faith in Christ, will receive a reward in the life to come.

                The greatest hope for any Christian is the hope in eternal life.  We give up the comforts in this world because they confuse our purpose, and you can’t love a house, a car, or a bank account, but they can get in the way.  Had the rich man known that on the other side of death lay eternal torment, he would have changed his life.  He might have invited Lazarus in to his house, and taken care of him, and loved him.  The man, being a Jew, knew that the prophets spoke of a time when he would be judged.  The man did not believe in God nor the prophets that claimed God had sent them; and he certainly never knew that when he died he would be in hell; the truth, if accepted causes a person to change.  In this man’s case, he denied the truth, but denying it didn’t stop the reality of judgment from happening.

                Imagine for a moment, that you suddenly become aware that an earthquake has rocked Los Angeles and one of the overpasses has collapsed; imagine that it is the middle of the night and all of the lights in the city have gone out.  Now imagine that you are near the on ramp where thousands of people are pouring on to the freeway that will lead them to their death.  Would you warn them?  Would they believe you?

                Today, God has made it clear to everyone that there is a heaven and a hell.  For some there will be eternal life, and for some there will be eternal death.  He has warned us, and those who believe him change directions, but those who don’t believe him will continue traveling toward their own destruction.  Telling people the truth is an act of love, whether they choose to listen is up to them.  So the question we each have to ask us today is; do we believe Jesus Christ?  Can we trust what he has told us?  Do we believe someone who was raised from the dead so we might believe?  The answer to this question leads to one of two places, and I pray that we might all choose the place of comfort rather than torment.

                “Heavenly Father, we come before You today, and we ask and pray that You will give us the faith that we need to live for You.  Lord, we put our trust in You, and in Your Son.  Lord give us the Hope of things to come, and help us to see the light that awaits us if we take Your path.  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.