JESUS SPEAKING

                He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And he said to him, “Follow Me.”  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and Pharisees complained against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have come to call sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5: 27-32.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                Tax collectors in Israel were Jewish citizens who had ‘sold-out’ to the Roman Empire, and turned against their own people.  The Roman taxes were severe, and tax collectors earned their wages by overtaxing the people; in turn, they were passionately despised.  The religious leaders were enraged because Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners.   Jewish meals were extremely intimate affairs; those who dined together dipped in to the same bowls and drank from the same cups.  Most Jews were very careful who they ate with, because they falsely believed that sin could be transferred from person to person through the sharing of food.  The Son of God however, was not concerned with being contaminated by the sins of those he dined with.  Instead, his purity was contaminating and cleansing the dirty hearts of those who ate with him.  The messiah, the chosen one, sent of God had a distinct purpose; he came to seek the lost; he came to bring light in to the darkest of hearts; he came to cleanse the dirty, and to reach those the world had set aside and rejected.

                In 1464 a block of Marble weighing nearly 9 tons was shipped to the workshop of the Cathedral of the Santa Maria Del Fiore in Italy.  An artist was commissioned to carve a massive sculpture of a young King David.  It is said the artist abandoned the project because the piece of marble contained too many flaws (or veins—veins in marble are weaker than the surrounding stone, which can cause it to crack and break.)  So the flawed block sat in the yard for nearly a decade; until another artist was commissioned to continue the work; apparently he also foresaw problems with the veining in the marble and walked away.  Again, the scarcely carved stone block was pushed to the back of the yard where the sun, wind, and rain beat down on it for nearly 25 years.  Then in 1501 a 29 year old sculptor named Michelangelo looked at the stone optimistically.  He didn’t see an old dirty block of marble taking up space; he didn’t reject it as a defective throw away, fit for the trash heap.  Unlike the other sculptors, Michelangelo saw the giant slab, not as it was, but as it could be.  Michael Angelo accepted the commission to complete the work because he believed that he could create a masterpiece from a worn down, dirty block of marble.  In 1504, after nearly 3 years of work, the Statue of David was completed; immediately it was marveled over; its beauty and elegance were heralded by even the harshest of critics.  Today, the statue of David is on display in Florence Italy, and is unquestionably one of the most beautiful marble sculptures ever created.

                Like Michelangelo, Jesus Christ is a master craftsman whose purpose is not to attempt to improve perfect people, but to take the worst people and transform them in to divine works of art.  As followers of Jesus Christ, our duty is to reach out to those who are outcasts.  Rather than turning our backs on sinners, we are to embrace them in love.  We shouldn’t just see sinners for who they are, but instead, as who might become (with the assistance, love, and attention of an all powerful divine creator.)  Reach out to the lost; make friends with the weak; dive in to the trash heap and pull out the people the world has discarded.  He has sent us in to the world to reach those who have gone astray and to bring hope to the hopeless.  Are you willing to be an instrument God can use to accomplish a masterpiece?

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You today and we ask that You use us to reach those who are sick.  Give us a heart for everyone the world has rejected.  We yearn to be instruments that You can use to transform the lives of sinners.  Therefore we lay ourselves at Your feet and place our lives in your capable hands; make use of us as You see fit.  Father, we love You, we thank You, and we praise You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you. 

JESUS SPEAKING

                Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s (Peter’s), and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

                But Simon (Peter) answered and said to him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.”  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.

                When Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5: 3-8.) 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                The disciples had just finished fishing and had caught nothing; they were cleaning their nets for the day.  Jesus told Peter to push out one last time and drop the nets.  Peter didn’t want to, but he obeyed Jesus and pushed out to sea.  His obedience resulted in a catch none of them could have imagined; a catch so large there nets nearly burst.  Peter immediately humbled himself, and fell down before Jesus.  His understanding of Jesus was immediately and drastically transformed; in an instant Peter realized that Jesus was not just a man, but something more.  Peter witnessed a miracle because he chose not to allow his experience as a fisherman, or his own reasoning to compete with the command of Christ.  Peter didn’t push out in to the water because he expected to haul in the largest catch of his life (he probably didn’t expect to catch anything at all.)  He pushed out in to the sea because he was being obedient to Jesus Christ.

                Each of us woke up this morning with a great deal of expectations.  We expected our alarm clocks to work, our cars to start, and our cell phones to be functional; we relied upon them; we trusted them.  We can trust our gadgets and even our own instincts and abilities, but when it comes to trusting Jesus Christ we have difficulty?  Peter initially relied upon his own knowledge and understanding when questioning the command of Christ to ‘push-out.’  He saw God do a wonderful work, because he stopped trusting in himself and began trusting in God. 

                Today, we need to trust in God and not our own limited understanding.  We must be obedient to what God is calling us to do.  Is there some area of your life where you are refusing to relinquish control?  Search your heart.  God has called each of us to be obedient to His commands.  Often, obedience is difficult, but unless we obey God we will miss out on experiencing many of His great miracles.  May we all ‘push out’ and place our trust in the eternal and almighty God.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, help us to relinquish control over our lives and give them back to You.  Jesus please help us to be obedient.  Holy Spirit, help us to place our full trust in You.  Reveal to us areas where we lack faith, and help us to change.  We love You Father, we thank You, and we trust You, and we ask all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

            So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then he taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’?  But you have turned it in to a ‘den of thieves.’”

            And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him; for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his teaching. (Mark 11: 15-18.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            The priests and religious leaders were earning money from the sale of sacrificial animals within the temple.  They were also earning money from ‘short changing’ ignorant pilgrims who needed to exchange their Roman or Greek coins for non-pagan shekels (tithes of pagan coins were not accepted within the temple treasury.)  Those professing the highest degree of Godliness had been using God for selfish gain; those who prided themselves on ritualistic purity had defiled and perverted the purity of God’s Holy Dwelling Place.  Upon seeing this disgraceful sight, Jesus became angry; he flipped over the money changing tables, and used a whip to aggressively chase out those who were selling animals in God’s house.  No one arrested him; no one rebuked him; no one demanded an explanation; the crowds instantly recognized that what he had done was right.  He had put an end to wicked men using God for their own financial gain.  [Note:  This incident occurred several days before the Passover celebration.  The Israelites were strictly forbidden to have even a single speck of Chametz (fungus or mold) within their homes during the feast.  As part of the preparation for this annual festival, every Jewish home had to be swept out and thoroughly cleansed.  Jesus, being God’s son, chose to fulfill this command by sweeping the dirt out of his Father’s house (the temple.)]

            The religious leaders had mingled together the things of God and the things of man. Jesus’ whip sliced ‘in-two’ what should have never been ‘one’ to begin with.  His anger set right the divine order of things.  On one occasion in my own life, I felt the sting of God’s whip when I attempted to combine his goodness with my gain.  Many years ago I worked for a company that imported raw materials for kitchen and bathroom countertops. I handled numerous accounts, but was always on the lookout for any potentially new customers.  In my search I came across a large local company named, ‘Reborn Cabinets.’  (Cabinet makers always needed granite to complete their projects, and my company was a granite supplier.)  This cabinet company was started by a ‘reborn Christian;’ I myself had recently been ‘reborn,’ and I was anxious to work with a Christian company.  After many attempts to set up a meeting with their company had failed, I made one final attempt to reach them.  One day, I left a message with their manager expressing my desire to work with them; I finished the message with a ‘God bless you.’  I had hoped that they would hear the message and realize I was a Christian and give me a chance.  Immediately after hanging up the phone, I felt this pain in my stomach and an overwhelming feeling of remorse within my heart.  I had angered God, and grieved His Holy Spirit by attempting to use Him for my own worldly advancement.  After the feeling began to affect my workday, I made my way to the bathroom to pray; filled with remorse, I promptly begged God for His forgiveness.

            Today, there are a lot of people who need to drop to their knees and beg God for His forgiveness.  Too many people have sullied the name of the Almighty God in order to attain their own personal comforts.  Many ‘Christian businessmen,’ more dedicated to a dollar than to keeping God Holy, plague the body of Christ, using the name of God to secure customers.  Similarly, many people use God to increase their standing in the community.  Many use God to make themselves more attractive to a potential husband or wife.  Some use God to ‘pride-fully’ compare themselves favorably to others.  There are an endless number of possible exploitations of God’s name, but each and every one of them kindles His anger.  Of all the sins in the bible, using God for worldly prosperity arouses the greatest amount of divine fury; as such, we must continually, and fearfully, examine our hearts to make sure that we are not guilty of such sins.  If we discover any uncleanness in our hearts, we must beg God for His forgiveness, and ask Him to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

            “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You and ask that You reveal and convict our hearts of any instances where we have misused Your name for our own personal gain.  We desperately desire to be free from these grievous sins; give us the power to change what we have been doing, and sweep out any dirtiness within our hearts.  Make us clean, and fresh, and new Lord.  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.