Day Three- Jesus lived among the needy

Day Three- Jesus lived among the needy Passages: Mt. 9:11, 12, 11:28-30
Mt. 9;11, 12 The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”
Mt. 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Lord took favor upon the poor, oppressed, blind, sick, needy, crippled, lame, women, Samaritans, lepers, children, prostitutes and even tax collectors! – All of those at the bottom of the social pyramid. The Lord, Jesus Christ came for all men, to serve. But those who were hurting were the ones who wanted his help. (Kinnaman, 132) They were the ones who sought him out. They were the ones who accepted and really needed the Lord. Not everyone will want our help. Not everyone will desire our love and servant attitude.
Jesus faced the Pharisees and “religious leaders” who were not hurt or sick. They rejected, mocked, and persecuted him. The same will apply to us as Christians.
Also remember that Christ might want you to serve people that you never expected. Christ might be calling you to work with the poor, the sick, those who do not look like you, smell like you, or have the same background as you do. That is okay. Expect it. Do not be afraid to reach out to anyone. This might take some humility. But as we learned in our last lesson, this is what we learned from Christ.
One last note, Jesus can and wants to use you. He wants you to be salt and light (Mt. 5:13-16). He can and will use you if you are willing and ready to be humble and to be a servant to men. Remember who, Jesus Christ selected to be his disciples! They were the on the lowest end of the social totaled pole in Israel. They were “average Joes,” stinky fishermen, craftsmen, and yes, even a tax collector. The Lord wants to use you. Will you serve?

Day Two – What was Christ like?

Day Two – What was Christ like? Passage:

: 1-11Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Christ, as Paul writes, in one of the longest run-on-sentences in the entire Bible, was humble. He was a servant, a slave to men. We are to follow this example. If we could do one thing to change Christianity today, it is this: treat others as more important than yourself. (Kinnaman, 224) As Jesus did, and as Jesus taught, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” () When Christians really put this into action, non-believers really do notice! Re-read this passage. Mediate on it. Reflect on your own life. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal people in your life that he wants you to serve. Pray for them. And when the Lord gives you the opportunity, serve them, be ready and willing!

Learning from Jesus and learning to be like Him (one week of devotions on Christ-likeness)

Learning from Jesus and learning to be like Him
(one week of devotions on Christ-likeness)

Day One – What not to do… Passage: Eph. 4:17-20
Eph 4:17-20 With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn't what you learned about Christ. (NLT)

Paul wrote the epistle to the Ephesians. Paul founded the church at Ephesus. Paul’s Jewish background comes into play inverses like verse 17. Paul had a heart and passion to evangelize to the Jews. But Ephesians was written to Gentile believers to assure them of their full inclusion with Jewish believers in the New Covenant (Schooley). Paul, here, was warning them against sinful desires. Many Gentiles had turned away from God with hardened hearts. The sinful desires of lust and impurity darkened their minds and hardened their hearts. This is not the way they should have been living. The Ephesians, on the other hand, have the teachings for Christianity before them. Paul tells them to learn from Jesus and the things they have seen and heard from him. The Spirit of the Lord was upon them, and the dispositions and sins that the Gentiles struggled with, do not have to be a serious issue to the Ephesians. Paul tells the Ephesians not to do these things, but instead learn from Jesus. In the next six devotions, we are going to learn from Jesus. We will learn to be more like Christ.

Thoughts on Forgivness

From Oswlad Chambers:

"Forgiveness means not merely that I am saved from hell and made right for heaven (no man would accept forgiveness on such a level); forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a recreated relationship, into identification with God in Christ. The miracle of Redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One, by putting into me a new disposition, the disposition of Jesus Christ."

So much of Christianity is about what God does for man and it is crazy because we men want to do something in return but it is not about us. It is so not about us, it is about Him. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord! For there is nothing I can do. Lord take me and change me.
Amen.

What has been up with me recently?

Work/ Career:
Working with UPS Freight as a dockworker. It is great. Fun. But have not been getting a lot of hours. Slow economy in general, plus winter is a very slow freight season. :(

School:
Been working on two classes at a time this semester which is tough. And both classes are challenging and require a lot more research and effort than I am used to since I graduated, from Ohio University anyways. Exciting paper about Paul and the law which his coming along!


Church:
Our church is in the middle of closing on our new building. Which is really exciting. We are going to have our first service in the building on Sunday! And Thanksgiving meal! mmm.

Youth Group:
We are closing in on Dec. 13th, the date of our production. That is exciting! We need to practice more for sure though. The director might have her baby within a week or two!
I have been busy getting the float and set ready! The Lancaster parade is Saturday so not much more time!

My ear:
The doctor said it is healing up great but apparently it takes a long time to heal all the way! Despite how great it feels it is only 50% healed!

My car:
Keeps breaking. Always fun to embarrass myself trying to fix it.

Girls:
No luck yet.