On the inside...out

What am I like on the inside? Do I care more about what others think than about what God thinks? In Luke 11 Jesus confronts the Pharisees about what they are like inside as they care so much about their outward appearance. They are so busy keeping the letter of the law that they have forgotten who they serve, they have forgotten their first love.
I guess we can all be like this sometimes. We are all so busy trying to look the part that we forget that God sees what we are really like. Everyone else sees the outward stuff, but God knows everything that we think, everything that we do in secret. This has really challenged me today. It's not that I have secrets, but I do believe that I need to make sure that what I do on my own glorifies God as much as what I do in front of others. I need my life to be completely God's. I need to not be worried about what others think and make sure that my first priority is God and what he thinks. 
We all need to make sure that our first priority is our Lord, and put him in the centre of everything.  

Seek and see what you'll discover...

In Luke chapter 11, Jesus tells us..."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 asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." 
How often do we forget this statement made by Jesus? We all need to realise that Jesus is just a prayer away. We are so busy panicking about situations, that all we need to do is seek the will of God. I know personally I sometimes forget this promise. I need to focus on Jesus and not worry about the stuff.
Jesus says ask and it will be given to you... so if we don't ask then we won't get! I'm not saying that we should be asking for silly things, but we should be asking God his will over our lives so that we can ask for the things that we need and that Glorifies him. 
Jesus says seek and you will find...if we don't seek God's will then we are not going to know what he wants us to do.
Jesus says, knock and the door will be opened...Jesus knocks the door of our lives and when we open the door to him he comes in and the journey of a life time begins. Jesus will never force himself on anyone, we have to invite him in. God wants to be part of all of our lives and we need to open the door of our hearts to the Saviour of the world
There are lots of promises in the bible.Jesus promises that he will never leave us or forsake us, to name just one. We need to grasp the word of God and hold onto the promises in it, we need to seek the Kingdom of God and allow God to impact our lives as well as the lives of those around us!

What do people see?

I was reading Luke 10 the parable of the Good Samaritan and something struck me about it. What do people see when they see me? Do they see someone who walks by the world and ignores everything, or do they see someone that is like Jesus. Do they see someone that cares for others or do they see someone that is so wrapped up in church stuff that nothing else matters.
The Levite and the Priest didn't want to get involved, they chose to walk by the injured man, but in fact it was the person that no-one would have ever thought would help him, his enemy. 
As a Christian I should emanate the love of Jesus, and if I'm not then there is a problem. I know that I'm not perfect, and I know that I quite often don't get this right, but I really feel that I need to try harder to show others Jesus. I need to be salt and light and not horseradish (which tastes disgusting). I believe that we are all capable of being like the Levite and the Priest in the story, afraid to go into situations that we feel uncomfortable with, but through the help of Jesus we can be like the Samarian that risked his life to help another, we can look out for those people that need our help and be a kind word of comfort, we all need to be Jesus to someone.  

Are they listening?

I'm in Luke chapter 10 today. Jesus has just sent out 72 of his disciples to preach the good news, to preach the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus sends them out with this warning,  "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
This is huge! It really hit me that when people laugh at me they are not just laughing at me they are laughing at Jesus; when they talk about me and say horrible things about me they are doing the same to my Saviour; when they ignore me and the gospel I share then they are ignoring Jesus too. I know that this is probably really obvious, but I'd never really thought about it like this before.
Each time I go into a school and talk about Jesus and the children don't listen or even laugh at me they are laughing not just at me they are laughing at Jesus -that's serious.When I tell others about how amazing God is, when they choose not to listen to me that means they are choosing to ignore Jesus. This makes me really sad, but, it will never stop me from telling others the gospel. In fact it makes me want to tell people even more. 
Let's make people listen, lets try and make people understand that Jesus is the only way, and that even if they think what we believe is barmy, if they reject our message, they reject God himself. 

Who's the greatest?

Who is the greatest? This is what the disciples asked Jesus in Luke 9. Jesus told them, "For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”
Does this mean that we shouldn't try to better ourselves? Does this mean that we shouldn't be ambitious? No I don't believe this, but I do believe that if we put those things before Jesus then we are on a slippery path. 
I believe that we should always want to do our best, in fact I try to do the best I can in everything I do, however, if this becomes the centre of everything then we are trying to be great and that means that we are taking the glory instead of giving it to God. 
Jesus came to serve, he humbled himself and came to suffer and die for me.  I need to do likewise, I need to humble myself and serve God. God wants to reach a lost world and we are the plan, so therefore we need to humble ourselves and do as Jesus did. We need to put our agenda's aside and just love God and love others, and let our future's be in His hands. Let's face it, there is no job more important in this life than showing someone else the road to Jesus. We can do that in whatever job we do, let's stop wanting to be the greatest, let's stop taking control of things and hand the reins over to the Creator of the Universe - He Knows what he's doing - trust him!

Who do you say I am?

Todays passage is Luke chapter 9. Jesus is with his disciples and asks them who they believe he is. Peter replies, "The Christ of God"
This made me think about who I believe Jesus is. I believe that he is my Saviour, he is my rock, he is my Lord, he is my King, he is my creator he is the very centre of my life. I know that there is 'no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.' 
The thing is, others don't know who Jesus is. Others just think he is a swear word, or a historical figure or even believe that he's not real at all. 
Let's face it, in the time of Jesus there was a similar problem. The leaders of the Temple didn't believe in him and he did miracles before their very eyes, the Roman Soldiers didn't know who he was as they nailed him to a cross, Judas thought he was someone else so he handed him over to the authorities.
Who do you say Jesus is? Is he your Saviour and Lord? If not, WHY NOT? He is the creator of the universe; he created us to be in a relationship with him. We owe him everything, so if you don't know him why not make the decision to get to know him. Jesus is wanting to be a part of your life, and all you have to do is ask, and I can guarantee he will show you how real he is. Jesus is the Saviour of the world, lets get to know him better, lets help others to know him too!

Let's take the chances!

Today I was reading the first part of Luke 9. Its the bit where Jesus gives the disciples a go out on their own. He sends them out in Power and gives them the authority to do exactly what he did. He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and so off they went. It says that they went from village to village preaching the gospel and healing people as they went.
Do you know the amazing thing about this story? We are also sent out with the very same power and authority to do exactly as Jesus did! YEY! That is really amazing!
I guess the thing I was really struck with was the fact that even though we have the same ability as the disciples we don't really do what they did. I can't remember ever going around praying for people to be healed! I don't even go out in the streets telling people about Jesus. I know I go into schools, but its not quite the same as telling random people in the street!
That also made me think, do I make every opportunity count for God? Do I make sure that when I can tell someone about the fact that Jesus loves them I actually do? Or do I chicken out? I must admit I don't always grab every opportunity. I know that I need to be braver as the opportunity I miss could've really made a difference in their life. I need to make sure that I remember that being brave and telling someone that they need Jesus and being laughed at is better than not telling them and them going to a lost eternity.
Lets remember that Jesus is with us and we have nothing to fear. If we loose friends through telling them about God then it is better to loose them in this life than for eternity. 

ETERNITY IS A LONG TIME! LETS NOT WASTE IT!