Being Jesus

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (MSG)

In the Book of Job, Job was going through a really hard time. He had lost everything. He lost his family, his wealth and even his health. He was miserable. As he sat in ashes with sores all over his body, three of his friends decided to come comfort him.

As they sat there, they started talking. Unfortunately, what they said was not helpful. Instead of coming along side Job and lifting him up, they started telling him how he must have messed up. They told him the calamities that he was facing had to be his fault. He must have done something to deserve this.

To add insult to injury, they told him God was punishing him. And then they started misrepresenting God in their conversation.

At the end of the book God says this:

“I’ve had it with you and your two friends. I’m fed up! You haven’t been honest either with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has.” 42:7 (MSG)

God was angry with Job’s three friends because they misrepresented him. They didn’t help Job at all with their words. Maybe they were just trying to provide an answer but in doing so, they hurt Job and God’s image. Often when we come across people who are hurting, we feel that we need to say something and in grasping for the right thing to say, we say things we shouldn’t.

Maybe we should just come alongside and be. Be present, be silent and be loving. We don’t need words for that. We need a heart that has traveled through pain before (haven’t we all?). We need a relationship with Jesus so we can share the comfort he has shared with us.

If you encounter someone who is hurting today, say a quick prayer asking God for His Spirit and be….

A Minute In It - Stop And Make A Difference

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Reach the passage below and answer the questions after the post.

30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”   Luke 10:30-37 (NLT)

Which person are you in the story?
Have you ever crossed the road to avoid helping someone?
Have you ever looked at a person's situation and said "Nope, too messy. I'm out."?
Who is God calling you to help today?

A Better Way

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” John 8:4-5 (NLT)

When they threw the woman caught in the act of adultery onto the ground in front of Jesus, they wanted her dead. Jesus got quiet and started writing in the dust. I wonder what was going through his head. I wonder if it was that the law they mentioned required testimony from two people who saw the couple in a sexual act: lying in the same bed, no mistaking what they were doing and able to positively identify each person. The two witnesses had to see these things at the same time and place so there story was identical.  It would be virtually impossible to do this if you hadn’t set up a trap.

I wonder if he was also thinking that the law required a person to step in and help someone who was about to sin by encouraging them to walk away. This required compassion. Where was the compassion here? And where was the man involved? He was obviously committing the same act but he was excused. Then, there is the public display of the case. Why wasn't this done privately? Were they really concerned with her welfare or Jesus' response?

I wonder if his Divinity flashed as he saw their careless regard for this woman's life. And I can't help but wonder if he thought to himself "This is why humans aren't in charge of the judgement." Obviously, we as humans can see when someone is doing something they shouldn't be doing. But too often we see it with blinders on. We neglect to look at our own sin and contemplate our own situations. We are so quick to look at others and snap to judgement. We are slow to see them with Jesus' heart.

Jesus said to her "Go and leave your life of sin." (v. 11, NIV) He wasn’t ignorant to what she was actually doing. And he didn't want her to continue her sinful behavior. But how he set her on a different path was immensely different. Jesus was interested in her future, in her eternity. His heart went out to her knowing she was hurting and in need of a better way. The accusers were only interested in proving their point even if it meant destroying her life.

So who do you most take after in this story? Next time we are tempted to pass judgement on someone, we should ask ourselves "What would Jesus do?"

Friday, Mar 17

When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” John 5:6 (NLT)

Would you like to get well? Jesus was talking to a man who had serious health issues. He was a paraplegic. At any time, being a paraplegic is difficult but, in this man's day the situation was horrible. He had to live on the charity of others. He either begged for his income or it was given to him by friends and family. To move around, he had to be physically carried or he had to pull himself along the streets with his hands. Imagine it, hands scarred and bleeding from the road and your body scratched and covered with brush-burns or scabs. Paraplegics often have no bladder and bowel control so cleanliness is an issue. Needless to say, folks steered clear.

But not Jesus. When Jesus walked into the pools, he didn't migrate toward the 'easiest'  person to help; he bee-lined it to one of the most difficult cases. Not only was this man physically impaired, he was spiritually impaired as was indicated by Jesus' comment "Stop sinning." No matter how hopeless we seem, Jesus is with us, helping us.

How about you? Do you steer clear of the hard to sort through people with really messy lives? Or, do you get involved and stand by them in the mess. Jesus often got involved in the mess helping people who would have been abandoned otherwise. It seems to me the question "Would you like to get well?" is directed to all of us. Not only do we need his presence in our lives, It is through living as Christ did that we are truly healed.