HOW HAVE YOU TREATED JESUS THIS WEEK?

How have you treated Jesus this week? Have you reverenced Him? Have you even spoken to Him? Have you been so busy that you have refused to spend any time with Him? How have you treated Jesus this week?
I don’t suppose you have been so foolish as to think that you could think or say negative or even nasty things concerning Him without Him knowing, have you? Are you ever disappointed in Jesus? Have you ever felt that He has let you down? Have you been angry with Him? Have you dare spoken that or have you silently held your anger inside until it boiled and solidified into resentment or even hatred?
Have you told Him that you love Him? Would you tell Him if you didn’t? Have you invited Him to come with you wherever you go or are there times and places where you’d rather Him not go with you? Are there friends He might embarrass you around?

Again, allow me to ask you; how have YOU treated Jesus this week? Before you answer, allow me to ask you another question; how have you treated your Preacher, your teacher, your parent, your boss at work or that bully at school? How have you treated that person you despise the most? How have you treated the one who has used you, abused you, abandoned you, stole from you, cheated on you?
Friend, your answer to the second set of questions answer the initial set; how you have treated the people in your life you consider the least; your egotistical preacher, unfair teacher, your lousy parent, your overbearing boss at work, the bully who frightens you; your worst enemy, the person you despise the most, the way you have treated them is how you have treated Jesus; who died for your sins. The way you have you treated the one who has used you, abused you, abandoned you, stole from you, or cheated on you is the way you have treated Jesus who would never do any of those things to you, for Christ has said, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. MATTHEW 25:40

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?

As the old Beach Boy's song says, "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?" Wouldn't it be nice if every day was sunny and only cooling breezes blew? Wouldn't it be nice if we had everything we wanted and never had to want again? Wouldn't it be nice if we were all wonderfully beautiful with perfect faces and desirable bodies and perfect personalities? Wouldn't it be nice if there were never any disappointments, no let-downs, no betrayals or misunderstandings; if everybody always did what was right at the right time and never lied and were totally honest? Wouldn't it be nice if, as the old saying goes "everyday would be Christmas all-year long?" WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?
NO! It would be boring and bland and we would soon forget our need for Father God. Adam and Eve had the perfect Father; the perfect environment, no work, only pleasure; they were beautiful in the perfect beautiful world and then that little gift from God; free-will got in the way. They didn't realize the garden they had been given until they had been cast from it. As they say, "You never know what you have until you lose it!" It's so true. They had the perfect environment and perfect situation for perfect communion with God and they didn't take advantage of it, and neither would we.
Life is messy, but it is in the messiness that we understand our need for something greater than ourselves. In our weakness He is made strong. It is our trials through which we strive and learn. What more can a man desire if has everything?
Doesn't loving one another in spite of our imperfections prove something of a deeper love? Isn't unconditional love the character of God? Heaven will be perfect, but we live there eternally will also be perfected. Heaven is the place for perfection; here on earth, we need God and we need one another and we come closest to both as we pass through the valleys and the storms. Amen!

Listen

THEN JESUS SAID, “HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR.”


MARK 4:9



In my long experience of this adventure called life, I have found a certain truth; those who most need to hear the truth are unable or most likely unwilling to listen.



Character flaws which glare like neon upon their lives to others remain hidden and unaddressed by those possessing them. Loving friends who do their best to illuminate these flaws are either ignored or shunned or dismissed. Friendship crumble, relationships ruin, beautiful, fulfilling interactions rot like fresh-caught fish left out in the summer sun for too long.



Jesus knew this ignorant side of man. He knew every time that He spoke a few would respond, but most would not. And so often before He was about to handout a potential life-changing truth, He would preface it by saying, “HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR.” This curious oft-used phrase was Christ’s way of saying, “Most of you who need to hear this won’t; you will hear, but you will not listen” or “You will listen but you will not follow through, knowing the cost of discipleship is the submission of your own desires and will.



I have toyed with the idea of hosting a seminar of corporate management. I know many pastors and small business leaders who would benefit from a weekend of examination of their treatment of their employees. The problem is that to the person, not one of those employers would be willing to attend such a weekend even if it were cost them nothing more than their time. Why? Because they are quite content to do business as they always have, even though they struggle with employee and customer loyalty. They just don’t have the ears to hear.



Within the institutional church the problem is much the same; congregants gather hoping to hear truths that might change their lives, but weekly reject those truths for life as usual; we desire intimacy and community, but we shun it out of fear of venerability, which is little more than acknowledging our own personal need to change and grow. One of my favorite personal quotes was from a poignant popular song of years gone by, it goes, “THERE ARE NONE WHO ARE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO WILL NOT SEE”.



What is God trying to say to you today? The very thought that makes your heart pulse and your palms swear; the very thing you need to say or to do or to change is as simple as facing the fear and doing what you know you ought.

This message is for you; “HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR.” AMEN!