The Unexpected Neighbor

Jesus defines the meaning of a neighbor in this text.

Luke 10:30-37

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

 ³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two silver coins^[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
   ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
 ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
   Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”  BibleGateway.com

The Samaritan was not expected to be the neighbor in this story.  He would be the least likely choice to represent a neighbor....however, that is exactly whom Jesus chooses to illustrate what a good neighbor looks like....the least expected.

In our sin, as this poor man in his distress, we have been attacked by the enemy, we have been robbed of our relationship with God and we are bruised, beaten and left dead in our sin.  Many religious and self -righteous people will tell us either there is no hope for us and leave us in our condition or they will tell us if we just do certain things then we will overcome our own situation.  But not God.  God see's our condition and He takes pity on us, He comes to us and He bandages our wounds, pours oil and wine to cleanse our wounds of sin, he takes care of us and He pays all our debt for our sin, through His own Son Jesus Christ.  God is Righteous, He is Holy, He is all knowing and He needs nothing.....He is the unexpected neighbor that has shown us Great Mercy because of His Grace.

And He tells us to go do likewise.  Lord help me be the unexpected neighbor in someones life because of the mercy you have shown me.

Are we missing the point?

Luke 12:5-21

I read this passage again the other day and a startling image came into my mind....is this a picture of what our churches can become?  Is this a warning to the church about what happens when God provides an abundance in the harvest (people) and we start centering our thoughts on how to keep the harvest instead of using the harvest for the intent it was given?  Instead of allowing a portion of the harvest to be used in other context outside of our own "barns" churchwalls and sending it out to meet then needs of others.  Instead we take that harvest God has provided and we say to ourselves, lets tear down this barn and build a bigger barn so that we can keep our harvest for our enjoyment and use.

As I read further down in the chapter, I see a great promise from Jesus what Happens when we keep our focus on Him and His Kingdom and not our ourselves.

Luke 12:31-34

He has promised us that the Father will give us the Kingdom if our treasure is with Him and not the things in this world.

We are accountable to what God has given us, as individuals and as churches.

see Luke 12:47-48.

I think there is a great warning in this set of scripture and also the answer to the warning with a promise.

My point is this, as God blesses us with people who come to trust in Him and desire to follow Him...lets pray that He will raise them up to send them out from our churchwalls and send them into context that He can further use them for His glory.  Lets not hoard up the harvest for ourselves and our own enjoyment, but pray that as He blesses our crops He will send them out so that those who are in this world who have no harvest among them will benefit from the gracious harvest God has provided to us for His glory.

Possesions, people, our lives.  They all belong to Him.

Just touch Jesus

I was reading a very familiar passage today and it stood out to me in a different way than it had before.  It keeps burning in my heart so I am going to try to share some of the thoughts I had along with the passage in hopes that it will help someone understand that all we need is to trust in Jesus.

Mark 5:25-29

New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

 

In this passage I see a woman who has done it all.  She has tried everything she can to fix her problem and given everything she had to fix her problem.  Yet as the text shows us...."instead of getting better she grew worse."  

 

Many times the things we try to do end up making it worse in the end.  Have you tried to make yourself feel better by any of these.....relationships, money, career, kids, marriage, divorse, sex, drugs, alcohol, going to church, not going to church..ect, the list can go on with what we will try to do to make ourselves better in our sickness.  We will go to many people, religions, spend all our time, money and efforts on overcoming our suffering. 

 

Thankfully, this woman in this passage realized the only answer to her problem was getting to Jesus.  She had faith to believe that if she just touched His clothes, that she would be healed of her suffering...and she was right!  When she came to Jesus in faith and trusting Him that only He was able to cure her disease....Immediatley she was freed from her suffering.

 

In our sin, we are suffering and will continue to suffer for eternity for that sin.  There is nothing that can cure that sin, except the Lord Jesus Christ.  He has paid for the cure of that sin, He has made the way, the only way for mine and your sin to be removed from us.  And when we come to Him and have the faith that this woman had.....He will say to you as He did this woman...

Mark 5:34

New International Version (NIV)

³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

 

You enter into a personal relationship with God and He becomes your Father and you become His Son or Daughter.

 

Now folks...thats just real good news!

 

blessings!

 

 

Sisters

Today my youngest daughter had knee surgery to correct a tear.  She did great and is doing great...but something interesting happened today that I was not expecting.

A little background.....I have 3 children....my son is 21 years old and my oldest daughter is 17 and my youngest is 12.  My daughters fight constantly.......they are not together more than 5 minutes and they are grating on each others nerves.  It drives me crazy sometimes....I have tried to encourage them to have more respect for each other and to appreciate each other more....but they just seem that much more eager to fight and argue over the most trivial things.

Then today after my daughters surgery, she kept asking for her sissy.....over and over again, I want my sissy, when is sissy getting home.  I finally said why are you so worried over your sister, all you two do is fight...whats the deal.  She said to me point blank and matter of fact....because she is My Sister!

Apparently when it gets right down to the nitty gritty of it....it doesn't matter how well they get along, or if they even like each other most days......when push comes to shove and you get down to the bottom of it...nothing is like having a Sister.  For better and for worse...in the good the bad and the ugly.  Apparently your Sister is your worst enemy and best friend....your biggest critic and your biggest supporter....the one you miss the most when times are hard, lonely or confusing and the one you want to share the good news with and celebrate the good times with.  They will tell you straight up that you are wrong or crazy if they don't agree with your choices. They will be the first to defend your cause if someone is coming against you.  They will support you when nobody else seems to care.  Sister's are the ones you expect to understand when your heart is broken and will cry with you when you are sad and they will laugh with you when you are happy and be silly when you just want to have fun.

I pray for all these things for my girls.....I want them to enjoy and appreciate the gift they have been given in having a Sister.....My hope is they will embrass the wonderful gift God has given them...for they are not only Sisters by birth, but they are Sisters in Christ, which will last for all eternity. 

My Sisters did not come to me by birth, they were given to me by Grace through faith in Christ. I pray that I will be a good Sister.

PS...Brothers are awesome too....but thats a different story for another day.

blessings!

Created For This

The question so many of us face in our lives is why do I exist.....what is my purpose....why was I created?

Ephesians 2 has the answer to this question for me and I believe for anyone who is willing to trust in what it has to say about our lives.

First we must recognize that our first need is Jesus Christ and His work that He accomplished on the cross to overcome our sin.  Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. (NIV)

Second we recognize it is God's love, mercy and grace that transforms our lives.  Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of His great Love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. (NIV)

Third we understand that it is all a complete work of God to bring about our salvation.  Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)

Fourth we find our purpose, once we have trusted in Christ for our salvation another glorious truth emerges.  Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

God made the way of salvation through His Son Jesus....and He has a created purpose for us....a work that He has prepared for us for His glory and Name to be made known among the nations!  How glorious is that, we do not need to wonder if we matter, we do not need to wonder if God is able to use us....His Word says He has a planned purpose for our Lives!  Grab a hold of that glorious truth and let it radically transform your life for His glory!

Our team of 8 head out tommorow as part of that created purpose to Ghana Africa to touch the lives of as many people as we can with God's Love, God's truth and God's plan for their lives.  Please pray for our team that God will use us to make much of Himself among the people we are allowed to touch with His grace.

By His Grace,
Phebee

Expecting

In a few days we have a team of 8 people from our Faith family that will be going to Ghana Africa to share the Love of Christ with those who have never heard the name of Jesus.  My heart and desire is that the people there will experience the Love of Jesus as we share in Words, Deeds and that our hands, feet and mouths will be so full of God's presence that the people can't help but experience the Love of God touching them in a personal way.  I pray that as we smile, talk, touch, teach, sing, dance, and play....that we will bend low and imitate our Lord and Savior as He bent low to touch us and make us His own through His grace, His love, His forgiveness, His mercy.....Without the great sacrafice that God made in sending His One and Only Son to die for our sins....we would be nothing but slaves of sin, but thanks be to God because of His great Mercy and grace through faith in Jesus Christ we become the righeoutness of God!  What a great blessing it is to be part of His family, His plan, His purpose, His glory and His work!

Expecting to see Jesus do only what He can do through ordinary people loving our extraordinary God!

blessings!

Rest

I love this little part of scripture found in Mark 6:30-31 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught.  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."  NIV

So many times we get so busy with taking care of others or meeting the daily demands of living life and we just get wore out, tired, maybe even discouraged or depressed or anxious about all the things we are doing or need to do.

I love how our Savior says...."Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."......Pull yourself away from all the craziness sometime, someway and find that quiet restful place of soaking in the presence of our Lord today...be refreshed in Him....its okay, its allowed.....your no good to anybody anyway until you are reminded of Who you are In Him.

We are to work and strive to do good for God's glory and the good of others...but in His strength, not our own.  We can do nothing apart from Christ.  Rest in Him today.