Believe in Jesus

What do you believe in? Do you believe the sun will rise tomorrow? Do you believe you have or will find love? Do you believe you have enough money for retirement? Do you believe you will find the perfect job? Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Jesus?

We believe in many things. We believe the sun will rise again in the morning. We believe in finding love. We believe in education. We believe in being self-sufficient. We believe in taking care of ourselves. We believe in looking for success in our work.

A child was born blind. He grew up blind. He became a man and lived blind. But one day, he met someone who would change his life. Jesus opened his eyes. Suddenly, the man could see. He saw the vivid colors. He saw the drab buildings, and thought they were wonderful. He saw the pool of water in which he washed his eyes. He saw his own reflection. He saw people for the first time. He saw Jesus for who he is and believed Him.

Do we see Jesus for who He is? Do we believe in Him? If we do, we may have our eyes opened as well. We will then see things as they are and not how we want them to be. We will see God working in our lives and in this world. We will see Jesus as our Lord and our Savior.

I pray we all believe in Jesus. I pray we ask Him to open our eyes. I pray each one of us will see God at work in our lives and in the world around us. Believe in Jesus. Ask Him to open your eyes. See Jesus as Lord. See Jesus as Savior. See God at work in your life.

John 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.

Our Shepherd

What is the guide for your life? Who is it you look to for guidance? Is there someone you desire to model yourself after? Is there someone who exemplifies who you want to be? What does it mean to be a shepherd? Do you have a shepherd? Are you listening for his voice?

We often look up to certain people, especially when we are young. But we can also look up to people when we are older. Often the people we look up to are those who appear to be living a life that is good and wholesome. This is truer of us as adults than children.

The twenty-third Psalm is one that many people around the world know or have heard, even if they are not Christians. The opening line speaks of the Lord being our shepherd. In today’s world, we have lost the understanding of who or what a shepherd is. We don’t see many true shepherds around anymore.

A shepherd was more than someone who prodded along the sheep or the goats. The shepherd talked to them, and they knew his voice. The shepherd knew where to find food for them, and they followed. The shepherd knew where the water was and would lead them to it. The sheep and goats listened for the shepherd’s voice. They trusted him with their lives, for he also protected them from predators.

If we know God as our shepherd, we trust him. We will follow him wherever he leads us. We know that he will lead us down the right path for our life. We take comfort in his rod and staff, knowing they are used for our protection, warding off evil. We trust that he has anointed us, and our blessings will overflow. We believe we will live in his house forever.

I pray we all view God as our shepherd. I pray we trust that he will lead us down the right path. I pray each one of us take comfort in God’s protection and that he has anointed us with blessings. See God as your shepherd. Trust him to lead you. Take comfort in his protection. Trust in his blessings.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Fruit of the Light

What does producing fruit mean to you? Do you think of an apple tree? Do you think of an orange tree? Do you think of a grape vine? Do you think of your vegetable garden? Have you given thought to the fruit you produce? Have you thought about the kind of fruit you produce?

Producing fruit is a common metaphor. We use it in many different settings. We may use it in relation to our job. We may use it in a sports environment. We may even use it within our family. Producing fruit happens throughout all aspects of our lives, even when we don’t think so.

We don’t give it much thought sometimes, but our words, attitudes, body language, clothing, and tone of voice produce fruit. They may produce happiness, sorrow, anger, lust, repulsiveness, or misunderstanding. Does that seem odd? It shouldn’t. Do we not react to others? If so, then why should we be surprised when others react to us? If we think about it long enough, it might motivate us to be more like Jesus.

The Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians they no longer belong to the darkness but to the light. Therefore, they should produce fruit from the light. Of course, he was talking about no longer belonging to the evil of this world and now belonging to the light of Jesus.

Notice what the fruit is. It is good fruit. It is doing good for others. It is being on our best behavior. It is doing what is right, even if it costs us a little or takes us out of our way. It is following God’s guidance and direction. It is being true to God. It is knowing God’s Word and following it the best we can. It is being honest—with others AND ourselves. It is knowing ourselves well and taking steps to correct ourselves when we are not being good and doing right.

I pray we all choose to do good and do what is right. I pray we are true to God and ourselves. I pray each one of us chooses to follow Jesus to the best of our ability and ask Him to change us for the good. Product good fruit. Do what is good. Do what is right. Be true to God. Be honest with yourself.

Ephesians 5:8-9 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.

More Than Giving

Is it important to you to give to charities? Is it important to you to give to the church? Do you strictly adhere to giving ten percent? How well are you at administering justice? How well do you show mercy. Does your faithfulness meet God’s expectations?

Many of us give to charities. We often give money to support children’s relief and support efforts. We give to support abused women. We give to help our veterans. We give to support a wide variety of people in need. There is nothing wrong with any of that. It is good we do.

But Jesus tells the crowd and the leadership that isn’t enough. We are also to administer justice. How do we administer justice? In the little things. It’s not all about the legal definition of justice but about doing what is right in the situation. Godly justice is about doing what we can to help those in need.

Jesus also tells the crowd they are to show mercy. Mercy is more than merely feeling sorry for someone. It is helping them in their time of need. It is about forgiving them when they do wrong. It is about coming alongside them and lovingly helping them understand how to improve their lives.

All of this is to be done through our faith in Jesus. Our faith has to be more than mere belief. It needs to be an active faith, one that causes us to take action. This kind of faith is what allows us to administer justice and mercy. It is through an active faith that we can carry out the work God desires us to do.

I pray we all desire to administer justice. I pray we seek to show mercy to others. I pray each one of us seek to grow our faith, have an active faith, and carry out the work God has set aside for us. Administer justice. Show mercy. Grow your faith. Make your faith be active. Do not stop giving.

Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”

Open Your Minds’ Eye

Have you ever been fed up with people? Have you wondered why they just don’t seem to understand what you are telling them? Does it frustrate you to no end? Is it worse when it is something extremely important? Can you imagine how Jesus felt?

Trying to get your point across to someone who doesn’t understand can be very frustrating. We can get to a point of boiling over. Explaining over and over or saying the same thing over and over, and not being understood can get under our skin. We may finally shake our head and just walk away.

Jesus tells the crowd that gathers around Him some very important insights into the kingdom of God. Evidently, He has tried to tell the Pharisees this before or they are in the crowd. In either case, Jesus is telling them they need to rethink what they believe is important.

Their blindness was not in their eyesight, but in their way of thinking. They put more emphasis on the expensive decorations within the temple than the temple itself. It was the temple that was sacred and what made the decorations sacred. It was not the gold itself.

Do we do this yet today? Do we put more emphasis on the decorations within our churches than the church itself? Think about it for just a moment. What is the church? No, it is not the building. It is the people. The temple Jesus spoke of was not the building either. The temple He spoke of was Himself. Only God can make something sacred or holy. Jesus told the crowd, the Pharisees, and He tells us that we need to put God first. We need to serve our people. The church building needs to be cared for, but it doesn’t need to be extravagantly decorated.

I pray we all put our emphasis on God. I pray we take care of the membership of our churches. I pray each one of us will ask God to remove the blindness in our minds and help us see as he sees. Open your minds’ eye. Ask God to remove your blindness. See as God sees. Take care of his people.

Matthew 23:16-17 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?”

Blind Faith

Have you been in a situation in which you did not see what others saw? Were you unable to follow along with the logic of an instructor? Did you not see the animal shape in the cloud because of the angle you were looking? Did you feel left out because you did not see?

We have all been there. Someone points out something odd they see, and we don’t see it. It doesn’t matter if it’s an animal shape in the clouds, a deer standing in the tree line, or someone dressed funny in the shadows of a building. We feel left out when we don’t see what others see.

Now, think about what it is like when you finally see it. Suddenly, the animal image appears in the clouds. Now you cannot not see it, right? It’s like those images that are two-in-one brain teaser images. If you look at it one way, it is a woman crying. If you look at it another way, it a girl dancing. Once you figure out how to maneuver your brain from one to the other, you can see both.

We have multiple stories of Jesus performing various healings. He uses the healings as a form of teaching. There is a lesson in each healing, but we must open our eyes to see it. Sure, there is the benefit of the healing. There is also an object lesson within the healing depending on the circumstance.

In today’s passage we see Jesus heal two blind men. Jesus heard their cry for mercy. He didn’t stop out in the street to heal them. He went into a house and the men came in to Him. Jesus asked about their faith. He didn’t ask what had happened. We don’t know if they were born blind or had a disease that blinded them. We don’t know how young or old they were. It isn’t even really about the blindness. It is about their faith. Faith is what Jesus is looking for in these two men and in us.

I pray we all put our faith in Jesus. I pray we see the lessons within the actions of Jesus. I pray each one of us understand that Jesus did everything for a purpose, and He still does. See Jesus’ lessons. See Him work on multiple levels. Put your faith in Jesus. Open your eyes. Truly see Jesus.

Matthew 27:30a As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.

All About Heart

What are you looking for in this life? Are you looking for a guarantee of where you will spend eternity? Are you looking for a life filled with wonderment, good times, and luxury? Do you spend your time serving others? Do you think doing good works will earn your way to heaven?

Many of us believe in the mantra that we must earn our way through this life. It is true that we need to earn a living. We also like the nicer things in life. We like our nice homes, nice furniture, nice cars, and little to no worry about tomorrow. We enjoy the riches we have.

But what does it take for us to be true followers of Jesus? Many of us think the more good works we do the better our chances of being with Him for eternity. We think we can earn our way to heaven. However, that is a false belief. We cannot in any way, shape, or form earn our way to heaven.

Jesus makes it clear that we cannot simply perform works in His name and expect to be with Him. We must first commit our heart and souls to Him. Once that is done, then we can perform works for Him out of the love and commitment we have to Him. There is a major difference between the two approaches. One is selfish, the other is selfless.

Jesus tells us those who perform works out of selfishness will be rejected. Their hearts are not committed to Him. It is the selfless, who commit to Him first, then perform the works He desires of them who will be accepted. It all boils down to the heart. It comes down to putting Jesus first in our lives.

I pray we all commit our hearts to Jesus. I pray we give up our selfishness for selflessness. I pray each one of us choose to follow Jesus with our whole being, including performing His works. Commit to Jesus. Commit your heart to Jesus. Put Jesus first. Perform His works. Follow His lead.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Seeing the Christ

Have you seen Jesus? Have you seen Him as the Messiah–the Christ? Have you seen Him as the Son of God? Have you seen Him as your Lord? Have you seen Him as your Savior? Would you like to?

Many of us have heard about Jesus for much of our lives. We know many of the stories. We have heard about His miracles. We have heard that He raised the dead. We have heard His parables. We know He was crucified and raised from the dead on the third day.

But have we truly seen Him for who He is? Perhaps the better question is–do we believe He is who He says He is? We can witness something truly amazing and still fail to believe it. We can take for granted the blessings we receive from a loving God. We can be overtaken by the culture around us and explain away the miracles of God.

Doctors can explain a lot about how our bodies function. They can explain how an egg is fertilized and it grows into an embryo, which becomes a newborn baby. Scientists can break down our genetic structure. They can develop cures for some diseases. Surgeons can repair or replace various body parts. But can any one of them heal with the touch of their hand?

Jesus is our ultimate healer. He can heal our emotional struggles. He can fill our emptiness. He can grant us eternal life with Him. We simply need to see Him for who He is, much like the woman at the well. We need to believe Him, just as she did.

I pray we all see Jesus for who He is. I pray we believe His claim. I pray each one of us truly accepts Him as our Lord and our Savior, accepting eternal life with Him. See Jesus for who He is. Believe Jesus is who He says He is. Accept Him fully. Accept Him as both Lord and Savior.

John 4:25-26 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is come” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

An Important Message

What does it take for you to believe something? Do you need to hear it from a good, or perhaps a great, teacher? Do you need to see it to believe it? What if you were told by someone you did not know? What if it were a person you deem to be less than respectable?

In our hardened, callous, and skeptical world, we find it hard to believe anyone we do not know. It is also hard for us to believe people who do not have good reputations. We either discard the news or we attempt to verify it via a respectable source.

We might find that we miss a very important fact by disbelieving. That is not to say we should believe everything we hear. But we might discover we should believe something we hear from a less than respectable person when the testimony is about something that just couldn’t be made up.

Let’s take a look at what happened in the town of Sychar in Samaria. The less than respectable woman who came running and shouting at the people in town about the Messiah had a message that could not be made up. She was shouting that the person whose arrival they had been waiting for generations had arrived, and He was at their well! You can’t make that up. You don’t joke about it. You don’t tease people about it. And she didn’t.

Many of the people believed her message, as incredulous as it was. The few that didn’t, did after they heard Him speak. Believing an incredulous message such as this is the most important thing we can do in our lives. It determines where we will spend eternity.

We may think we are not respectable enough to tell people about Jesus. Or we may think the person telling us about Him is not respectable and don’t want to believe them. Regardless, we should be telling people about Him and be willing to believe others who tell us about Him. It can make all the difference in our lives.

I pray we all believe the incredulous story of Jesus. I pray we believe He is the Son of God. I pray each one of us tell someone else about Jesus and convince them they should believe us. Believe Jesus’ story. Tell others about Him. Weigh the importance of the message. Trust in Jesus.

John 4:39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.”

God’s Choices

How do you choose the things you invest your time in? How do you choose who you will have a relationship with? Is your choice based on what is in it for you? Is it based on what or who you are attracted to? Have you taken time to ponder how God makes his choices?

We make choices every day. We choose what we will eat. We choose what store to shop in. We choose who we will befriend. We choose to exercise or not. We choose what television shows we will watch. We choose to educate ourselves or not. Choices, choices, choices.

God makes choices as well. His choices further his plan. Too often, we don’t take time to think about God’s choices. We mosey through life merely concerned with our own choices. So, let’s take a look at one explanation of how God makes choices.

The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, and us, that God chooses the foolish things to shame the wise. What could he mean? Though the majority of our pastors have seminary degrees, we also have examples of some of the most powerful evangelists having no formal higher-level education. After all, Peter, James, and John were fishermen. They likely had ended their formal education by the time they were thirteen years old. God works through people we least expect.

Paul also tells us God chooses the weak things to shame the strong. Again, what might he mean by this statement? We have seen people who were completely broken have their lives turned around when they accept Jesus as their Savior. We have seen examples of them becoming active and powerful workers in Christ’s kingdom. Think of the woman at the well. She was shunned, shamed, and considered and outcast. Yet, after she met Jesus, she brought an entire town out to meet Him.

Despite what we may think, God can use each one of us. He can use us to spread the message of Jesus Christ. He can use us to bring others into the kingdom. God works through people, just like us, to further his plan, to bring others into his kingdom, to demonstrate who he is. We simply need to be willing come alongside him and allow him to work through us.

I pray we all choose to allow God to work through us. I pray we choose to walk alongside God. I pray each one of us will ask God to use us as he sees fit to further his plan in this world. See how God works. Allow him to use you. Choose to work for God. Ask God to work through you.

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.