I DONT FEAR GOING ANYWHERE JESUS CAN GO
"The Jesus I Travel With is Not Afraid to Go Anywhere"
"Behold, I give unto you POWER TO TREAD ON SERPENTS and SCORPIONS, and OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY (demons and all their activities): and NOTHING SHALL BY ANY MEANS HURT YOU". Jesus, Luke 19:10 KJV (Capitals are mine for emphasis)
OUR LORD WAS KNOWN AS "A FRIEND OF SINNERS"
There is no record of Jesus being "buddy-buddy" with religious leaders like the Pharisees, Sadducees and lawyers. He had nothing in common with them. I think He considered them to be downright "boring". Instead, they were often the targets of his severest rebukes and condemnations. Our Lord was known as "a friend of sinners". Matthew 11:19 KJV. He did not condone their sin or bad behavior, but He loved their eternal souls, and knew that the only way to win them to the kingdom was through divine love.
JESUS DESPISED PRETENSE, AND THOSE WHO TRIED TO "PARADE THEIR RELIGION AS A CLOAK OF GOODNESS"
For the most part, His choice of disciples were men who were fashioned from rough-hewn backgrounds and professions such as common fishermen and tax-collectors. Jesus despised pretense, and those who tried to "parade their religion as a cloak of goodness". He liked "real people". He even hung out with an ex-hooker by the name of Mary Madeleine, and those who drank too much, which the Bible calls "winebibbers". Also, He was accused of overeating--being "gluttonous"--and befriending the despised agents of the internal revenue service.
IT MATTERED LITTLE WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT ABOUT HIM, AS "HE WAS NOT OUT TO WIN A POPULARITY CONTEST"
Jesus already knew Who He was, and realized that character was far more important than reputation. It mattered little what others thought about Him, as "He was not out to win a popularity contest". His mission was to bring lasting change in the lives of those who did not want to remain the same as they were when Jesus first found them. In fact, in Philippians 2:7 KJV, we read that "He became of no reputation" for our sakes. A couple of other versions translate it, "He became nothing".
IF JESUS WERE HERE ON EARTH TODAY IN THE FLESH, MOST OF WHAT HE WOULD DO WOULD NOT BE INSIDE THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH
Most of the ministry of Jesus was not within the four walls of the synagogue. If Jesus were here on Earth today in the flesh, most of what He would do would not be inside the institutional church. He would be preaching to the hardcore criminals and convicts in prison. No doubt He would be found down in skid-row and the slums looking for down-and-outers who had lost all hope. If you wanted to find Him, perhaps He would be in a nursing home among patients with Alzheimer's disease, telling them the good news of an eternal future with Him in Heaven. If you looked closely, you would see Him in the psychiatric wards of hospitals, and from there you could follow His footsteps as He ministered to those with an incurable diagnosis.
IT IS CALLED "COMPASSION", AND "PUTTING YOUR ACTIONS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS"
You could trace His whereabouts in the dives and dens of iniquity, the bars and night clubs seeking out gamblers and drug addicts, telling them how to be delivered from their bondages and addictions. Where there was gang warfare being waged is where Jesus would be. His presence in these places with the ones upon which society looks down on was "not His stamp of approval on these kind of lifestyles". It is called "compassion", and "putting your actions where your mouth is".
GOD TELLS THEM TO "STAY", AND BE A WITNESS TO THE LIGHT RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE--"WHERE THE SINNERS ARE"
Today there are movie actors in Hollywood who are out-and-out Christians. Some of the uptight saints in the traditional churches say that they "should come out from the world, be separate, and touch not the unclean thing". God does call some people out of these places, but others He tells them to "stay, and be a witness to the light right where they are--"where the sinners are". The same is true for singers and entertainers. I have met self-professing Christians who cannot bear to watch the news on TV, because it is so bad. How can our world situation change if God's people shrink back from that which is unpleasant, and "do not pray the headlines" to see change? Jesus would even visit our military in war zones. That is why I am not afraid when He sends me on "missions of mercy" to the least likely souls, because I know that the Jesus I travel with is not afraid to go anywhere. In fact, there are some churches where I do not think He has ever darkened the door. They are too dead. He would "not fit in", as He goes where the action is.
"Behold, I give unto you POWER TO TREAD ON SERPENTS and SCORPIONS, and OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY (demons and all their activities): and NOTHING SHALL BY ANY MEANS HURT YOU". Jesus, Luke 19:10 KJV (Capitals are mine for emphasis)
OUR LORD WAS KNOWN AS "A FRIEND OF SINNERS"
There is no record of Jesus being "buddy-buddy" with religious leaders like the Pharisees, Sadducees and lawyers. He had nothing in common with them. I think He considered them to be downright "boring". Instead, they were often the targets of his severest rebukes and condemnations. Our Lord was known as "a friend of sinners". Matthew 11:19 KJV. He did not condone their sin or bad behavior, but He loved their eternal souls, and knew that the only way to win them to the kingdom was through divine love.
JESUS DESPISED PRETENSE, AND THOSE WHO TRIED TO "PARADE THEIR RELIGION AS A CLOAK OF GOODNESS"
For the most part, His choice of disciples were men who were fashioned from rough-hewn backgrounds and professions such as common fishermen and tax-collectors. Jesus despised pretense, and those who tried to "parade their religion as a cloak of goodness". He liked "real people". He even hung out with an ex-hooker by the name of Mary Madeleine, and those who drank too much, which the Bible calls "winebibbers". Also, He was accused of overeating--being "gluttonous"--and befriending the despised agents of the internal revenue service.
IT MATTERED LITTLE WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT ABOUT HIM, AS "HE WAS NOT OUT TO WIN A POPULARITY CONTEST"
Jesus already knew Who He was, and realized that character was far more important than reputation. It mattered little what others thought about Him, as "He was not out to win a popularity contest". His mission was to bring lasting change in the lives of those who did not want to remain the same as they were when Jesus first found them. In fact, in Philippians 2:7 KJV, we read that "He became of no reputation" for our sakes. A couple of other versions translate it, "He became nothing".
IF JESUS WERE HERE ON EARTH TODAY IN THE FLESH, MOST OF WHAT HE WOULD DO WOULD NOT BE INSIDE THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH
Most of the ministry of Jesus was not within the four walls of the synagogue. If Jesus were here on Earth today in the flesh, most of what He would do would not be inside the institutional church. He would be preaching to the hardcore criminals and convicts in prison. No doubt He would be found down in skid-row and the slums looking for down-and-outers who had lost all hope. If you wanted to find Him, perhaps He would be in a nursing home among patients with Alzheimer's disease, telling them the good news of an eternal future with Him in Heaven. If you looked closely, you would see Him in the psychiatric wards of hospitals, and from there you could follow His footsteps as He ministered to those with an incurable diagnosis.
IT IS CALLED "COMPASSION", AND "PUTTING YOUR ACTIONS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS"
You could trace His whereabouts in the dives and dens of iniquity, the bars and night clubs seeking out gamblers and drug addicts, telling them how to be delivered from their bondages and addictions. Where there was gang warfare being waged is where Jesus would be. His presence in these places with the ones upon which society looks down on was "not His stamp of approval on these kind of lifestyles". It is called "compassion", and "putting your actions where your mouth is".
GOD TELLS THEM TO "STAY", AND BE A WITNESS TO THE LIGHT RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE--"WHERE THE SINNERS ARE"
Today there are movie actors in Hollywood who are out-and-out Christians. Some of the uptight saints in the traditional churches say that they "should come out from the world, be separate, and touch not the unclean thing". God does call some people out of these places, but others He tells them to "stay, and be a witness to the light right where they are--"where the sinners are". The same is true for singers and entertainers. I have met self-professing Christians who cannot bear to watch the news on TV, because it is so bad. How can our world situation change if God's people shrink back from that which is unpleasant, and "do not pray the headlines" to see change? Jesus would even visit our military in war zones. That is why I am not afraid when He sends me on "missions of mercy" to the least likely souls, because I know that the Jesus I travel with is not afraid to go anywhere. In fact, there are some churches where I do not think He has ever darkened the door. They are too dead. He would "not fit in", as He goes where the action is.
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