Jesus Calls You By Name

 

I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.

John 10:14-15

In the film The Apostle, the character Sonny is a down, but not out, preacher who is running from the law, but not from God.  When speaking of his relationship to Jesus, he said, "I call Him Jesus and He calls me Sonny.”

The words are true. Jesus knows our names. Jesus is intimately acquainted with us and He loves us. No matter how messy our lives are, Jesus watches over us like a shepherd watches over his sheep, and He will never leave us or forget us.

Jesus calls you by your name.

_______________

Robert Duvall, director, The Apostle, October Films, 1997, DVD.

Pray and Pray Again

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”

And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus was as close to God as anyone could be. He is in fact God in the form of man. When Jesus instructs us to pray and pray again and to have faith that God hears us and will answer us, He is speaking the truth. We as humans want instant results, but God has His timetable for all things and we need to understand that all things happen at the time which is best.

Keep praying and asking. God is listening.

 

Do More Than No Wrong, Do Right

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:10

We can go one step further than doing no wrong to a neighbor; we can do right by them. At the 2014 Olympics a Russian cross country skier broke a ski during a race and a coach from the Canadian team gave the skier a new ski so he could finish the race. I would say that is about as right as things can get.

Love your neighbors.

 

How We Treat Ourselves

 

Do you not know you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

We are a temple of God and we need to be mindful of how we treat ourselves.  

Taking care of our bodies and minds, is taking care so that we can better serve God and be open to receiving His blessings.  We can take care of our bodies by doing what is health - eating health foods, exercising and in general avoiding things that are harmful.  We can take care of our minds by taking care regarding what we read, watch on TV and keeping our thoughts positive and centered on living a godly life.

God says His Spirit dwells in you, and all you have to do is keep the door open for Him.  

Before We Call

 

...Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear....

Isaiah 65:24

Sometimes, when things are not going well, we question if God is paying attention to us.  God promises that before we ask, His answer is on the way. 

So, do not think it is too late to ask for God's help.  Every day He is working to help you.

Remember, God never leaves us alone.  He is with us and for us. 

Not Fear, But Power, Love and Self-control

 

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7

Wow!  We all need this - self-control.  

I cannot count the times that my lack of self-control has caused me to behave badly when I don't know what to do in a difficult situation.  Yet, here it is - God will put the breaks on our fear response and help us operate from a place of power and love and self-control.

And, for this we are grateful. 

  

 

There Is Liberty

 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Many years ago, I was a very conservative Christian, with many ideas of what was right and what was wrong and very vocal regarding these.

However, as time went on, I was frequently persuaded that some of my views were wrong and I became much more merciful in my view of mankind's shortcomings.   

This change came as a surprise to some of my friends, one of whom said to me, "I am surprised that you being so conservative, have some views that are so liberal."  

My answer was, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

May we all be sensitive to the direction of the Spirit of the Lord and know when to change direction.