Jesus Christ

Jesus loved…

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

As we drove down a side road in Amish country we stopped at a small farm stand. There a sweet red haired girl of about 6 was watching her mother’s shoo-fly pie, fresh baked cookies, and chow-chow. She told us her name was Martha. “Well I’ve got some good news for you Martha.” I said. “The Bible says that Jesus loved Martha!” I told her and we both laughed.

I picked out some cookies and paid for them and she put them into a bag then waved and smiled as we drove off. Remembering that moment today I wondered how many kinds of people that Jesus loved. There is an election just one week away and our debate has become heated and angry. We hear it on television, see it in our neighborhoods, and sadly even in our churches. Below is a list of people Jesus loves. It makes me wonder if we can make a list of people we are ready to love for Him.

He loved Mary Marta and Lazarus

He loved His disciples to the end

He loved the rich young ruler

He loved his sheep and died for them

He loved tax collectors and sinners

He loved a woman caught in adultery

He loved His enemies and forgave

He loves all of us and our neighbors

Who will we tell that Jesus still loves today?

What can Separate?

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When I was just a small child my mother packed her bags and while my father was working she left with me in her arms to live with my grandparents. The separation was devastating to my Dad but as I was only about a year old I had no understanding of what had happened. One day my father had been there. The next I was separated. Between that moment and my middle teen years I only saw my father twice and then for only an hour or so.

When I was fifteen years old my father was finally able to have a custody hearing. That afternoon I entered into the judge’s chambers alone and he asked me a single question, “Do you like your father?”

“I don’t know.” I answered truthfully shrugging my shoulders. I don’t know who he is” I didn’t realize that I had actually passed right by my dad and step-mother on the way in to the court.

“Then I’m going to give you a chance to get to know him.” The judge answered.

In much the same way, our heavenly father is sitting just outside the courtroom of eternity. Because of our sins we have been legally separated from him. Under the cover of night, they have taken us from His house. But when Jesus gave His last drop of blood for us on the cross a cosmic earthquake took place. We were called into court and Heaven’s custody hearing began a single question. “Do you like your father?”

Though it took me a lifetime to build a relationship with my father he made it all possible because nothing was able to separate me from his love. The promise of God is that nothing can separate us from His love and He has planned an eternal relationship for you and I. His Son Jesus Christ suffered and died to buy that opportunity for us, but in order to award custody Heaven’s judge is waiting on our answer.

 

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Where is Jesus?

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 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.  And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. John 20:11-14

When our children were small one of their favorite books was Richard Scarry’s  “Cars and Trucks and Things that Go” On every page of the story were all different kinds of vehicles traveling down busy city streets, highways and country lanes. But no matter what page we were on – we and our boys were always on the look out for a tiny gold colored character named Goldfarb (I was never sure if he was a worm or caterpillar). You never knew where Goldfarb might be. On one page he was hiding in the back of a dump truck and on the next he was sitting with the firemen in a big red fire truck. But no matter where he was we all laughed each time we found him.

While this was a pleasant pastime for us a parents, I have discovered that In a similar but much more serious way we need to look for Jesus along the highways and byways of our lives. In the story book every day looks like fun but real life things can be quite different. Some days Jesus is sleeping in our storm tossed boat and others it seems to us that He is days late in showing up to help. We may even find ourselves in the position of Mary as she wept at the tomb supposing that someone had taken Jesus away. Her sorrow was so overwhelming that when the living resurrected Jesus did come she didn’t recognize Him. She turned and thought, “Oh it’s only the gardener…but maybe he knows something about my Lord!”

Maybe God is showing up as a rather plain looking gardener to you today. Maybe there is soil on his knees from laboring with weeds and planting flowers. Maybe his hands are so cracked and worn from work that we fail to recognize the prints of the nails in His palms. As He walks up quietly behind us we don’t see the wounds on His feet that happened on His journey to find us. But the night is almost past and dawn is just beginning to peak over our horizon. Where is Jesus? He is right at our side ready to call our name. Whenever we are seeking Him with all our hearts His word assures us that He will come up our garden paths ready to be found!

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