What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and ridicule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far country. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.”
REVELATION 2
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
JOURNAL
So as we inch closer to Christmas I usually indulge in Christmas movies...from Hallmark to the typical Christmas classics. In doing so with all the beautiful sets, nice houses and perfect storylines, it's easy to forget the reality of the actual Christmas story.
Dirty, poor, tired, and displaced the incarnation of God was born in a barn. His only visitors being the dregs of society...shepherds. It helps me to remember the true message of the gospel. Jesus didn't come as a reward to the successful. Jesus didn't come to just be an inspiration to work towards. Jesus didn't come to just be a model of right behavior. Jesus came to welcome and redeem us when we are at our worst.
The world does an adequate job of rewarding the successful, the shrewd, the brilliant, the talented. But what the world lacks is an answer for our failure. The kingdom of the world has no place for those ragged, poor, dirty, stained souls that need a savior.
So against all odds...the greatest to ever walk the earth, the Son of God, was born into squalor...surrounded by poor, dirty shepherds. Why??? Because that's who needed him most. Because when it's all said and done, that's what we all need most. We are all destined for failure...our bodies, our minds, our wealth, our possessions...they all will fail us and waste away. When that happens the world will turn us away, it will no longer need us.
Yet because of God and his love for us we are promised to always have a home, always have a place at the table. In fact our willingness to suffer and endure suffering guarantees it...All that is required is that we acknowledge his love, receive it and live it.
Dirty, poor, tired, and displaced the incarnation of God was born in a barn. His only visitors being the dregs of society...shepherds. It helps me to remember the true message of the gospel. Jesus didn't come as a reward to the successful. Jesus didn't come to just be an inspiration to work towards. Jesus didn't come to just be a model of right behavior. Jesus came to welcome and redeem us when we are at our worst.
The world does an adequate job of rewarding the successful, the shrewd, the brilliant, the talented. But what the world lacks is an answer for our failure. The kingdom of the world has no place for those ragged, poor, dirty, stained souls that need a savior.
So against all odds...the greatest to ever walk the earth, the Son of God, was born into squalor...surrounded by poor, dirty shepherds. Why??? Because that's who needed him most. Because when it's all said and done, that's what we all need most. We are all destined for failure...our bodies, our minds, our wealth, our possessions...they all will fail us and waste away. When that happens the world will turn us away, it will no longer need us.
Yet because of God and his love for us we are promised to always have a home, always have a place at the table. In fact our willingness to suffer and endure suffering guarantees it...All that is required is that we acknowledge his love, receive it and live it.
29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
LUKE 5:29-31
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