Respecting Him!

What you see is real! Your prayers have been heard. Jesus made it happen, God is with you!

Luke chapter 24 verses 25-28.

Then Jesus said to them, "You are such foolish people! You find it hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures! Was it not clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering His time of glory?" Then Jesus quoted them passage after passage from the writings of the prophets, beginning with the book of Genesis and going right on through the Scriptures, explaining what the passages meant and what they said about Himself."

The story of Jesus meeting the two men on the road to Emmaus, seven miles outside of Jerusalem, reveals to us how the Holy Spirit works. 

   These two men were walking along discussing the death of Jesus when suddenly Jesus Himself came along and joined them and began walking along side them. Verse 16 says, "But they did not recognize Him, for God kept it from them."

   Here we have two people who are followers of Jesus, obviously upset by the events that took place over the past week. Jesus said to them, "You seem to be in a deep discussion about something. What are you so concerned about?"

   It says they stopped walking and looking at this guy who they did not recognize as Jesus, responded to Him with sadness written across their faces, "You must be the only person in Jerusalem who has not heard about the terrible things that happened there." 

   Acting as if He did not know, He said, "What things?" And they went on to tell Him about this man from Nazareth, a Prophet who did incredible miracles and was a mighty Teacher, highly regarded by both God and man. They explained how the chief priests and the religious leaders arrested Him and handed Him over to the Roman government to be condemned to death, and they crucified Him. 

   Verse 21 says, "And we thought He was the glorious Messiah and that He has come to recuse Israel."

   Besides His death, they now had to deal with the fact that His body had gone missing. And that some women had gone to the tomb and were met by angels who told them that Jesus was alive!

   This story is interesting because the two men did not know it was Jesus they were walking with. To them He was an average guy who did not know about the events that had taken place. Now, having heard what was said, this average man who they were walking with came out with, "You are such foolish, foolish people! You find it so hard to believe what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures!"

   How would you react to that statement. Would you be ready to dismiss this fellow or would you be ready to hear what he has to say? He rambled on with authority quoting them passage after passage, even beginning with the book of Genesis and going through the Scriptures, explaining in detail what the passages meant. 

   These two were followers of Jesus. They might have been a little offended by some stranger saying these things, but they found His statements to be factual about the events that had just taken place. How could they have missed what had been told about for thousands of years?

   We are ordinary people living the best we can in a world that gives us grief with lives that we know will cause us sickness, stress and eventually death. 

   Luke chapter 24 verses 30-32 say, "As they sat down to eat, Jesus asked God's blessing on the food and then took a small loaf of bread and broke it and was passing it over to them, when suddenly---it was though their eyes were opened---they recognized Him! And at that moment He disappeared! They began telling each other how their hearts felt strangely warm as He talked with them and explained the Scriptures during their walk down the road."

   We have no idea what God is about until we come before Him, revealing our want and desire to know and have Him in our lives. Our worries can be a thorn in our sides. The mind is constantly bombarded with questions and unanswered, unresolved stuff. 

   God is real. His promises are real. We are meant to have life with Him. Jesus is God's gift to us and His Holy Spirit is our place of refuge, our joy and praise to God for His love, His grace and His mercies. How many years are you going to continue letting, what God created in you, suffer from separation anxiety?

   God has always been there and He wants so bad to be with you now and always. He wants His child, His creation to worship Him and trust in Him and to have the patience to do so in a world filled with trials, temptations and desires. He wants your respect!

   James chapter 2 verse 17 says, "It is not good enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that does not show itself by good works is no faith at all---it is dead and useless." 

   It is by the way we act that Jesus gets to show through us God's Holy Spirit. And it is by the Holy Spirit that we have the right words to speak. It is the joy of God grace upon us that others will see and maybe they too will find Jesus and their place with God.

 Jesus was always giving thanks to God in front of others. When He fed the crowds by the miracle of small amounts. When He raised Lazarus in John chapter 11, Jesus  spoke out saying, "Father, You always hearing Me, of coarse, but I said it because of all the people standing here, so that they will believe You sent Me"

   It is by our actions that others will know we are believers in Jesus. We are to be humble and not pushy or argumentative. We have Jesus in our lives, and we do not know who it will be that may be in need of knowing Him.   

In 1 Peter chapter 3 the apostle Peter tells us that we should quietly trust ourselves to Christ the Lord and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way. 

   Thank You Father for Jesus. Thank You for Your love, Your mercies and grace. You heard my prayers and Jesus dried my tears. 😊

Matthew chapter 12 verses 33 and 34.

Jesus told them, "A tree is identified by its fruit. A tree from a select variety produces good fruit; poor varieties do not. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For a man's heart determines his speech. A good man's speech reveals the treasures within him. An evil-hearted man if filled with venom, and his speech reveals it. And I tell you this, that you must give account on Judgement Day for every idle word you speak. Your words now reflect your fate then: either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned."

1 Peter chapter 3 verses 10- 12.

If you want a happy, good life, keep control of your tongue, and guard your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Try to live in peace even if you must run after it to catch and hold it! For the Lord is watching His children, listening to their prayers; but the Lord's face is hard against those who do evil.

Isaiah chapter 40 verses 29-31.

God gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.