hometown acceptance

What i'm going to write about tonight is what i've been reading on today. I have been reading in Luke and i'm also going to be cross referencing with some things my pastor spoke on the other night. In Luke 4:16-24 Jesus went to Nazareth after being baptized and tempted by satan and began his ministry. He goes to his hometown and reads a prophecy from Isaiah and basically tells them, I am fulfilling this prophecy, I AM the messiah. verse 22 says that they were amazed by his gracious words but said how can this be, isn't this Joseph's son? These people in his hometown weren't amazed because the messiah had come, they thought his words were eloquent and all, but they said no he's not the messiah, that's just Joseph's son. In Matthew 13:58 Jesus went to Nazareth and again they said, no who does he think he is, he's just Joseph's son. His family and all his friends live right here and we know who he really is. The bible says that because of their unbelief he could do no mighty works, or not many miracles.  Jesus says no prophet is accepted in his hometown or by his family. How true are our savior's words? The people that we grew up with see us for who we were, they see us for the mistakes we've made and the bad choices and just for being "just us". Jesus never made any bad choices or mistakes and yet they still wouldn't believe in him, what chance do we have who do make mistakes? In my hometown, those people see me that way. They see me as the one who made this mistake or that, and they say who does she think she is preaching the gospel? It was the same for Jesus minus the mistakes. Jesus warns us that those people aren't going to listen to us. I think this was such a good warning for us. It's hard not to get discouraged when you are trying to witness to your friends and family and they won't listen to you, but Jesus went through it too. It appears that Jesus family turned against him too except a few members. I have tried to witness to family and friends in the past and it hasn't really worked for me, there have been a few exceptions, just as there were with Jesus in Nazareth, but mostly not. At one point a few years ago, I decided that I would sit down and write an email to every one of my family members, on my side and my husbands side and basically say listen, I love you and I want you to know Christ. Whoo, that was something. And you know pretty much every one of them responded with anger! I believe in the same way they did to Jesus. Like who do you think you are? But as Christ did, I did with them. Regardless of whether they listened to him or not he spoke the truth and that's what we have to do, we aren't relieved from our duties to witness to them, but I believe with having the knowledge to not to get frustrated if you get the same response. You know, Jesus burden is light, but we will lose friends and family along the way when we choose to live and follow God. I have lost literally every one of my family members because of the life I have chose to live, and the sad part is is that they say they are christians. I'm not speaking and judging their hearts because I don't know, but it's ironic that when you choose to live and show God in your life and decide that your not satisfied with just barely making it in the gate, but going all way and living and breathing God, you get judged and condemned by the "christians". I don't regret the decisions that I have made in my life to walk away from my family though, I have chosen to follow Christ and live my life in a certain way for not just for me but for my kids, a different way than i was raised, and I'm glad I did it. Not to say it isn't hard, that was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made, but I also think it was one of the best for my walk with God. So, let me encourage you to first share the gospel with your family and friends but not to get discouraged when they don't listen to you. Continue to pray for them and to pray for sowers to come into their lives that they will listen to! And secondly, make the decisions to follow Christ no matter the cost. Whether it's the "cool" thing that everybody else does, or if it's what your family approves of, it doesn't matter. Follow the Lord and show your faithfulness to him! God bless!

The good shepherd and his sheep

Today as I spent time with God, I read in John chapter 10. This chapter is when Jesus is talking to the people about what a good shepherd is. I have read this many times, but today, through God I really sat down and wrote down all the things that the good shepherd does for us. The funny thing is that most of us want a "shepherd" we want someone to take care of us. We want to feel safe. Especially as women, we want someone who will always be there, who will always take up for us, who will fight the battles for us. We don't want to have to worry about anything, but just know that we're safe and taken care of. So many of us search for a man or worldy things to try to make that feeling go away. We are in search for something in our lives. There's a void in each and every one of us, that we are born with, that NOTHING, not sex, not money, not affection, not clothes etc will fix it. God has put that void in us for a reason. He is supposed to fill that, and we will never feel complete without that. I know that before i was saved, i felt the same way. As most young girls do, especially being raised in a home without a father, i turned to affection from men to help that. I always wanted to feel loved, and if I could find a man in my life that would tell me he loved me and show me attention, then all would be well. Needless to say, that didn't help. And so many people do that not just with men, but with drugs and addictions. We are all looking for that avenue to escape the pain, to escape the world and to deny that feeling that we have of despair and hopelessness. The answer to that is Jesus. When i spoke to God today, i prayed about how to see people the way that God does. To separate the sin from the sinner. That is the hardest thing for me. I tend to exactly relate the sin to that person and become mad and angry with that person. Jesus seen the difference. My pastor has been talking about that and he said that Jesus modeled a gracious sensitivity to human failure, and spoke about the sin and not the person. He was able to pick out of that person the sin that they were committing and still love that sinner. Goodness, how many of us need help with that. I think that is one of the hardest things as a christian to do. How do you witness when you can't separate the sin long enough to love on that person and share the good news with them?. I know that I have gone off on a few different subjects and I will go more in depth on those and other subjects later, but here is what I wrote down today as a few things that a good shepherd does. He opens doors for us, he goes ahead of us and he leads us to wherever we need to go, he knows us individually and intimately by name, he keeps away those who might harm us, he protects us and keeps us together in safety, he finds us food and water and finds paths in the wilderness, he stands between us and danger, and will fight and die for our safety and protection because of his love for us. he gives us rest, he is patient with us, he walks beside us and never leaves us, he lets us rest and he provides all that we need. Those are just a few things that a "shepherd" does. When we follow and know him intimately we will know our shepherds voice and we will know when it's the voice of a stranger that is leading us. My prayer is that I will realize all that the shepherd is in my life and I will remember that always.