Knock–Knock…Who’s there?

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.   Revelation 3:20

Where is Jesus standing?  At the door, yep, that’s obvious. 

But what door?

Is this a door to open to unbelievers, to seek and meet Christ? 

Is this a magical “door to the heart of all mankind” or what?

Jesus is not standing at just any door.  He is at the front door of a church.  

Jesus is at his own front door; he should not have to knock.

The church door he is knocking on, let’s call it “First Laodicea,” has a rich history.  It was a  result of Apostle Paul’s work, in fact, in the town of Laodicea he wrote the Epistle of Colossians, and Laodicea was an important Roman city in Asia Minor—all that does not matter.  What matters is how accessible, open, and prepared each person, your or me, and a whole church is for Christ to come in and have time with us, to fellowship.  If we won’t let him in for a pot luck dinner, what will we do when he returns as promised for His church?  Is our friendship obvious enough that there is an open door for our Lord to walk through? 

He is a friend who should never have to knock.  Not only should he not need to knock, his presence in people of the church should be recognizable to everyone by the way we act, love one another (John 13:34-35).  A church cannot have closed doors.  Take the doors off the church, and then not only will Jesus be unhindered to come in, but it will be easier for you to go out of the church to reach a community that needs the peace and healing refreshment of Christ.  If you lock Christ out, it is a fact, everyone is locked out!  Wide- open church doors will allow a church body to go out and bring in the spiritually empty, and when they are being brought in, Jesus comes along with them and fills them. 

If Jesus can’t get past the doors of your church, if he can’t get past the barriers on your heart, no one can get in.  

Someone is knocking; do you know who is there?

Owen <><

Are You Hated?

“All men will hate you because of me, …” Matthew 10:22

That isn’t an encouraging word by Jesus. 

Can’t folks just like me?  So, do I have an option?  To be:

1) A noticeable follower of Christ, in return, be disliked, hated; or

2) Hide my faith, be politically correct, then, most everyone will like me. 

But, did Jesus give an option? 

Jesus gave some conditions, they require being obvious in our love to Him, and we are His friends only by doing what He commands (John 14:15 and 15:14).    

That being the case, I can’t put aside or be expected to be silent, I must be an obvious follower by doing what he said, such as, going to make disciples (Matt  28:19); loving other disciples, which allows others to know I’m His disciple (John 13:34, 15:12, 14, 17).

He commanded us to, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28)—this is hard to do, it hurts to be hated … but I have to do it.

I am not a metaphor, but a real follower.

I pray, live, love in Jesus Name!  A Name that is not offensive—merely hated.

Christ followers love, live as Jesus commands, many hate you for that—no matter:

I live by being like him, keeping in step with His Spirit (Gal 5:22-*25). 

Jesus did say, everyone “will hate you because of me,” but he also encouraged us, saying:

“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

(Matthew 10:22)

In Jesus Name,

Owen <><

Question:  Are you a follower of Jesus, are you hated for Jesus sake?

Can You Define Remorse?

When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.   Matthew 27:3

Remorse is a horrible thing.  It does not fill emptiness, it deepens it.  Judas was “filled with remorse.”  Remorse is the result of a life connected to “wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (Rom 1:29), and is in sharp contrast to living as a follower of, or one who mirrors Christ, such a person is “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” 

Remorse fills emptiness with destruction, leaving more emptiness than was there before remorse entered.  But, the Holy Spirit fills emptiness with His fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). 

Thomas `A Kempis aptly said, “I would far rather feel remorse than know how to define it.”  Judas went beyond feeling remorse, he defined it.  Judas knew remorse meant “that Jesus had been condemned to die” through his greed, pride and what ever ate at his soul to allow Satan’s hate to enter him.  Being a disciple was too much to bear, in contrast,   Kempis knew that when you “Bear the Cross cheerfully … it will bear you.” 

Remorse is something you never want to define.  You will only find an empty pit, and like Judas, when you recognize your error, you will desperately want out of the pit.  But, others respond to your remorse as they did to Judas, when they said, “What do we care? … That's your problem” (Matt 27:4). 

Be attentive to you life, don’t define remorse, be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:11).

Owen <><

Can You Define Remorse? I hope not!