"Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21b, NIV2)
What does this truly mean? Do we have to be poor to be part of the
Kingdom of God? But then, we could ask ourselves: What would we be
willing to give up in order to really know Jesus?
"But a poor
widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few
cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, this
poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all
gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in
everything-all she had to live on.'" (Mark 12:42-44, NIV2)
The
poor widow had a heart after God. She wanted to experience God more
intimately than ever before. She was willing to give up not only the
money she needed to survive, she was willing to offer all of herself for
Him.
Do we hunger for our Heavenly Father as much as she did?
Would we be willing to give all we have to know Him?
Truly
where is our treasure?
I am not necessarily advocating for anyone
to sell everything they have and give it away, unless our Dad commands
it, that is. I am just wondering how much we truly hunger for the
presence of God in our lives.
There used to be a mean individual
that our interim pastor knew personally. He beat his wife mercilessly
day in and day out, especially when he was drunk. One day his young son
took his dad's shotgun. He was tired of seeing his mom turning into a
boxing bag. He aimed the gun on his dad and begged for him to stop the
beating. His dad turned to him and defied him with these words: "Are you
man enough to even shoot me?" The gun fired and the bullet went through
the head of this vicious man.
Amazingly enough, he survived. He
needed a lot of facial reconstruction, he lost an eye, and he ended up
with an ugly sneer on his face. Eventually he heard about Jesus. He was
tired of his life of abuse and started taking bible studies at a nearby
church.
During one such study, one of the attendees asked
himself: "Was Jesus joyful when he was dying on the cross?"
The
pastor himself didn't know how to answer this question, and neither did
the other attendees. The man that used to be a woman beater stood up and
with tears in his eyes answered: "He sure was, because He saw me here in
church today."
His life changed radically after he began knowing
Jesus, the Christ. No way would he ever go back to his former lifestyle.
He had found the source of true happiness.
Again I wonder: Where
is our source of joy?
Rob Chaffart
Joy on the Cross. Kingdom of Power, Part 20
Today's Bible Verse:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
(Luke 6:20)
Joy on the Cross. Kingdom of Power, Part 20
Announcement:
Would you like to be blessed by reading testimonies of people who've experienced answered prayers? Go to the Sermon Illustrator and enjoy! You will discover how awesome our God is!
- This mailing list is a public mailing list - anyone may join or leave, at any time.
-
This mailing list is announce-only.
This newsletter is dedicated to bringing people closer to the Lord through thought-provoking inspirational stories. It is published every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Privacy Policy:
Our Privacy policy
We will never share, sell, or rent your individual personal information and email address with anyone without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law.
How can you stop receiving our newsletters?
Each newsletter sent contains an easy, automated way for you to cease receiving our newsletter. If you wish to do this, simply follow the instructions at the end of any newsletter.
If you have received unwanted, unsolicited email sent via this system or purporting to be sent via this system, please forward a copy of that email with your comments to webmaster@answers2prayer.org for review.