John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
I'm in the process of reading a great book called "Jesus Loves You, This I Know" by Craig Gross and Jason Harper. It's an awesome book written by two men with a heart for Jesus...and in turn, a heart for their worlds and the people in them. I'm sure I'll be sharing the lessons I'm learning from this book throughout my reading...but one part in particular captured my heart.
Jason Harper is a Pastor with a heart for outreach. One thing he is constantly teaching from the pulpit is the concept of reaching out to the world around you with the love of Jesus.
But after a challenge from a congregation member, Jason realized that so much of his "ministry" was inward. Not outward. He was surrounded by people who loved Jesus...surrounded by his church...surrounded by his "Christian bubble". His message was easier said than done.
So with a heart of compassion and a determination to practice what he preached, Jason took a part time job as a Cable Collections guy with one purpose in mind: to make contact with the real world.
And he did.
I love this book because it is full of real stories of men and women forgotten by the world...and the average every day life of two pastors who cared enough to do something about them.
I love this book because it echoes the cry of my heart - to reach out to a lost and dying world with the love of Jesus. It doesn't take a pastor, a counselor, or a ministry leader to be the hands and feet of Jesus...
It takes a cable guy. A secretary. A landscaper. A farmer. A carpenter. It takes average everyday people who are willing to say YES to the calling of Jesus, asking us to be His disciples...to follow Him.
During this season of Lent- Take a look at your sphere of influence. Take a look at the lives you are touching everyday. And ask yourself: Do you believe Jesus loves them? Do you believe HE stepped out of His world in order to enter into theirs? Do you believe that there is a brokenness that can only be healed by the knowledge of His love?
Live a life that answers YES.
Yes, yes and yes to all of your questions! Wonderfully written post. Just to be an everyday, common person that has very little, has so much more if they have Jesus in their life:)
ReplyDeleteI like your mention of Christ becoming our desire in the previous post. This book also sounds very interesting. It’s great to see you mentioning a person’s sphere of influence as well, if we are going to reach people for Christ, we have to approach that with a well thought out plan and effort, we can’t just hope it happens by accident.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, welcome to my sphere of influence, I’m sharing this post with people, if you have a minute, I hope you enjoy it. :)
http://thelordswife.blogspot.com/p/mysteries-of-christianity.html