Editors Note: The devotional has a background song by called which can be heard if you use Internet
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SCRIPTURE:
“Then
Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea
of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
There some
people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they
begged him to place his hand on the man.” (Mark 7:31-32, NIV)
Observation:
I asked
myself what did some people do?
-
Some
people brought to Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk.
-
They
begged Jesus to place His hand on the man.
Interpretation:
I asked
myself the significance of what the people did?
The people knew what Jesus could
do and they realized that Jesus alone could heal the deaf and mute man.
They knew the man needed help and took it upon themselves to bring the
man to Jesus. They realized the man’s condition which needed healing.
They did not stop there but went a step further. They begged Jesus to
place His hand on the man.
I asked
myself the significance of their action while they were before Jesus?
The people did not stop at
bringing the man to Jesus but were there for him and interceded on his
behalf before Jesus by begging Jesus to place His hand on the man.
Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. As the people
brought the man who was deaf and mute before Jesus, I too should bring
people whose condition is not well before the Lord. As the people begged
Jesus to place His hand on the man, I too should intercede on behalf of
those who are sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually taking them
before the Lord and asking for the Lord’s intervention. I should not live my life thinking I am born-again and have Jesus in
my life and that's it but need to care of
the condition of others before me and introduce them to the Lord and ask
for the Lord’s healing in their lives.
It is exciting to know those of
us who know Jesus as our Lord and Personal Savior can have the
opportunity to bring others to Jesus. Our job should be to take them
to Jesus but they have to make their own choice. We cannot save anyone
but only lead them to the One who can save.
We all need to be rescued from the bondage of sin and from the
oppression and clutches of Satan. Sin will have a stronghold in people's
lives especially when they do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
We have been given the opportunity to
bring those who are in bondage to sin before Jesus so Jesus can heal
them with His precious cleansing blood. Only His blood can clean us
where we are at and give us a new beginning. His blood is the antidote
to the virus known as sin. Jesus died for you and me, was buried, and on
the 3rd day rose to give us Eternal Life.
The Lord
waits at the door and knocks; if anyone hears Him calling them and opens
the door, He will come in and fellowship with them and they with Him.
(Rev 3:20)
I ask you
now dear friend, who do you bring to Jesus?
Dear friend, you can bring your loved ones before
Jesus and to Jesus. It starts with intercessory prayer. Some people
bought a deaf and mute man before Jesus and we should bring others
before Jesus for their spiritual healing. That you and I have the
opportunity to bring others to Jesus can be so exciting.
Won't you do that friend?
Satan will try to lead people astray by
different means such as what's going to happen at CMU this coming Sunday
of April 26, 09 when Satan will try to attract students to come to him
and enjoy his ways.
But the Good News is that on the Lord's Day,
there are fellowships on CMU campus that will be countering that with
the proclamation of Christ our Lord and the goodness and abundant life
you and I can find in Him. They will be bringing people to their event
in the hopes of bringing people to Jesus with their counter-outreach.
Praise the Lord!
Will you help them out friend by letting all
your friends know about this CMU outreach event which is 100% free just
as God's SAVING GRACE is 100% free for us but not for God for He paid
the price with the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary
for you and me so we can be set free. Praise the Lord.
Now we can belong to Jesus and have the
confidence to bring others to Jesus and ask Jesus for His healing in
their lives.
You too can bring others to Jesus
that do not know Jesus and ask Jesus for healing in their lives.
Won't you do that friend?
Friend, is
it a loved one who does not know Jesus?
Bring them before Jesus and pray
daily asking Jesus for His healing Hand in their lives so they can come
to know Him as their Lord and Personal Savior.
Friend, is
it a stranger you know who does not know Jesus?
Bring them before Jesus for all
souls are important and we should not just follow the Great Commission
for those we love and know but to everyone around us regardless of their
nationality, race, creed, language, location, etc. Every campus and
beyond is a
rainbow of nationalities and Jesus is needed for all.
You can be the one friend to
bring people to Jesus. One of the ways to do that is invite your
classmates and people around you to church, fellowship, seeker meetings,
etc. You do your part seeking the Lord and let the Lord do the rest.
Let the Lord guide you and lead you remembering we cannot SAVE
anyone apart from the working of the SPIRIT in their own lives. Our
prayers can be a means for that to happen! Praise the Lord!
(To be
continued…..)
May the Lord guide you and lead
you so that you can bring people to Jesus because beautiful Redeemer is
nurturing Giver! Amen!
“Beautiful
Redeemer Is Nurturing Giver!” (B.R.I.N.G)/”Who
do you bring to Jesus?”
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for pointing to me how I should reach
out to all and bring them to you and ask you for your help. Thank you so
much for sharing with me about the deaf and mute man who was brought to
you by some people. Your Word here did not say friends but some people
and they could have been strangers to the man. Yet, they interceded on
behalf of the man. Help us to do the same please Jesus. Thank you so
much Jesus. We thank you for dying for our sin and coming back to life
to save us. Thank you for shedding your blood on the cross for us. We are so sorry for our sin and ask you to forgive us and
heal us Oh Lord. Please hear our prayers and answer us for the glory and
honor of Your Name. Thank you so much Jesus! Give us the boldness and
courage to reach out to others with your love Oh Lord. I pray for the
one who needs you right now. Please Lord come and touch their lives.
Thanks so much Jesus. Whatever we do,
let it be a means to bring others to you and let you work in their
lives. Thank you so much Jesus. Thank you for hearing our prayers and
answering us! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!!
May
you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him
the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you
become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR,
JESUS CHRIST who comes to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How
do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
May
you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior becoming
His offspring so you can spend Eternity with Him. He is waiting for you.
Come as you are. Please do not reject the gift of God.
If
you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a
daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be
alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them
come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to
wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as
you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart and finding your new
identity in Christ Jesus.
Make this your prayer. Don’t let
the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before
coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the
answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly.
Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!
Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking
you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you
though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to
Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer
will! Amen!
Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
