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“Victoriously Almighty Lord Understands Everyone! (V.A.L.U.E)”

Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher

SCRIPTURE:
"People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them." (Mark 10:13-16, NIV)

APPROACH QUESTION:
Who do you value in life?

OBSERVATIONS:
I asked myself what were the people doing?
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them!

I asked myself what did the disciples do?
The disciples rebuked them!

I asked myself what was Jesus' reaction to the disciples actions?
1. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant.
2. Jesus said to them, "Let the children come to me."
3. Jesus said to them, "Do not hinder them."
4. Jesus said to them, "For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
5. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
6. Jesus took the children in His arms.
7. Jesus put His hands on them and blessed them!

Today, I decided to look at some of  Jesus' responses.

INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself the significance of Jesus telling the disciples: 'Let the children come to me?'
The disciples were hearing Jesus on the topic of divorce and are interrupted by the children to which the disciples rebuke them.  But Jesus on the other hand, wants the children to come to Him. Jesus does not mind the interruption making me believe what we see as important in our eyes is not necessarily as Jesus would see things. Probably the disciples saw the children of no value who could not offer anything because they were just children but Jesus on the other hand saw them with value and did not want the disciples to hinder them 'for the Kingdom of God belonged to such as these.'

IMPLICATIONS:
I asked myself what are the implications to my own life?
What I may not see as valued is not necessarily what Jesus may not see as valued. I need to focus my mind on the things of the Lord so I can perceive things His way. Children did not have much to offer and yet Jesus saw so much value in them to the point that He was upset with the disciples who were rebuking them. I need to value things of the Lord even if it means reshaping my thinking. This is a lesson that the disciples hopefully learned that day.

I ask you now dear friends, what does who do you value in life tell about you?
Dear friend, who you value in life will tell a lot about your own character and who you are serving. It can be easy and seem beneficial for us to value those who are popular, those who have made a name for themselves, those that can make us feel good about ourselves, those that can offer us something, etc.

But what about those who are not popular, those who have not made a name for themselves, those that cannot make us feel good about ourselves, or those that cannot offer us something. The disciples put the children in that category and rebuked them but Jesus was indignant towards their actions. Jesus wanted the disciples to value the children. The greater principle is to value those Jesus values. Children are just one example. Jesus valued the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless, the naked, the tax-collectors, the prostitutes, and sinners in general that others would shun and look down upon because no one really wanted to value them. However, Jesus set a counterexample and valued those that shocked the Pharisees and disciples whether it be the Samaritan woman with 5 men she had lived with, the prostitute, the tax-collectors, the adulterer, the demon-possessed man, etc. 

These are the people that Jesus wants us to value too. It is those that cannot offer us much that should be the ones we really need to value to show the love of Christ. Anyone can value those that can be a blessing to us but the character of Jesus is shown in our lives when we value those that may not bring us any benefit from a human viewpoint.

We are sinners who really cannot offer God anything and yet God in His love for us valued us to the point of sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins and come back to save us as we turn our life to Him. If Jesus valued sinners like us to die in our place, how much more we need to value others who are not like us for the sake of the Kingdom of God. When we think about how much Jesus did for us that we did not deserve, it should put our lives into perspective and shame the pride in us.

When it comes down to the bottom line, whether we are rich or poor, famous or infamous, popular or outcast, etc we are no different than anyone else for we are all sinners.

No one is good; all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Yet while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us to reconcile us to the Father.

Jesus did that to save us by His grace. By His grace, He finds value in us and as we experience His grace, every person we walk by should be someone we find value in because they are created by our Creator and need to experience the love of Jesus Christ just as we need to. There would not have been Good Friday or Resurrection Sunday if there was no need for Jesus to die for the sins of humanity. But in our sin, Jesus still valued us so much for not anything we could offer Him because we cannot offer anything to take away our sin, but because of His agape love for us shown through His grace. It is for our sake He died to redeem us. Yet, He won't force Himself in our lives but waits for us to come to Him turning our lives over to Him.

Friend, He loves you so much no matter what you have done or where you have been. He loves you as you are and wants you to come to Him and rest in Him. May you rest in His love.

Praise the Lord! May you come to realize victoriously Almighty Lord understands everyone.

"Victoriously Almighty Lord Understands Everyone!" (V.A.L.U.E)/"What does who do you V.A.L.U.E in life tell about you?"

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for teaching me about value as I learned about how the disciples treated the children and how you treated the children. You valued the children and made me see that what we do not value is not necessarily what you do not value. Your ways are so different and amazing that it puts me to shame to think about the people I don't value when they are the same people that you value. Forgive me Lord and please reshape my thinking to value those that you value and bring your love into their lives. Thank you so much Jesus. Thank you for loving me so much that you died for my sin and came back to life to save me. I give my life over to you and ask you to be the Lord of my life. Thank you Jesus so much. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

May you experience our LORD & SAVIOR'S SACRIFICE and HIS POWER OF 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.

If you are reading this and do not know Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior and 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. You can invite the GREAT PHYSICIAN right now as you make this your prayer.

Dear Jesus, I want to be free. I don’t know everything about you. I still have a lot of questions. What I do know is that you died on the cross for my sins. When it comes to sin, I am a paralytic Oh Lord. I am infected with this deadly disease known as sin. I am not perfect but a sinner who needs your cleansing blood to clean me of my sin. I confess to you my sin and repent of my sin. I know you have forgiven me when you died on the cross and shed your blood. I want to accept that forgiveness. Thank you for shedding your cleansing precious blood for me. You were nailed to the cross because of me. It is like I actually held the hammer and pounded the nails. Thank you for willingly dying for me Jesus. Thank you for taking the shame and pain for me. Thank you for doing that to set me free. I come to the cross and ask you for your healing in my life. Thank you for the power of your love using your Blood to redeem all humanity that comes to you. Thank you for coming back to life to save us and give us Eternal Life as we yield to you. Your blood can heal us where we are. I love you Jesus. I want you Jesus. Even with my questions, I come to you now and accept you into my heart. Please Jesus come into my heart and make my heart your home. Give me a transfusion of change. Live in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus. I acknowledge you now as my Lord and Personal Savior. Please be the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for being my Lord and Personal Savior Jesus and because of what you have done for me when God looks at me, He now sees me covered in Your blood and His judgment passes over me. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me. Thank you for being with me Lord and Personal Savior! Thank you for saving me. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Thank you Jesus I now belong to you and never need to be alone! You will always be with me and have given me Salvation.  Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

No matter what you feel in your heart, know that Jesus has come in and resides with you! You are not alone! To make your walk strong with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him as you would to a friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the Lord. Spend time in His Word reading Psalms and turning them into prayer. Next allow God to heal you and speak to you through the Gospel of John or Gospel of Mark before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord show you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important to be part of a body of believers to help you grow in the faith. Find a Bible believing church that preaches the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our crucified and risen Lord who brings us hope, healing, and help! But beware of churches who do believe in the Word of God completely but there is no freedom in Christ but legalism involved.

As a professional, it is not too late to join a church! As a student, it is not too late to join a fellowship on campus this  new year of 2010! May the Lord's presence and peace fill you with His love now and forever! Amen!

Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave you nor forsake you! Amen!

Spend time in His word and let the Lord speak to you! Start out in the Gospel of John! You can also check out the Gospel of Mark which are the devotionals I have been going through.  Learn from Jesus through study and prayer. Also find yourself a church fellowship and a college fellowship you can be part of where you can be part of a community of believers to supplement your own walk with the Lord. Let it be a Bible-believing and Bible-breathing church! Believe in Bible LIVE Eternally!

Feel free to email me at reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com if you want to meet to study the Bible, pray with, talk about Spiritual issues or whatever is on your mind! My number is 412-641-9426

"This is my work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)

Express Your View

2010 DEVOTIONALS:

"What does the C.R.O.S.S mean to you?" (Sat, April 03, 10, 11:49 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

John 12: "Will you be the offspring of the S.E.E.D cultivated?" (Mon, March 29, 10, 10:09 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

John 12:3: "What costly S.A.C.R.I.F.I.C.E will you make for Jesus remembering His stinky/dirty feet?" (Sat, March 27, 10, 11:06 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Proverbs 23: "What  has  A.L.C.O.H.O.L done to you in life?" (March 20, 10, 9:17 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 10: "What do you do with an I.N.T.E.R.R.U.P.T.I.O.N in life?" (March 13, 10, 11:40 p.m.)

Mark 10:13: "Why S.H.A.R.E Jesus with others in life?" (March 09, 10, 4:59 a.m) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 10:13: "Why B.R.I.N.G Doggy Poo to Jesus?" (March 08, 10, 9:01 a.m) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 10: "When have you become an A.D.U.L.T.E.R.E.R in life and what now?" (Feb 24, 10, 9:31 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 10: "Why D.I.V.O.R.C.E the one you marry in life?" (Feb 22, 10, 12:15 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 10: "What do you do with what is P.E.R.M.I.T.T.E.D in your life?" (Feb 20, 10, 10:08 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

1 Corinthians 13: "How will you be someone's V.A.L.E.N.T.I.N.E using 16?" (Feb 13, 10,  12:16 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 10: "Who do you become an A.T.T.R.A.C.T.I.O.N to and why?" (Feb 05, 10, 9:43 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 9: "How can you be a S.A.L.T in someone's life today?" (Feb 04, 10, 11:27 a.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 9: "What do you help your friends E.S.C.A.P.E from?" (Feb 03, 10, 12:30 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 9: "Why bother with H.E.L.L in life?" (Feb 02, 10, 2:39 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

Mark 9: "When are you planning to cut your hand, foot, or eye to escape Hell?"" (Feb 01, 10, 1:41 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy

 Mark 9: "Why heed Jesus' W.A.R.N.I.N.G in your life?" (Jan 30, 10, 12:41 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy