Ramesh C. Reddy
Managing Editor
Hi everyone :)
May you all find peace in the everlasting arms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who for your sake endured the cross that you may spend Eternity with Him as you yield to Him and His ways! Amen!
Quiet Times (Psalm 78, Proverbs 18, & Matthew 18:12-14)
“And I, the Messiah came to save the lost. If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home! Just so, it is not my Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:12-14)
This passage is so comforting when I thought about why the Messiah came. He came to save the lost. Then I thought to myself what does it mean to be lost? What came to my mind was being a runaway. When people runaway, they usually get lost especially if they keep running w/o seeing the direction they are going or what vehicle they get into.
People runaway for different reasons mostly because they feel a sense of abandonment or they could be in pain for the things that have been occurring where they are at. In essence they become lost become at that moment they are charting unknown territory. Runaway does not just deal with the physical aspect but there is also the psychological aspect of running away.
It is so easy to runaway from our problems or hurts we have. I say that because I have been there time and time again. I would occupy myself with so many things that I did not have to deal with the pain of the hurts that have occurred in my life. It was hard to deal with it because every time I tried to deal with it, I would become so enraged and bitter inside. As a believer in Christ, I don’t want to have those feelings but I do and I am not happy about it. So the easy solution has been to runaway from addressing those problems. It becomes easier to runaway from the issue when I try to address a problem and the solution is not at hand.
So, I have learned that running away can happen in our lives physically and psychologically. Within those 2 can be running away from mental, spiritual, and emotional issues to for people.
What is the common denominator in all those instances? It is being LOST. When we are lost, we know where we had been and what we used to enjoy and what security we used to have. But, it may not be there anymore because everything looks strange and not familiar anymore. There is no one to give a helping hand to direct us on the right path. So, what happens is that we continue to go our own way and do our things.
Is there hope when that happens to any of us? Is there hope when what we have enjoyed and what we were part of is gone?
It is here we see the hope in this passage. The Messiah came to save the lost. Saving brings to mind ‘a sense of being rescued and delivered’. It is being rescued and delivered from the pain and hurt. It is being rescued and delivered from the emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual damage. Yes, sadly people can be spiritually damaged too when there is a lot of manipulation without grace and love. More than anything it is being delivered from the eternal death.
As I read along, I see Jesus speaking about humanity and what humans do even if they have 100 sheep and one gets lost. He reminds the audience that the person is troubled even though he has 99 with him because that one sheep is lost. That one sheep becomes more valuable and important to look for and protect at that moment. So we hear Jesus continue to tell the audience that the shepherd will go to search for that lost sheep. The key word is ‘search’.
Reading that word made an impact on me because it is not just looking for the sheep and saying, “Oh, well I tried, at least I have the 99 other sheep to look after.” No, rather the shepherd makes a frantic search even hiking into the hills to search for the sheep. If you ever did a search for anything on the internet, you know how many different things you may have had to sift through until you found what you are looking for. That could have been the same with the shepherd when he had to go through different places to find that lost sheep.
It is significant to remember that Jesus is talking about an animal here. Jesus makes that point to say how a human being would search for a lost animal that belongs to him/her even if they have other animals. It is the same thing with pets. I used to have a wonderful cat that was lost and I would search everywhere for it including different neighborhoods. When the cat was found, there was so much joy.
When children are lost physically, there is a frantic search for them by parents and the community. Now if human beings search that hard for animals and their own children, it was comforting to know how much more the Lord Jesus would seek and search out for the lost.
The Lord is our Creator and loves us so much. Maybe you never experienced love as God’s love is because at home, work, and places you have been at, it has been based on works, works, and works more than love, faith, and hope. But now Jesus wants to be your Good Shepherd and seeks after you not to harm you but to help you. Jesus says to you, "The thief's purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy, but my purpose is to give life in all its fullness." (Read John 10 for God's role as your Good Shepherd)
It was exciting for me to know that no matter how long we have been a runaway and lost, others may forget about us and think we are a lost cause but not the LORD JESUS CHRIST. No matter where we have been, what we have done, His love can reach the deepest wounds and bring healing.
Those who feel the closest may hurt you so badly that your memories have no mercy. It would be easy to runaway from the pain but the Lord Jesus searches to save you and redeem you. He wants you to give Him all your pain and hurt. No matter how lost you may feel, you are never out of His love and you are never out of His reach.
What I have been through and what I am dealing with is still so painful especially how everything happened. It would be easy to abandon a faith that we believed in and built our life upon with a rejection and denial. It can happen in a moment. All it takes is being so pre-occupied with self and the pain we have been through.
I have heard people tell me they left the Christian community which affected their faith not because they did not believe in Jesus anymore, but because how shocked and how hurt they were when people who were supposed to be Christians, hurt them so badly that they blamed it on God. You know, I was able to understand where they were coming from because boy have I been there.
It is God’s unfathomable love reaching me in a personal way that has kept me going. No human being’s words could take away the pain that happened in my life and again happened in another avenue. I believe Jesus could speak to us the same way he spoke in the days of old through visions and dreams.
As I wallowed in pain, I was reminded of the dream the Lord gave me. In that dream, I saw that everything I ever worked for and put most of my energy in to help people in ministry, Satan coming and making it crumble like a demolition bomb. All I could do is be in utter shock and disbelief as I looked at what happened. Then, I muttered, “Jesus help me”, as I looked to Heaven while the damage was happening next to me. In that moment, I saw the face of Jesus and He started building it back right up and then I saw Satan flee being injured and a trail of blood.”
What came to my mind is that Jesus’ cleansing blood bringing restoration and healing in my life though what has been happening around me. Satan could not be there with the power of Christ’s cleansing blood bringing healing.
I ask you now dear friend, what is making you feel lost?
Dear friend, if you are feeling lost, it may not be the same what I have been through but that does not change the fact that the Lord wants to save you too and help you. Let Him have all your pain, anger, bitterness and let Him bring healing into your life. He came to seek and save those that are lost.
More than anything, Jesus wants to give you Eternal Life and bring spiritual healing into your life. He died on the cross and shed His Blood so that you can be free. He paid the price with His own blood so you can have a transfusion where His blood can cover our sins and make us clean. It is a kind of Heavenly dialysis. It is not enough to give your life to Jesus here and there. What would happen if someone on dialysis would skip their dialysis? They would become sick and eventually die of illness.
In the same way, Jesus wants to be our Great Physician daily giving us a daily dialysis of His love and His blood to cover us so we can be healed and be saved. He does not want us to perish. For that to happen, we need to give ourselves to Him and allow Him to perform the dialysis of change in our lives so our spiritual being can be nourished and He can daily take the garbage out of us and clean us His wonderful way.
It is a daily walk with the Lord that can help us not to get lost. The wonderful thing about Heavenly dialysis is that it is free and by grace. There is nothing that you can do to earn it. It is a gift that the Lord has decided to give you whether you have insurance or not. But, you have to accept that gift so you can be freed from the power of sin and death. He wants to deliver you from your hopelessness. What would happen if you refused dialysis daily if you were on it? It won't be good.
Won’t you come to Jesus as you are now and give your life to Him and trust in Him to take care of you? He waits to receive you friend. There will be joy in heaven!
Where do you feel lost? "Lord Offers Salvation Today! (L.O.S.T)"
If you are a believer why not take this time to rededicate your life to the Lord. Please pray a prayer that I will write for you and make it your personal prayer.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I heard that you came to save the lost. You know the times I feel lost and I have been lost. I have had no direction and everything seemed so helpless and messy. Yet, I know though I want to runaway from my problems because I cannot deal with the pain, you do not want that to happen. You came to search and seek the lost such as me. I do not know much about you but you want to save me. You love me so much that I heard that you died for me to cleanse me with your cleansing blood. You came to give me a transfusion. I am a sinner Lord and I need that transfusion you want to give me. Please Lord put me on your Heavenly dialysis where you will be with me daily through the days and clean my mess on the inside no matter how much it accumulates each day or night. You can take all the garbage out and fill me with your love. I want that Lord so please come and clean me daily. I know you won’t force yourself into my life so I open the door of my heart to you and ask you to come and live in me. Take my pain and redeem me. I acknowledge that I am lost spiritually and in other ways that only you can save me. Come into my heart and please make my heart your home starting this moment and I will live for you and serve you as I depend on you to help me. Thank you for saving me by your grace. Oh how I need you Lord in my life. You are my only hope. I need you. There is so much baggage only you can clear, so I surrender my life over to you. Take me as I am and work in my life. Thank you Jesus at this moment I belong to you as I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you for saving me, healing me, and answering my prayer. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and meant it, you are a born-again Christian. Sadly in some churches too many times you are asked to clean yourself before you are accepted into the fold, not so with Jesus. He accepts you the way you are. Whatever you are dealing with, don't give up but hold on to Jesus. Don't let the enemy think you are not a believer because you stumbled. Lord's forgiveness is there for you. And remember just because we become believers does not mean our life will be peachy but the Lord can give the strength to endure it. Take it from me for I have experienced both sides in ministry and outside of ministry.
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
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