Thoughts for Life: #85 Let Jesus and Paul Guide Your Prayer

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- If Jesus has one concern for our world today, it is the same concern He had when He was on earth—that the harvest be reaped. Jesus realized that His disciples had not yet caught the harvest vision; they were often more concerned about themselves than about reaching the unreached. Therefore, they failed to see from Christ's perspective the people they met.

Jesus saw people as they were, and loved them. His love was a reaching love that demonstrated His whole redemptive mission to earth. Moved by the needs of hurting people, Jesus reached out to them. Look at Jesus and learn how He desires for your love to reach out to others. (Google image, Worthy of the Touch of God)

When Jesus saw Peter's mother-in-law ill in bed, He went to her, touched her hand, and healed her. When the leper fell at Jesus' feet, He reached out His hand and touched him. When two blind men came asking for mercy, Jesus touched their eyes, and they could see.

He touched the ears and tongue of the deaf and dumb man, and he began to hear and to speak. "He went up and touched the coffin" of the widow's dead son and restored the boy to life. Jesus touched the ear of the high priest's servant and healed it after Peter had cut it off with a sword.

From other instances we know that all Jesus needed to do was to speak, and healing and life would have been granted. But He demonstrated His love by reaching out and touching. When He took the little children in His arms, He was demonstrating the love of God, the love which the Holy Spirit wants to channel through our lives to others (John 7:38.

Nor did Jesus use His God-given powers for personal gain. When the Samaritans refused Jesus the hospitality of their village, James and John were insulted and wanted to call down fire from heaven in retaliation (Luke 9:54). Jesus viewed the Samaritans as beloved of His Father, some of the sinful ones for whom He was going to die. He saw them as the harvest He had come to reap.

(Chapter 24, pp. 180-181, italics added for emphasis)

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Let's pray-

Father, because Jesus was and is concerned about the reaping of souls, may we see from the Scriptures that this is His first desire. He saw the people as they were, and loved them, and was moved by their needs.

He often touched the untouchable and raised concerns over the way He ministered to those not accepted by the élite. When people fell at His feet for healing, He ministered healing to them. He touched their eyes, touched lepers' bodies and even raised a woman's dead son to life by a simple touch to the coffin being carried to the burial grounds! Sometimes He only had to speak, and folks were healed or delivered from demonic control.

May the love of Christ's Spirit be channeled through our lives to minister to those around us in our sphere of influence, in whatever way He directs. Jesus sees the sinful ones for whom He died as part of the harvest He came to reap. May we now see them as our ready-to-harvest fields.

We ask this in His name, that He may be glorified in our ministering in His Name: winning souls for the kingdom. Amen

Today's Bible verses-

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, (NLT) “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

Luke 2:10-11 "At the birth of Jesus, the angel said to the shepherds, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Quotes for today-

~ Ryan Duncan- "Spiritual workouts are no different from our physical ones. If you want to run a marathon, you first have to run a mile, and if you want to become a tool for Christ, you have to trust him first. So don’t be afraid of trials and challenges, but instead embrace them as opportunities to mature in your faith. It won’t be easy, and odds are you’ll probably have to endure some difficult and painful experiences, but in the end you’ll look back and know you’re stronger because of it."

Words of wisdom-

~ Are you making choices for the right reasons, or are you afraid to trust the Lord's guidance, acting out of fear, pride, the winning the praise of people, or have a desire to be in control? Wouldn't it be best to pray and ask for God's help with your decisions?

Today's question-

Why should we read the Bible daily?

Do you understand that the Word of God became validated the moment it was written by His chosen people? Many people wrote down history, poetry, prophecy, letters and information over the years that give us unique insight as to how the Father deals with His creation.

The Love and judgments of God are all in there; the Bible. To understand His desires for us, we must read His Word. There are many ways to do that today, even recordings for those who can't read. There's no excuse, other that the Word hasn't reached them yet, for people to not read God's Word.

The authority of the Bible is proven to be real, as it alive with directives from God, Himself. If there's any doubt about that, one only needs to start reading it with a desire to hear from Him. He is faithful to back up His Word, and will always give inspiration when asked for.

Let God validate His Word to you by your attention to read it daily for guidance. Corrections will come, but that's good for us, as we need to be changed into Christ's image. He was in the Father's image to make a way back to Him through His death, burial and resurrection. He provided the way for forgiveness for our sinful nature. We can't appease a Holy God without Christ's help!

Read the Word! It saves the soul, refreshes one's faith, gives truths to live by and makes us ready for kingdom living!

Our Popular post:

#69 Bathe Your Soul in Scripture to Increase Your Faith

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- 4. Bathe your soul in Scripture to increase your faith. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). This is not only true for unsaved people; it is true for the nurture and growth of your faith also. Your faith will never grow without immersing yourself in God's Word. The more you saturate your soul in God's Word, the stronger your faith will become.