Above the Crowd!

Luke 19:1-10 "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” In my opinion this story is very profound! Here you have Jesus, the most sought after man in Jericho deciding to mingle with a known sinner. But you see, Jesus saw the big picture. Though Zacchaeus was short he showed a great amount of integrity. Not only did he go out of his way to find out who Jesus was for himself, once he was given the opportunity he began to repent and confess before Jesus, even in front of the crowd. Zacchaeus also saw the big picture. It does not matter what sins you have committed, and it does not matter how long you have been in sin. What matters is your willingness to change. Though people in the crowd had negative things to say about Zacchaeus to Jesus, Zacchaeus did not allow that to detour him. He knew he wanted what Jesus had...salvation and he went out of his way (well up in a tree) to get it. Jesus recognized Zacchaeus' willing heart and declared salvation upon his life! What about you? Will you make the decision to go above the crowd and give your life to Christ like Zacchaeus? Will you ignore the nay-sayers and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Don't be afraid. Don't let anyone tell you that your too big of a sinner to receive the salvation of the Lord! Go above the crowd "climb that tree," and get your salvation. Think about it!

Relax...be who God created you to be!

So many times in our society, I feel, we try to be something or someone we are not. The media often pushes us to change our appearance in order to "fit the status quo." Everyday millions of people seek medical help to change or enhance their bodies or faces. And everyday somewhere in the world someone takes their own life because they are unsatisfied with themselves either inwardly or outwardly. Wouldn't it be nice if we could grow and mature but maintain the self-accepting mind set of a child? Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." It seems to me that knowing we are created, patterned after the one perfect God would be enough for us to be satisfied with who we are. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's bad to want self enhancement or to strive to better yourself. What I'm saying is that it's wrong to want to change who God created you to be because you don't appreciate you for...you. Understand, when God created each and every one of us He knew what he was doing, after all... He knows ALL. James 1:7 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." Our lives, bodies, minds, and appearances are all good and perfect gifts for God and we must cherish them. While encouraging someone to be themselves, I heard gospel artist Kirk Franklin say, "Stop straining, relax and be you. God created you just like He created the orange and apple trees. Have you ever seen an orange or apple tree straining to produce it fruits? Of course not, they are just being and doing what God created them to be and do. So be yourself it's easier than you think." That's so true, no matter how hard you strain your brain wishing you could be someone else, it won't happen. It's much easier just to relax and be who God created you to be. No one is better at being you than you and remember an original is always worth more than a copy. Think about it!

True Love Conquers all!

Have you ever heard the saying, "true love conquers all?" Well I don't know about you but I for one believe in true love. I recently watched a movie that brought the saying, "true love conquers all" to mind. The movie is titled, "Warm Bodies." It is the story of a boy zombie named "R" who narrates the film. He can not speak but we can hear his thoughts. As the movie begins he let's us know that even though he is a zombie, he feels he is missing something in his "undead" life. (Give me a minute, I'm going somewhere with this.) He lives in a community of zombies and "bonies." The zombies are all people who have contracted a disease that became a world wide epidemic and caused their hearts to stop but they did not die, the "bonies" are zombies who have given up on their very existence and turned into undead skeletons. Anyway, as the story unfolds, "R" and his zombie friends venture out to "town." Town is where unaffected regular humans live. The reason for their visit...zombies eat living humans to survive. On this particular trip, "R" happens upon "Julie." Just as she is about to be eaten, R steps in and saves her. Not only does he save her but he takes her back to the zombie community because he wants to "keep her," for R it's love at first sight. What R doesn't know is that Julie is the daughter of Commander Grigio. Grigio's mission in life is to kill all zombies and bonies. He spends his days planning zombie ambushes and training humans to help, with a goal of wiping out all zombies and bonies because he feels they can not change therefore they must be killed in order for the humans to survive. Though he can not talk to her, R and Julie soon develop a loving relationship. As they get to know each other, something inside R begins to change. Soon he and Julie are totally in love as a result R's heart begins to beat again, and his cold undead body begins to warm up. Soon the other zombies not only see, but they feel the love that has bloomed between R and Julie and they too are affected by it. Things take an unexpected turn when the bonies decide to leave the zombie community and head for town planning to eat all the humans, but because of R and Julie's love the zombies, who now have warm beating hearts, are determined to help the humans defeat the bonies. To make a long story short, it is Julie's acceptance and willingness to look beyond R's "zombiness," and love him back that changes everything. With that being said, let me say this...if you are going through life without Christ in your heart, in my opinion you are just an "undead" zombie. I Peter 4:8 says, "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins." I John 4:8 says in the latter part, "God is love." So not only can we love each other through difficult times but if we have real love in our hearts, which in essence is God Himself, we can change. Our lives can be better and we can change the lives of others just like Julie and R. True love, God, changes everything! Think about it!