Take It To Jesus

Luke 9:37-43 “The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

Concluding the Sunday Sermon series on “Amazed by Jesus”, Pastor JJ focused on knowing what to do and what not to do with spiritual; problems that we encounter in our Christian walk. There is a danger that we children of God can misappropriate our faith by placing it where it does not belong. By putting our faith in people, places and things, or experiences and even our own ability apart from the Lord is a “recipe for failure”. We can easily distracted by the things of this world, to think more highly of our capabilities than we ought in spiritual matters. The disciples in the passage above did not take the boy to Jesus and, sometimes, we are guilty of doing the same. It is not about us, but about Him, so we need to turn to the Creator and His Almighty power.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

How can we, who have been transformed by the Way, the Truth and the Life, expect to see victory in spiritual battles and the “good fruit” of our Christian efforts unless plugged into Jesus (the Vine), without whom there is no fruit possible in spiritual life. Jesus is the answer and the solution, because of who He is, not what He did or what He offers. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. The question is: “Do we live like Jesus is the answer and solution to our problems? Or do we turn to other people, places or things which are just distractions from the Truth? Be the man in the crowd calling out to the Lord. Fall in love with Jesus. Know Jesus and understand His glory. Make Him central in your heart and every part of your life to experience what is unveiled and revealed for us to see in Him. Is that a reality in your heart, mind, soul and life? Jesus hears our cries and acts. Take it to Jesus.

In Christ, Brian