Luke 17:20,21
"The Kingdom of God is within you."
Acts 17:28
"In Him we live and move and have our being."
We are not far from God and God is not far from us.
For those who profess to believe in Jesus, there is one question -
IS JESUS WITHIN YOU?
... and is often the case, a second question...
IS IT JESUS THAT IS COMING OUT OF YOU?
As a Person of the Way of Jesus, I believe I must not just
take Jesus out of the tomb on Sundays to Worship and Praise Him,
(Luke 24:5) but acknowledge Jesus as LIVING LORD of my life,
and follow what He taught and exemplified.
I believe I must go beyond "lip service" (Mark 7:6-8) and apply
what Jesus taught to my relationships, my practices in economics,
which we call GOOD STEWARDSHIP of God's Gifts, politics,
which we call JUSTICE AND EQUITY IN POWER, and every
other aspect of life in society. If I do not, I ignore one I call not
only Savior, but Lord, and relegate Jesus to a dead hero who taught
irrelevant things to my life today.
So, in business and economics and how I strive to practice them,
IS JESUS IN ME? IS IT JESUS THAT IS COMING OUT OF ME?
In politics and voting, rhetoric and practice,
IS JESUS IN ME? IS IT JESUS THAT IS COMING OUT OF ME?
Are my words and actions those that LIFT UP others in the Agape Love
that Jesus commanded, or do they tear others down out of my greed and
self-centered nature?
Do I put out in the world around me the "works of the flesh" of
Galatians 5:19-21 (please resist the urge to stay with fornication,
licentiousness, sorcery and such - I know they are sexier to think about
than idolatry, jealousy, selfishness, envy, party spirit and the rest, but
they are important, too)...
or do I put out in the world around me the "fruit of the Spirit in
Galatians 5:22-23 (Agape Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,
Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control)?
As one who claims the name of Jesus...
IS JESUS IN ME? IS IT JESUS THAT IS COMING OUT OF ME?
LOOK AT WHAT JESUS TAUGHT AND EXEMPLIFIED, as we
have it recorded in the Gospels...
Pastor Jamie
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