Jesus is offensive. What? In John 6:60-71 we see that Jesus' words offended some of the people who claimed to be his followers. When they heard his message of eternal life, they rejected it. They didn't believe. Well, by my observation, not much has changed today. Jesus' message is still seen as offensive and being rejected by many people. Has this been your experience as well? And, how should we handle that when we believe that eternal life comes through Jesus and Jesus alone? Tami W.
P.S. Any personal experiences you want to share?
My experience has been that the majority of the people believe in a God and most in Jesus Christ. They are just unwilling to follow him and receive what he has to offer them. It's so heartbreaking to me that it takes each person their own time to receive. It scary because I know that not all will have the time needed before they die to accept him and live for him. I also know of some who blatenly blashemy him and that is truly scary. I continue to pray for those but after several attempts to plant a seed I move on and let God use another person or thing to witness to them.
Until the end of time people will reject him. It is our job to reach as many as we can and be the sheep herders that God has called us to be. We must witness, preach, spread the word of his love, but most of all we must live our own lives according to his will and word. People are looking at Christians today to see if it is the real deal and WE MUST BE THE REAL DEAL. Praying for the lost is always a top priority too.
You're so right Tami. Jesus the bread of life? Jesus the living water? The cup of the New Covenant, symbolic of the blood of the Lamb of God that cleanses us from sin? It makes no sense at all unless a person believes that Jesus is the Son of God (and really so much more). A person can call themselves a car, but that does not make them a car unless they are made of what a real car is supposed to be made of. There are some who say they are "followers of Jesus", but when God looks under the hood (or into the heart) He discovers (of course He already knows) that it just "ain't" so. That's the point that Jesus drives home here!
Now, I know that I need this lesson as much as anyone else. It's a spiritual checkup for me as well as for others. Whatever Jesus says, or whatever we have to say about Him, has no lasting effect at all without believing faith in the human heart. When I pray, I always try to ask God specifically to bring faith alive in the hearts of people who I will meet today(Pray with me for a business man I just finished speaking to on the telephone from Indianapolis).
Thank the Lord. I really feel blessed to be able to occasionally share in the word of God over the internet with you and others!
Rev.Smallwood, we'll be praying for the business man you spoke with recently. Thanks for letting us know. Tami W.
My experience has been that for the most part people are easy going and accept whatever you believe. They think that there are many ways to heaven. They think that if you're good you can get to heaven.
I do have one male friend (co-worker) who is a strong agnostic. He doesn't like Christian women at all, yet he has told me more than once that he values me as a friend. Someone who he can talk with when he is struggling at work or some other issue in his life. Interesting! How do I handle this? I just continue to be his friend, and make myself available for him to talk to when he needs to talk.
Carol,
Thanks for your comment and question. As you know, I'm not a counselor, but here are some of my thoughts regarding your co-worker. This is definitely a situation that needs to be handled carefully and with God's help and direction. Since this person is not a Believer, it is important that you constantly keep your witness/testimony in mind as you interact with him. While we always want to model Christ and share our faith, in any man-woman relationship such as this we must be extra cautious and avoid any circumstances that could be perceived as inappropriate or put you in a compromising situation. With all that said, you may be the only Christian contact this co-worker has, so keep lifting the situation up in prayer and we'll pray for you, too. We serve a big God and hopefully one day soon this friend will come to know Christ. Tami W.
I submitted some thoughts, I think before 5PM . Just wondering if they went through.-Chris
Hi Chris, it looks like we did not receive any comments from you recently, so you might want to try submitting them again. Not sure what the hangup was. Thanks!