Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: Following Jesus

Jesus Calls :: Known, Know and Follow

By

On June 22, 2012

In Christian, Jesus Calls

Jesus referred to himself as the good shepherd and his people as the sheep who know him and are known by him (John 10:14) and then he went on to add that “my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). When Jesus calls, his people hear his voice and he knows them and his people respond by following him. They follow him because they know him. What does it mean to know Jesus? To know Jesus is to believe in him, the chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), which is eternal life (John 17:3).

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and his call today is just as he expressed. He knows his sheep and he calls them. His sheep know him, hear his voice and follow him.

Points to ponder:
Does Jesus, the chief and good Shepherd, know you/me? Do you/I hear the voice of Jesus, the chief Shepherd? Do you/I know him? i.e., Are you/I assured of eternal life? If you/I know him and you/I hear his voice, do you/I respond by FOLLOWING him. Jesus calls – “Follow me”.

John 10:14 , 27-28 (KJV)
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
…
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

John 17:3 (KJV)
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

From the highway side to the Most High Way

By

On June 4, 2012

In Christian

Mark 10:46-52 records the incident of Jesus, healing the blind man Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was sitting on the side of the highway begging and when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was in his vicinity, he began to shout for Jesus, calling him the Son of David, to have mercy on him. While many rebuked him to hold his peace (quieten down), he shouted all the more, so much so that he stopped Jesus on his tracks. Jesus stopped and commanded that he be called. When Bartimaeus is told that Jesus called him, he leaves his garments and rose and came to Jesus. Jesus questions him as to what would he want Jesus to do for him and Bartimaeus, who had been addressing Jesus as the son of David, recognized him as Lord and requested that he receive his sight. Jesus said, “Go your way, your faith has made you whole”, and immediately Bartimaeus received his sight, but instead of going his way, he followed Jesus in the way.

All of us, like Bartimaeus were once blind in our minds to not see the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). We sought the beggarly things of this world from the highway side that led to destruction. When we came to hear of Jesus, we cried out to him to have mercy on our souls and Jesus stopped for each one of us, and commanded that we be called. Leaving behind our filthy rags of our own righteousness and rising, we came to Jesus to hear him ask us – What would you like me to do for you? In our repentance, we recognized him as Lord and he responded “Go your way, your faith (believe in Jesus) has made you whole (righteous)”. But now the question that remains is, since then, did we go our own way or like Bartimaeus follow Jesus in his way – The way of the Most High God, after we received our sight?

Points to ponder:
Are you/I still by the highway side or are you/I on the way of the Most High – following Jesus Christ?

Mark 10:46-52 (KJV)
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. 

Becoming then Being a follower of Jesus Christ

By

On September 10, 2010

In Christian

Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ is easy. All one needs to do is A-B-and-C i.e., Acknowledge that Jesus is the Only begotten Son of God, and Believe in Him and Confess our sins, for God is faithful to forgive us all our sins and cleanse us of all our unrighteousness. This is how one is saved and is the only means to Salvation. One is saved purely by grace and grace alone. However, once one is saved, then what? We are saved by grace, created as a new creation in Christ Jesus, unto good works. In other words we are saved by grace, and called to Do good works. While the saving comes from the becoming a follower of Christ, our stipend (reward) come from being a follower of Christ. To be a follower of Christ is to walk in His footsteps. Walk as He did.

Let us not forget to “do” that which God has called us to “do” once we have acknowledged and believed in the righteous one and confessed our unrighteousness. Faith without works is dead! (James 2:20)

Ephesians 2:10 (KJV)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Doubly Fed

By

On July 8, 2010

In Become a Child, Christian, Reuben

Many times, I have heard the story of Jesus, miraculously feeding the five thousand men with five loaves and two small fishes. I have heard preachers exposit on the generosity of the lad who gave his five loaves and two small fishes, the number of food items used to feed a multitude, the number of leftovers that was collected and more. But it was not until recently, when I heard our beloved 4 year old son, Reuben tell me this story in simple child-like terms, did it dawn on me several hidden treasures in this account as recorded in all four of the gospels (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:11-17; and John 6:1-14). As Reuben told me the story, I asked him, as to why Jesus did this miracle? His response, “because the people had walked up the mountain [to be with Jesus] and they were hungry!”

See a great crowd came unto Jesus, who was up in a mountain, to be with Him. They wanted to be with Jesus and had followed him on foot out of the cities (Matthew 14:13; Luke 9:11); They wanted to be with Jesus and ran and outran Jesus and the apostles to arrive before them (Mark 6:33); They wanted to be with Jesus because they saw the signs (miracles) of His healing of the diseased (John 6:2). As our son exclaimed, yes, the people were hungry but what were they hungry for? They were hungry for spiritual food and they got doubly fed, both spiritually and physically.

Point(s) to ponder:

  1. Are we climbing over our situations (mountains) to be with Jesus? Are we following Him, running to Him and outrunning others to be with him? Do we see the signs of His Salvation (spiritual healing) and are we following him as witnesses of the same?
  2. Are we hungry for Jesus and his words? Sadly many times, we seek after things and people that can physically provide food on the table and miss out on the spiritual provisions. Instead, if we seek Jesus first, his indomitable and eternal kingdom and his righteousness, we can assured of Him living up to His Name, Jehovah Jireh (our provider), and be doubly fed (both spiritually and physically). Jesus is the only one who can totally satisfy and in order to be satisfied, we must first be hungry for Him!

John 6:3-13 (KJV)
3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.|
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén