Our Reflection of JESUS' ministry!!!

 Praise the LORD!!!

   Let examine Matt. 8:20 this day, but we'll start with a lead in verse, of 19 also!!!

    Matt. 8:19,20
            19. Then a teacher of the law came to HIM and said, "Teacher, I will follow YOU wherever YOU go."
            20. JESUS replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nest, but the SON of MAN has no place to lay HIS head."

    Here, we see one that is willing to follow JESUS during HIS ministry on earth, which isn't very different than those of us that accept JESUS as our LORD and SAVIOR today. We make the statement, or some of us do, because it isn't part of the "sinner's prayer" that most utter today during conversion. I say "conversion" and not "new birth," because the "new birth" begins at this point and is the regeneration of one's life into that of reflecting JESUS' from that point onward. Whereas the conversion, most go thru, is basically a verbal agreement  with little action from that point onward!!! * This doesn't mean there aren't those that do become Born Again, but that which I personally experienced!!! You see, at sixteen, I accepted JESUS verbally, but there was not a regeneration within my life. Basically because it was an emotional acceptance by my mind and not one of the "heart," where my spirit was touched(and changed) by the HOLY SPIRIT*

   Now, this is the meat of today's entry. In verse 20, we've JESUS telling those that are willing to "follow HIM," the conditions under which HE personally is living. Now, we know that this was not always the case, for there are numerous times in the scriptures, where we hear of JESUS dwelling in the homes of others. Though in a way, HE still didn't have that which most consider a home, a permanent dwelling place which HE called HIS home.

   With JESUS' ministry being a revelation of GOD's love for mankind and HIS benevolence towards us, we see a vast disparity between HIS life and those most Christians live today!!! For the majority of Christians today, have more invested in their homes then in any other aspect of their lives. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars invested in a place to lay your heads. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against home ownership, for I too someday pray to have one, but that of placing more importance on home ownership and "keeping up with the Jone's" attitude that so greatly prevails today!!! We grumble at paying a tithe at church services, yet continue to monthly meet those seemingly unending mortgage payments with a smile on our facings, knowing that someday our palace will be all ours!!! I used the word "Palace," why? For in considering what most peoples of the world live in, that which we have learned to consider a home, is a palace in comparison. We spend more on drapes, then the majority spend on their whole dwelling place!!!

   With decades of preaching a denatured gospel, where seeking after all those things the LORD considers as worldly, this isn't unexpected at all. But in the power of each and every Christian, is the SPIRIT of ultimate benevolence. Where the goodwill of others is placed above that of our own. YES, it is there!!! It is just whether or not we listen to HIS calling us to seek the welfare of others, instead of that of ourselves!!! So as you walk around your home today, or prepare to lay your head down for sleep in it's comforts, think about that which JESUS would be thinking about. Not HIS own creature comforts, but those needs that the majority of the world suffers daily without. How is JESUS seeing the reflection of HIS life, thru you???

Prayer request can be sent to: prayers@vineofchrist.org

GOD bless and good day,
Rev. Marshall Barth
Vine of CHRIST Ministries