An old saying says: “Birds of a fellow flock together.” We tend to like and hang out with people who are like us. And those who are not like us, we tend think of as “weird” or “different.” It reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book about the star belly sneetches. All the sneetches with stars on their bellies thought they were the best and those who didn’t have stars on their bellies were condescended. While the story really deals with discrimination, it makes the point of how we want to be with those who are like us. The same is true when we look at Jesus and the world. Jesus was the perfect, sinless Son of God. The world is self-centered and sinful. Jesus is the Light of the World that exposes the darkness of sin and brings sin into the light for all to see and therefore, the world wants nothing to do with Jesus.
In Jesus’ day, there were many who didn’t think he was the Messiah and they rejected Him. But if we really get to the heart of the matter, they didn’t like Jesus because he pointed out their faults and sins. None of us like it when our sins are made known and it was true in Jesus’ day too. Instead of repenting and finding forgiveness, they chose to find a way to stamp Jesus out – they sent Him to the cross, thinking that would take care of it. But it didn’t. Jesus rose again from the grave and His disciples spread the gospel so that many did repent and believe in Jesus. So much so that the gospel message is still being told today and it is still changing lives today.
The world still hates Jesus because the way of the world is sin and evil. It still tries to stamp Him out. It will pass laws so that it doesn’t have to feel guilt over their sins. It will say that abortion is lawful – God calls it murder. It will say that homosexual marriages are lawful – God calls it an abomination and that marriage is one man and one woman. The courtrooms will remove plaques of the Ten Commandments from its walls (even though every one of the commandments are built into our laws) as if not seeing them will lessen guilt. The more the world tries to compromise with evil, the more evil the world will see. No matter what the world tries to do, God says that His Word will endure forever and that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Because He is unchanging, changing laws and removing the appearance of them, will never lessen guilt because it is still sin in God’s eyes. The only way to remove guilt and shame is through repentance, forgiveness, and salvation by faith through Jesus.
The sneetches finally learned to accept everyone for who they are, whether they had a star on their belly or not. Jesus says, come just as you are. It doesn’t matter what is in your past or what you are involved in now – Come to Jesus. Exposing the darkness of sin is never easy. But Jesus, through the shedding of his blood on the cross, will wash away your sin and shame. Only then will you fully understand the unfailing, reckless love of Jesus.
God, Love and Marshmallow Wars: This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.) It is also available at Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel
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Looking for a speaker for your next ministry event? Julia is now booking for 2019 and 2020 Christian events for women’s and couples’ ministries for both small and large events.
Book with us now.
Julia is CEO of Wellspring Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people and couples develop a passionate relationship with God. A public speaker, conference trainer, event planner, and blog writer, Julia is a two-time graduate from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor in Psychology and a masters in Professional Counseling. Saved as a child and raised in church and in a Christian home and private Christian School as a Pastor’s kid, Julia has taught Sunday school, led music, played the piano, served as Children’s Director, and engaged her gifts in many other areas of church life. Previously employed with the Florida Baptist Convention, Julia organized events and led conferences for church ministry assistants.
Julia enjoys sharing her journey as a growing Christian with others looking for a deeper connection with God. Through Bible study and her own life experiences, God has given Julia a passion to help couples understand God’s design for marriage while they learn to place God first in their marriage, cultivate meaningful relationships, build intimacy, and address the tougher issues that come in every marriage so that they can experience a marriage that honors and glorifies God. Julia also loves mentoring, teaching, and working with women to help them learn to live as Godly women.
With her history and experience growing up in both small and large churches, Julia enjoys bringing top level quality events to churches of all sizes. Her father largely pastored small churches and therefore she understands that these vital parts of the believing community need to be good stewards of the resources God provides them with. This knowledge inspires her passion for being available with a fresh perspective for those who want to provide their congregations with meaningful spiritual growth opportunities.
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