ARE YOU JESUS?

I want you to read this story before I get into the newsletter, then you will understand why I am asking ARE YOU JESUS?

I heard a story about some salesmen trying to catch a plane to make it home early for dinner. As they rushed, one of them accidentally knocked over a display of fruit. Fruit flew everywhere.  They didn’t’ stop or look back, and they managed to reach the plane just before boarding; all but one. He paused, got in touch with his feelings and went back.

He told his friends to go on without him, and to tell his wife he would take a later flight. He went back to the terminal to help the girl.  He was glad he did. She was only 16 and was totally blind. With tears running down her face, she was trying to find the apples.  No one had tried to help.  The salesman knelt on the floor and carefully put the apples in the basket. He noticed many of them had become battered and bruised; these were set in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"  She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister..." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"

ARE YOU JESUS?

John 10:37-38 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Do people mistake you for Jesus?

That's our destiny, is it not? Isn’t that what we are supposed to be striving for….to be so much more like Jesus?

Then I ask you, why is it that people can’t tell who we are?  Why is it we have to go around telling people that we are a Christian instead of them being able to see Jesus in us?  Why is it people have to ask someone what type of mood we are in before they approach us?  Why is it they don’t want to be around us because of the way we are or the way we act? Why is it they can’t tell us from the world? And why is it that we act so righteous and holy that people have to act a certain way around us?

 Ok, that is a lot to ask, but it’s something we all need to think about and pray about. If we claim to know Him, if we claim to have Christ living in us, then we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him and being more like Him is two different things.  The word says devils believe and tremble. 

Jam 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble

And why shouldn’t they?  Satan was in Heaven with our Lord, so yes, he knows and he believes; but does that make him more like Jesus?  NO!  But, that is the image that we are portraying to many people. I’ve heard (and I know you have too) people say “Well, if being a Christian is like that, then I want no part of it”  “Look at how they treat people and they are in church all the time” or “And he is a minister, acting like that?”  These same words and behaviors in us are the very things that are causing our fellow man not to want to be a part of fellowship. Being more like Jesus is more than simply quoting scripture and going to church.  It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.  Not just talking about it when you are in church, but being the Word.

 John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Do you want to be someone who “knows, believes and trembles?” Do you want to be known as a person who can quote a scripture on command? Is that who you want to be classed with, the enemy? Or do you want to be someone who is actually a walking testimony of the Living Word of God?  Is it more rewarding to you to be shaking and shouting in church, or to be living as Jesus did? Is it more rewarding to have your name on a pew, or in the BOOK OF LIFE?  Is it more important to be recognized at your church (or the church you are visiting), or to hear the Lord say “WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT”?  Is it more important to make sure you sit in the “AMEN” corner, the front row, with the dignitaries, or to be SEATED WITH CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES?  Shall I go on?

ARE YOU JESUS just because you are in the church (the building) every time the doors open, shout hallelujah, praise the Lord, sing in the choir, then act like you don’t know Him the moment you leave?  You see, some of us don’t even wait to leave the grounds before we show who we really are.  I’ve seen too many ministers (and layperson) glorifying the Lord from pulpits, then act totally opposite of every word they have spoken once they come out of the pulpit.

What good are you doing if you speak the word in the church, act all holy in front of those “that matter” and treat your family, friends, etc. like they are the enemy? The WORD says:

1John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and  hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

The Word is saying you are a LIAR.  And if the Word says it, I do too.  You are a liar, If you say you love the Lord and hate your brother.  Think about that.  God has just said you DON’T love Him if you hate your brother.  You can go around singing “I really love the Lord” all you want.  But if you hate your brother, then you are a LIAR.  DO YOU LOVE HIM?

  In other words, you are pretending to love Jesus if you are not treating people with the love of Christ in your heart.  Can you say you love the Lord if you can hurt someone and not feel any remorse? Can you say you love the Lord when hurt them, and go on as if nothing happened? Can there truly be love in your heart if you willfully sin against your brother?  You say what is willfully?  When you know what you are doing is wrong and you do it anyway.  Some of us do it just to get even with the person who hurt us.  Maybe they don’t know that they hurt you.  Did you tell them?  Your hurting them isn’t teaching them a lesson, it teaching you a lesson and revealing who you really are.  It’s teaching you  that you really do not love the Lord. So who are you? ARE YOU JESUS?

1John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth

Whom do you glorify when you intentionally hurt someone?  Think about it.  You are not glorifying Jesus.  Vengeance belongs to the Lord, and He can deal with it much better than we ever could.  He has the power to make your enemies your footstool.  Why bother planning, plotting and wasting all that energy trying to find a way to get even, when the Lord says to sit, let Me make them your footstool.  The Lord doesn’t want you to get even, He wants you to bless them and pray for them.

When was the last time you blessed someone? Alright now, (be nice) I mean in the name of Jesus.  When was the last time you really sent up a prayer and forgave the person that hurt you, abused you, or spitefully used? If you’re still thinking, then its’ been too long. 

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?

Take the time right now to forgive them, bless them, pray for them, and get on with your life.  Release all that anger and hurt unto the Lord…let the healing begin. 

TAILGAITING

An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a police officer approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.  

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. "I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me To Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

You can know all the scriptures,
  Have all the bibles you can reach,
  But when push comes to shove
  Do you practice what you preach?
 
  Anyone can go to church
  And collapse on the floor,
  But when Judgment Day comes
  Will you be at Heaven's door?
 
  You can have the biggest of fits
  And say the Holy ghost passed through,                 
  But is that really reflected
  In the things you do?
 
  You can yell far and wide
  Proclaiming your love for Christ,
  But what have you given him
  When for you He gave his life?
 
  You can lecture others
  About the wrong things they do,
  But before you look at others
  You need to look at you.
 
  You can damn all the sinners
  Tell them they're headed south,
  But what have you done lately
  Besides run your mouth?
 
  You can call yourself a Christian
  Spend all your days at church,
  But while you are praising His name,
  Have you been doing the Lord's work?
 
  You can boast of good deeds
  To show us the spirit is within
  But why show it to us?
  You should show it to Him!
 
  You can memorize the bible
  Know it from front to back,
  But you don't use it to regulate others
  Regulate how you act!
 
  Take a good look at yourself
  Not at what others do,
  Because when He comes to get his children ...
  Will He be coming for you too?

Contributors to this newsletter:
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Dana Ahern – Editing

And all of your prayers and words of encouragement