Wayside Bible Chapel

Rejection from the world puts you among the prophets who were also rejected. It means your reward is in heaven and eternal rather than on the earth and temporal. That is truly a great reward! You've chosen the right path. Think about this for a moment. Would you want to end up in eternity with everyone who wants to be lord, or with the one true Lord how made you and loves you enough to die for you and be among all those who recognize He is worthy to be Lord of all?

Rejection from the world puts you among the prophets who were also rejected. It means your reward is in heaven and eternal rather than on the earth and temporal. That is truly a great reward! You've chosen the right path. Think about this for a moment. Would you want to end up in eternity with everyone who wants to be lord, or with the one true Lord how made you and loves you enough to die for you and be among all those who recognize He is worthy to be Lord of all?

We wonder how those who persecute believers could be so full of hatred when all we do is try to share the love of Jesus. I read a New York times article about a recent Christian martyr. The author made those who murdered him the heroes because they prevented the missionary from spreading infectious disease and changing their primitive way of life. Did the author really care about the people on that island? Did the author know the missionary carried infections disease? Probably not. The whole point of the article was to make the missionary the bad guy and the murder justifiable. What that author and others like him won’t acknowledge is that so much of what we enjoy came from the influence of Christianity that transformed society.

We wonder how those who persecute believers could be so full of hatred when all we do is try to share the love of Jesus. I read a New York times article about a recent Christian martyr. The author made those who murdered him the heroes because they prevented the missionary from spreading infectious disease and changing their primitive way of life. Did the author really care about the people on that island? Did the author know the missionary carried infections disease? Probably not. The whole point of the article was to make the missionary the bad guy and the murder justifiable. What that author and others like him won’t acknowledge is that so much of what we enjoy came from the influence of Christianity that transformed society.

Our present culture is a mixture of these two sets of sinners. It worships money and thinks itself spiritual. It is prideful in its lust for money. It sees no need to repent for many think they are morally superior just as the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They don’t even see their own spiritual paralysis. Perhaps one take away from this passage is to focus our evangelism efforts on those who know they are sinners and to be among them to share the answer we have found in Jesus. At Jesus’ direction we can tell them to rise and walk and leave their old life to follow Him.

Our present culture is a mixture of these two sets of sinners. It worships money and thinks itself spiritual. It is prideful in its lust for money. It sees no need to repent for many think they are morally superior just as the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They don’t even see their own spiritual paralysis. Perhaps one take away from this passage is to focus our evangelism efforts on those who know they are sinners and to be among them to share the answer we have found in Jesus. At Jesus’ direction we can tell them to rise and walk and leave their old life to follow Him.

In these two accounts Peter and this leper both recognized the wretchedness of their sins. They both realized Jesus was the answer. They both humbled themselves before Him. They were both transformed by His response. It can be the same for anyone who will come to Him in the same way. No matter how arrogant or rotten you have been, Jesus longs to begin His sanctifying work in you, to give you the joy of the cleansed leper and the call to catch men.

In these two accounts Peter and this leper both recognized the wretchedness of their sins. They both realized Jesus was the answer. They both humbled themselves before Him. They were both transformed by His response. It can be the same for anyone who will come to Him in the same way. No matter how arrogant or rotten you have been, Jesus longs to begin His sanctifying work in you, to give you the joy of the cleansed leper and the call to catch men.

What a day! And you think you have tough days. Try confronting a demon, healing your host’s mother-in-law, healing every sick person in town, and then get up early to go pray. But Jesus’ strength was His reliance on the Father’s strength. What He commands us to do He can give us the strength to do. When you feel you can’t go on, ask first if you are doing God’s will, then ask if you are depending on your own strength or on His.

What a day! And you think you have tough days. Try confronting a demon, healing your host’s mother-in-law, healing every sick person in town, and then get up early to go pray. But Jesus’ strength was His reliance on the Father’s strength. What He commands us to do He can give us the strength to do. When you feel you can’t go on, ask first if you are doing God’s will, then ask if you are depending on your own strength or on His.