Serving Others Like Jesus Did

This is a guest post from Victor Sholar. Victor is the Assistant Pastor at Los Angeles Community Bible Church. You can listen to his sermons on our church webpage. Victor is one of the finest young preachers you’ll hear anywhere. I’m sure you’ll enjoy his devotional reflection of serving others like Jesus did. This post originally appeared in the LACBC monthly newsletter. Here’s his post.

“But the multitudes were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing,” Luke 9:11.

In verse 10, Luke makes it clear that Jesus' intent was to take the disciples to a lonely place to rest after their evangelistic mission (Mk. 6:30-32). "But the multitudes were aware of this and followed Him." How easy it is to get angry when your plans for relaxation are interrupted by people who don't seem to care that you are trying to relax. But what was Jesus' response? "He welcomed them." Now why would Jesus welcome the very ones He was trying to get away from? Because Jesus viewed this interruption as the sovereign will of God. God providentially led the people to find out where Jesus was in order to give Him an opportunity to minister. Sometimes the good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to perform have been purposed by Him to happen at the time when we feel it is most inconvenient (Eph. 2:10). But isn't it encouraging to know that even our Lord Jesus Christ can "sympathize with our weaknesses" even in situations like this? He was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). The "all things" entails even when personal plans are interrupted. Therefore, we can draw near to Jesus to receive grace and mercy to help us to have the right attitude when we encounter these situations (Heb. 4:16).

Jesus welcomed those He did not intend to fellowship with because He understood that God was in control. Therefore to get upset or frustrated when your plans are interrupted is to be upset with God. "The mind of man plans his ways, But the Lord directs his steps," Proverbs 16:9.

Immigration Insanity

Just got this email on immigration. I'd love to give credit to its author, but I don't know who wrote it. What do you think?

Let me see if I got this right.*

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.

If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely.

If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.

If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you will be jailed.

If you cross the Chinese border illegally you may never be heard from again.

If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.

If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into
Political prison to rot.

If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get

* A Job,
* A Drivers License,
* Social Security Card,
* Welfare,
* Food Stamps,
* Credit Cards,
* Subsidized Rent Or A Loan To Buy A House,
* Free Education,
* Free Healthcare,
* A Lobbyist In Washington
* Billions Of Dollars Worth Of Public Documents Printed In Your Language
* The Right To Carry Your Country’s Flag While You Protest That You Don’t Get Enough Respect
* And You Can Vote For Whoever Will Help You Get More Free Stuff.

I Just Wanted To Make Sure I Had A Firm Grasp On The Situation…

My comment: Any wonder why California is so broke with these kinds of policies? But the silver lining is that God is sending the nations to us, and we can share the Gospel (along with all of our tax dollars) with them.