There are those who receive from Jesus. They come to Jesus with a need, a hunger, a desire, a weight, a care, a worry and they encounter Jesus and find that everything else disappears. As I look in Scripture it becomes apparent that not every received from Jesus.
Here are the people that Jesus ministered to.
Jesus embraced the social outcasts, the rejected ones, the ones who were discarded by society and deemed to have no value. The lepers where sick and not only that, they were cast away from society. “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. ” (Matthew 8:3, NIV)
Jesus also embraced the non-religious who were seeking the truth and the reality of God. A centurion, a warrior came to Jesus. “Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour. ” (Matthew 8:13, NIV)
Jesus also ministered to those close to him. It is easy to receive ministry when you are in a relationship with Jesus. “When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. ” (Matthew 8:14–15, NIV84)
Jesus healed those who were brought to him. People who knew Jesus decided to help their friends have a Jesus encounter. “Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” ” (Matthew 9:2, NIV)
The mission of Jesus focused on those who understood that they were lacking and in need. Jesus came for the broken and for the sinner. “On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” ” (Matthew 9:12–13, NIV)
It seems that there is one group of people who could not receive. These were the people who were already religious and self-content. The Pharisees and the religious leaders came to Jesus, but only to trap him. They came to justify their positions and their authority. They came to test. They received nothing from Jesus except stern warnings to repent.
Just as Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, there are the same kinds of people. Those who receive and those who do not.
If you are hungry, in need, rejected, and wounded, you are in a perfect position to have a real and true God encounter. All you need to do is come to Jesus. He will never turn you away. If you are struggling to get to Jesus like the paralytic on the mat, find some friends who have hung out with Jesus. They can bring you into your Jesus encounter.
If you come to a meeting already deciding that the supernatural things you see are not from God, you are like the Pharisees who cannot receive. If want proof other than God’s word, you will not receive. If you want to justify yourself, you will not receive. You must come hungry and open and then you will receive.
I know Jesus. I have received from Him. I know that He wants you to receive too. Let me introduce you to Him. He loves you.
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