Have Them Keep Their Eyes On Jesus.

“Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26)

Why should anyone find comfort in shame?

Why should anyone find comfort in being ashamed of another?

Why should anyone find comfort in being ashamed of Jesus?

Why should anyone find comfort in being ashamed of Jesus and his words?

Why should anyone find comfort in being ashamed of Jesus and the hope of resurrection?

Why should anyone find comfort in being ashamed of Jesus and the free gift of eternal life?

Self-preservation.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27)

If anyone comes to Jesus and doesn’t value Jesus above himself and others, he simply cannot follow Jesus, he simply cannot under-stand Jesus, he simply cannot re-present Jesus because in his heart, he values himself and others above Jesus.

We can’t go in two directions at the same time indefinitely. When you’re on the road, you may find that two routes share the same road for a strech.

You can’t follow two paths indefinitely. Just be mindful which path you’re on and why. Otherwise, you may find yourself at some undesirable destination, one elected by others for you but which you cannot bear and Christ only can bear.

If a doctor is solely satisfied with the praises of his patients while his prescriptions are highly ignored then he will have a great reputation while his patients will have been long deceased.

“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40)

“He who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”-

Why are your friends, your friends? If it’s not because of Jesus and his words, then what have you been feeding them? If they’re satisfied with just you, then why should they become interested in Jesus? Are you truly giving them the best that there is? Are you truly giving them the best hope that there is?

“ And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.” (1 Samuel 8:7)

The greatest trouble that the people in Jesus’ days had was that they were conditioned to listen only to authorities, for only authorities were held accountable for their words. So when Christ came by no man’s authority, the people struggled to listen to him because he wasn’t repeating what the existing authorities were always saying. Instead, he was telling the truth. And the Spirit of Truth was his authority.

“We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards, those in authority, responded. (John 7:46)

In my days, I have seen some begging others to have authority over them, not because what others are sharing is true, not because what others are sharing is the whole truth, not because they heed to the good of what others are sharing but to have associative reputation, to be known as one associated with certain others.

You hear the Amen’s but no retention what was said. You hear the “Great Job”, but no consequential actions follow. You hear the “Thank you, Doctor “, but no consistent intake of the prescribed medication follows.

We live in a world where we value others’ performance over themselves. We live in a world where we settle just for being a resource.

If the truth is useless to you unless it came from someone you know, or someone you like, or someone you admire, then I’m not sure if what you have is the whole truth and nothing but the truth, unless you have Christ and Christ alone.

“Christ and Christ alone” is a very controversial expression. It sets Christ apart of anybody else. It gives Christ alone the glory. As a result, many get offended at hearing it.

The issue is that Christ is a lot more important than anybody else and it’s hard for anyone to swallow even the thoughts that come along with such statement.

The statement says that Christ is “a lot more important”. It doesn’t say that no one else is important, but that Christ is a lot more important.

The FDA, some says, allow manufacturers to not disclose certain ingredients that fall below a certain threshold of their composition. Thus, if you look at the Facts sheet of any packaged food or drug, many ingredients may easily be left out due to their proportions and also for competitive reasons. When comparing their percentage to the rest of the composition it’s almost like they don’t even exist, even though their presence has a sort of effect, yet maybe not as much as the rest of the larger portion of the other ingredients.

Likewise, even if what we do reflect what Christ did and still does, it can never replace what he did and is still doing. So, yes, “Christ and Christ alone” is more like it because what we’re handing are samples of goodness, while Christ and Christ alone is the full product.

Don’t settle for the samples, but the full product.

Don’t settle for the fruit alone, but go for the tree.

The tree of life, eternal life, Jesus.

We can be a re-source. But Jesus alone is the source.

“It was the last and most important day of the Feast. Jesus stood up and spoke in a loud voice. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Does anyone believe in me? Then, just as Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from inside him.” When he said this, he meant the Holy Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit later. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given. This was because Jesus had not yet received glory.” ‭‭(John‬ ‭7:37-39‬)

So do not train others to be dependent of the resource, but the source. We’re not the source.

If they have tasted how good you are, have them keep their eyes on Jesus.