ARE YOU LOOKING FOR JESUS?

Are you looking for Jesus, is your heart longing to see Him?

Jesus didn't just barge in on Zacchaeus, when He invited Himself into Zacchaeus house.

He saw that he was longing to see Him. He went out of his way to make sure he heard Him and saw Him.

Luke 19:1-10

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

Now behold there was a man named Zacchaeus who was the chief tax collector, and he was rich.

And as he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of a short stature.  He ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 

 And when Jesus came to the place,  He looked up and saw him,  and said to him,  "Zacchaeus make haste and come down,  for today I must stay at your house.

So he made haste and came down,  and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it,  they all complained, saying,  "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord,  "Look , Lord I give half my goods to the poor,  and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.

And Jesus said to him, " Today salvation has come to this house,  because he is also a son of Abraham;  "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost"

Why was salvation there, because Zacchaeus was revealing a repentant heart. (Repentance)

There is so much to unpack here.

1.  Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus,  went out of his way to hear and see Him. He had heard that Jesus was kind to sinners. He had hope.

2.  He called Jesus Lord. Submissive.

3.  Because of the presence of the Lord, Zacchaeus started to repent. (Change his mind and direction) He spoke of restitution.

4.  Zacchaeus felt honored that Jesus wanted to come to his house because he heard how Jesus was showing compassion to sinners. He knew he was one.

Beloved,  God knows if we really want to include Him in are life.

Will we go out of our way to make certain that we hear and see Jesus?

When our heart is desiring to experience the presence of God,  He is there.

He is as near as a whispered prayer.  

Sometimes we can't pray, we can just speak the name of Jesus.  There is great power in that name.

Whether you feel His presence or not,  He is there.

Never, never go by your feelings, they are fickle and can lead you astray.  Always go by God's Word, it is settled in heaven.

Psalm 119:89

"Forever, O Lord,  Your word is settled in heaven.

Beloved, when you speak God's word in your prayers or at anytime, angels will move on your behalf.

Psalm 103:20

Bless the Lord, you His angels,  Who excel in strength, who do His word,  heeding the voice of His word.

Yes, beloved, we have to fight the good fight.

A good fight is one you are winning.  We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:37

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Will we fail and sin at times, YES! but we have an advocate Jesus Christ.

His sacrifice and His shed blood has paid for it all.

1John 2:1-2

My little children, these things I write to you,  so that you may not sin, And if anyone sins,  we have an Advocate with the Father,  Jesus Christ the righteous.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only but also for the whole world.

Beloved, true repentance is a change of mind and heart,  we were going one direction and we make a 180 degree turn away from sin.

When you are tempted to sin,  look at the cross and be reminded of the great price Jesus paid for your freedom.

On the cross, Jesus paid for our freedom and for our very existence.

Beloved, be a warrior when it comes to fighting sin.  Go after it full force with the Word of God, that is your sword in the Spirit.

Always remember, to set the stage for the battle, with Worshipping the Lord.

Worship the Lord, sing to Him. Sing songs of Praise, knowing in your heart that God has got your situation in hand.

Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

He gave each of us a measure of faith. 

Romans 12:3

For I say,  through the grace given to me,  to everyone who is among you,  not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,  but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

None of us know how big or small that measure is, but we do know God is the one who gave it.

Faith is trusting and believing what God has told us, and acting upon it.  Stepping out in that measure. 

We grow our faith by reading Gods word and fellowship with other believers.

Paul was talking about a different kind of faith other than the faith for salvation.

After salvation, we can grow in our measure of faith.

We use that measure of faith in our gifting's and callings.  We need that kind of faith to fulfill the thing that God has given us to do, that will bring glory to the Father.

Our particular measure of faith is our resource provided by Jesus. We don't have it in the natural. It is supernatural.

So Beloved, are you looking for Jesus in all you do and say, and everything you set your mind to?

You don't have to look far,  if you are saved and have invited Jesus to take over your life, He is right there.

Remember the kingdom of God is not by observation, but is inside you.

Are you like Zacchaeus?  Willing to do whatever  it takes to see and hear Jesus? It is your choice.

God bless your day

Jesus loves you

Love in Jesus

Joy