Good morning everyone. Oh give thanks unto the Lord He is good yes He is good. Here we are on another day that has put before us. How will you use it to bring God glory?
Today’s Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I worship You and lift up my praise to You, my Creator and Sustainer. Thank you for showing me the things that bind me on this earth. Open my eyes that I may always be mindful of what may hold me in bondage. Help me to resist the things I should. Help me to steer clear of hazards and to draw strength from Your Holy Spirit when temptations are enticing me. Please help me to break free…and to experience total freedom in You. Thank you, my gracious God. In the name of my Savior I pray. Amen.
Let’s eat.
Without Jesus
Luke 2:41-49
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he meant.
Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. Jesus was 12 years old. They were evidently very distracted by the excitement and business of the Feast. In fact, Mary and Joseph began their return trip to Nazareth only to realize well into the trip that Jesus was not with them. It would be three days before they would be reunited with their 12-year-old son. It caused quite a scare in Mary and Joseph, and they reprimanded Jesus for “wandering” off.
As a parent, I find this story truly amazing. How can parents of the Son of God not know their son is not with them? Yet this story illustrates how each of us can become so busy that we continue to operate not realizing that Jesus is no longer with us. Obviously, there was very little fellowship taking place between Jesus and His parents during the trip.
How many times In your life have you taken on a task without putting Jesus in it and then something goes wrong and the first thing you do is call on Jesus to help you out of the mess. Does Jesus bless a mess? Are you experiencing daily, even moment-by-moment, fellowship with Jesus? If not, you will wake up one day and realize Jesus is not with you in your endeavors. It may, like Mary and Joseph, create a certain fear in you that you may have lost a very important relationship. Doing business without Jesus’ presence leaves us powerless and prone to live in fear. Jesus said He would never leave or forsake His children. However, we can walk away from His fellowship by refusing to be with Him. Don’t let this happen to you. He longs to have daily fellowship with you because He loves you.
Quote of the Day
Our mistake is that we want God to send revival on our terms. We want to get the power of God into our hands, to call it to us that it may work for us in promoting and furthering our kind of Christianity. We want still to be in charge, guiding the chariot through the religious sky in the direction we want it to go, shouting “Glory to God,” but modestly accepting a share of the glory for ourselves in a nice inoffensive sort of way. We are calling on God to send fire on our altars, completely ignoring the fact that they are OUR altars and not God’s….
A. W. Tozer
WITH HOPE AND FAITH; follow us on the foundation community site: http://facebook.com/therelationshipfactory
REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION & THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY