A Life with Impact - See as Jesus saw

For each of us there have been individuals in our past and in the present who have had an impact on our lives. Some have impacted our lives in ways we had never imagined, and some in ways we will never ever forget. The impact may have been or currently is in small ways, some in large ways. Some of the impact has been negative, some positive.   

The impact on our lives by others has helped shape us into who we are and who we will become. We too have the opportunity to impact the lives of others. We have to choose what kind of impact we will have; will it be negative or will it be positive? Will the impact be centered on pointing others to the world or to Christ?   

Each of us who loves Jesus, should have a passion to make a positive difference, to have an impact for Christ. But sometimes we are so focused on doing we forget about being Christ to others. Often we see so many needs and opportunities to demonstrate Christ that we don’t know where to begin!   

In Matthew 9:35-38 we read

 "Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, 'The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

In this passage we find four things we need to do to live like Jesus.

1. See as Jesus Saw (vs. 35-37)

Each and every moment our eyes are open, they take in the sights around us. Around us are so many things to see. Things that are big, things that are small. Things that are pleasant to see, but also things which are difficult to see. We see flowers and blue sky. We see people. People with smiling faces tell a story of joy and happiness. We see sad faces. Sad faces tell a story of difficult circumstances and of pain, whether emotional or physical. We see people who, due to some circumstance or physical condition, have been forced to live “on the street.” How do we see the world around us? How do we see the people around us? Jesus is our example in how we should “see”. 

God wants us to see as Christ saw. 

³⁵  Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching 

           the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the 

           people.

³⁶  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they

            were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

³⁷  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

Jesus saw the multitudes, but what did He really see?

-        In vs. 35, He saw hurting people, people who needed help, people who needed Him.

-        Then in vs. 36, Jesus saw people who were "weary" or "fainted" in the KJV. They were weary,             exhausted, worn out and despondent. The root word picture is something melting or    dissolving.

-        In vs. 36, Jesus also saw people scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. The word picture for "scattered" is sudden motion. It's talking about people suddenly tossed around or thrown         to the ground by a heartless and powerful enemy.

-        Rick Crandall, a pastor, put this way when talking about this: "Jesus saw people led in all the wrong directions by blind guides . . . Jesus saw people without Him, sheep without a shepherd, people with no protection from the powers of hell, people with no protection, and no real direction in life."   

-        

     What did Jesus see? -- In vs. 37, Jesus saw people as a great harvest. A great harvest made up of        men, women and children of every age and nation. People are the most important fruit of the earth, and someone is eventually going to reap this harvest.  A harvest, as Rick Crandall has said, in whilch:

o   People are going to be won either for good or for evil. They are going to live in darkness, or they are going to be brought to the light. They will come to see the greatness of living with God, or they will live under the reign of the devil.

o   People will live out their days in the heights of joy of hope and faith found in Christ, or they will feel discouraged in the depths of despair and frustration. To put it in the barest o   terms, the harvest of mankind is a matter of heaven or hell.  

Mark 8:18, Jesus said: “Do you have eyes but fail to see, . . . “

When Jesus looked at the crowds, He didn’t just see a clamoring group of people who were about to demand even more of His time and energy. He looked beyond the surface and realized they were spiritually depressed and downcast. They had a spiritual hunger, and He offered to satisfy it. When you look out at the world, Uganda, you community, your family — what do you see? Is it people who are you don’t get along with, people who have let you down, people who have not demonstrated love to you,  or is it individuals who have been created in the image of Christ, one who deserved to be loved by you?  Ask the Lord to help you see the world as He sees it.

Prepare For Impact!

In day-to-day life there is a lot of talk about impact. The impact of climate change, the impact of a changing world economy. There is great impact on people and relationships due to violence, drugs, broken families and other poor choices made by both those we do and do not know. It seems every area of life is impacted one way or another by something or someone. What we do and don’t do, what we say and don’t say also impacts the world and those around us.  We need to prepare for impact! 

For the most part we can control the impact we have on others. But there are some things we have no control over. DNA is one of those things we have no control over. Often, people have told Christine and I that our son and daughter, resemble me. It is interesting that within a family, members can look somewhat alike (similar, nose shape, smile, etc.), but yet we each are unique. 

God has given us the opportunity to be a part of his family, as His child. As His child he wants us to look like, to be like him, like his Son.    Scripture says:

Gen 1:27 – “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he 
                       created them; male and female he created them.”

Romans 8:29 – “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to 
                       become like his Son” 

We were created in the image of God, even as Christ was in God’s image. Yes, we are created in His image, but there is more to it.  Author John Piper said: “As we are conformed to the image of Christ, he is made more and more the center of all things.”

Jesus himself is the image of God" (Colossians 1:15–16). Therefore, we are being made into images of the image of the Father.

We are each created by God as a one-of-a-kind in His image and God wants us to live in His image, to live in the image of Christ. Living in His image is reflected in the work of our hands, in our hearts, in our attitudes and our actions. Everything we do is out of being in His image and is to be done with His love.  This only happens after a heart transformation. 

Jesus is our example. On the night before He went to the cross, Jesus washed His disciples' feet.

In John 13 we read Jesus sat down and said:

^{12  “}Do you know what I have done to you?

¹³  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.

¹⁴  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to 
          wash one another's feet.

¹⁵  For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."

 Further down we read:

³⁴. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have 
           loved you, that you also love one another.

³⁵. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.''

In verse 15 Jesus said “I have given you an example,” Living in the image of Christ who is living in the image of God:

• God wants us to do what Jesus did.
• God wants us to love like Jesus loved.
• God wants us to live like Jesus lived.
• God wants us to impact others by doing, loving and living as Jesus did.

Over the next several posts I would like to explore how we can live our lives with greater impact for Christ by following His example.

Jeff 

First Fruit

We moved to Uganda late in 2012. In February of 2013 we planted two starts of lemon trees. We asked, “How long does it take for lemon trees to bear fruit?” The answer we received was, “Usually 4-5 years here.”

That sounded about like forever then. However, we were delighted to discover in the spring months of 2017 that our lemon trees were blooming. “Don’t get too excited,” we told ourselves. “The trees may just bloom this first year and not yield any real fruit. But just imagine NEXT year!”  Yumm, we could almost taste the lemon!

We know that often the first fruits are not the best. It can be a scraggly beginning for some fruit bearing branches. Fruit-bearing can start off looking quite impressive only to yield little-to-none. We have just enough gardening experience to breed caution in us when it comes to the beginning.

BUT! We are experiencing an AMAZING crop of lemons this year. One tree had over 30 lemons and we are enjoying using them. We have made lemon tea, had fresh lemon slices in cool water, baked lemon cakes and muffins and bread. We have shared lemons with others. What a wonderful first year of bearing fruit for that tree! The other tree does not get as much sun and has put forth fewer lemons, but that tree is blooming again now, so who knows how many more it might produce?

We enjoyed harvesting the first lemons. The two gentlemen who have carefully raised the trees with us celebrated the harvest of our first fruits. 

I soon realized that to make the fruit useful, it has to be changed. To use a lemon, we wash it clean and then we either abrasively grate it or we cut it. After cutting it we may continue cutting it into pieces or we may aggressively squeeze it until all the juice is out. To use a lemon, we never leave it the way it came to us off the tree. But oh, we have been delighted in using our first fruits.

We have been thinking a lot about first fruit. We are about to complete our first term (two years) in the position of Country Director of WGM in Uganda. We feel like first fruit times. We had our scraggly spots through the term. We were cautious about the beginning.

Now we feel like lemons off the tree. God cleansed us. We have been abrasively grated. God has done refining work in us, peeling off some layers that we might be a more pleasing aroma to those around us.

God has done some cutting, too. And have been squeezed! We confess not everything that came out was sweet; some was undoubtedly sour. God did not leave us the way we came into this term. He has not left us unchanged. Even so, we have felt His delight in using us. We believe God is using the ingredients in us to make something good, and the seeds harvested from us to bear more fruit for His Kingdom. We offer it all up to Him in worship. (In some ways, it is kind of special to be first fruits J)

With a grateful heart,

Christine