"Pay attention to what I am telling you,"
Jesus said in Luke 9:44
This was translated from a Hebrew idiom,
"Lay these sayings in your ears."
It meant we should listen carefully,
and remember well, for what you are about to hear
is very important."
Jesus said many important things and told parables
so that we would have a picture in our mind's eye
to help us remember.
One of these parables is about Lazarus and the rich man.
"Lying at the rich man's gate was a poor man named Lazarus,
covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table." Luke 16:20
But even though the rich man KNEW Lazarus,
he did nothing to help.
When both of them died, the rich man who went to hell,
and saw Lazarus in the company of Abraham.
He asked if Lazarus could dip his finger in water
and give him some water.
Abraham said there is a chasm where
no one could go across
and that the rich man had been
satisfied with all the good things
while Lazarus had nothing
when they were on earth.
We may say, "I'm not a rich man!"
BUT we ALL have something to share.
With the poor. With the hungry.
With the sick. With the lonely. With those in prison.
With the children begging in the street.
With those who need encouragement.
With those who need the Word of God.
Let us not be like the rich man
who did not help Lazarus in ANY way!
"I am intensely jealous..." Zechariah 8:1
We are all beautiful in His sight, or rather,
He sees how much more beautiful we can become.
Isn't that the ideal lover-
that He sees beneath the surface of our frailty,
our weakness, our failures,and sees
how wonderful, beautiful we are inside?
Such is our God who loves us with a jealous love.
He wants the best for us.
He does not want us to fall for other gods of this world
whose empty promises only seek to destroy us!
His is not a tepid love, a watered down love.
He is passionate for us. He keeps running after us, chasing after us!
He woos us with His intensely jealous love!
Let us listen to Him, remember what He says,
for He will do everything, use any means to bring us closer to Him!
How He loves us!
for her 31 Days Challenge.
Will I be able to complete it?
We'll see!
Every week I choose one wonderful visitor
who leaves a comment
to receive an ATC from me.
I know it takes so much time and effort
to leave a comment
and I appreciate it soooo much!
This week,
Random.org chose
#19, Marilyn Lamoreux,
who wrote "Pick me! Pick me!"
in her comment!
Unfortunately I'm going to have to google her!
When I click on her name ,
it goes to Yahoo OpenID!
Sometimes I put on my best pajamas
and join these great parties!
and
Blessings,
Patsy
I love the sweet/sad picture of Lazarus here and the reminder that generosity flows out of our abundance and we are as abundant as we are able to count out blessings!
ReplyDeleteI followed you here from Laura's and so glad I did. It has been a long time since I visited you. You art is so lovely. The words reminding me of the love that God has for me is not tepid. That He is jealous and passionate. Thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteCaring through Christ, ~ linda
Interesting and very inspiring.old follower
ReplyDeletehope you can visit my Inspire me Monday
Your artwork is so unique and moving! Each piece tells such a beautiful (and sometimes sad) story! It is very wise to pay attention to the stories and parables that God has placed in His Word for us! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAnn @ Christ in the Clouds
http://christintheclouds.blogspot.com/
Beautiful glowing colors in your artwork! Lovely! Thanks for sharing on Mandarin Orange Monday #61.
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday our sermon was based on this passage. Our minister gave us a history of what the underlying meaning might be. You can listen to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=799WbUwD4wk&feature=em-uploademail. Sorry you can't see the screen because the pictures were awesome.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Janis www.janiscox.com