Accepted by Jesus - Marlene Custer
Have you ever slipped into a meeting with a smile plastered on your face, but you were anything but happy? Do you ever think that if people really knew you, they would never want to be your friend? Although we often try to hide our feelings or our past, there is Someone that knows all about us. It doesn’t matter whether what He knows about us is good or bad. He is ready to bring help and healing. The woman He met at the well at Sychar is a good example. She was ostracized from the other women because of her lifestyle of poor relationships—five husbands in her past, and currently living with a man who was not her husband. Zacchaeus is another example. A tax collector known for taking money from good citizens to make himself wealthy. Jesus didn’t gloss over people’s sin, but He offered them forgiveness and salvation.
What Jesus did for those He met while ministering here on earth, He will do for you. It doesn’t matter what you have done or how you have failed. He extends the invitation, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV).
Then we must follow Paul’s admonition in Romans 15, verse 7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Accepting others as Jesus has accepted you is a great way to minister to another person and enjoy the perfect peace that comes only from Him.
“Thank you, Jesus, for wanting me as a friend. Help me to love others as You have loved me. Amen.”
NIV John 4, Luke 19:1-9
Marlene is a retired teacher who desires to make Jesus known. Contact |
