"Take a Good Look!"

 "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not." (John 10:37 KJV)

  "Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God. "What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. And you people of Capernaum, you will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you."" (Matthew 11:20-24 NLT) 

 Not much to see here, is what many people say, as if they couldn't be bothered enough to really stop and examine what is happening. God does not hide the truth, but He declares it for all to see! The problem we have, is either looking away in shame, or sticking our nose up in disgust. And then, there are those that look, but do not judge correctly, what is right in front of their face! 

 As said before, it is pretty obvious that Jesus was doing the works of His Father, so this statement isn't about judging the works He did, but about judging their own hearts. There are two ways to view the title of the post, "Take a Good Look!" One is to just imagine it means to look hard or deeply into the matter; the other is to look at the Good in the matter, as in, to look for the Good! 

 Basically, that is the main illustration of what is going on. They really don't have much of a chance to see what really is going on, because they continually take a bad look at everything Jesus does, by making it bad! No matter what He does, and no matter how powerful the miracle might be, they make out to be bad, just because it is Him doing it. 

 By the way, this is something I have had some issue with; some meaning that it comes up, but I slap it down as quick as I can! When I mentioned yesterday about giving up on God, it was a real thing that happens, only because it hurts me sometimes to see the hurt that happens in my life every time I really go all out for God. 

 Jesus does not call us into this race without warning us that it is going to be tough! Yet, we gravitate towards thinking that it will be easy, mostly because He said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (Matthew 11:29 NKJV) Take a good look at that, because there is really nothing in that which says easy-peasy! 

 Sometimes we forget that, mostly because of how much He blesses us in this life; when trials and tribulations come, we think something has gone wrong, we feel abandoned, and we look towards the world for help! That is what I meant by giving up on God! Fortunately, it is only for a moment!!! 

 When we cannot see clearly what is going on, we must remember, time and time again: God is Good! God is Good all the time, and all the time, God is Good...

"We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NLT)