"Make Ready!"

"There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him." (John 12:2 KJV)

  "Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, "Rabbi, eat something." But Jesus replied, "I have a kind of food you know nothing about." "Did someone bring him food while we were gone?" the disciples asked each other." (John 4:31-33 NLT)

 Alrighty then, I will try my very best to do this, but it won't be me, by myself. There are basically three things that need to happen, as there are three things taking place above; just as there were three things that needed to happen with the closing verse from yesterday: "Stand, take up your mat, and walk!" 

 The first thing that needs to be understood, is that Jesus came here to reconcile mankind back to God! It was the reason for Him to be sent, as a baby no doubt, to live among us, as a man, for thirty-years; to be The Teacher, The Healer, The Master, The Revealer, for three-and-a-half years: and then, The Lamb of God, sacrificed, to take away the sins of the world! It was all for reconciling us to the Father! 

 We can pretend to be whatever we want, but truth be told, we are sinners that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Yes, in heaven, we are saints and spotless, totally and utterly justified before God; but here, we are what we are, sinners that have been, and continually are being, sanctified by the blood of our Lord, Christ Jesus. Who, by the way, is coming soon to take us home! 

 When that takes place, and only then, we will be glorified, just as He is, we shall be also: One with God! That might be a hard pill to swallow, but that is that which is to come, so we live now in harmony, hopefully, with one another, longing for that to be the end result of our journey.

 In the meantime, we wait, but not wait! Have you ever read, "Sit, Walk, Stand," which is book by Watchmen Nee regarding the Book of Ephesians? Well, it is a little like that, as we are called, whether you know it or not, into a glorious tapestry of God's wonderful plan of Redemption. 

 Whatever you were, you are, but you are now transformed into something that now works for God! If you were a thief, you are now a thief for God, but what you are stealing are lost souls from Satan! That is just a little illustration and was not meant to explain everything and everyone. But I think you get the point.

 When Jesus healed that man with the mat, his mat was something that he previously depended upon for comfort; yet, Jesus had him use it for the Kingdom of God. The woman at the well, she was fooling around with men; but Jesus used her influence with men for the Kingdom of God! Paul hunted down Christians, but Jesus used his zeal and passion for the Kingdom of God! 

 If you still can't see it, Jesus is hungry for the lost; it is what satisfies His hunger most of all, when those that are dead in sin get born again! Now see this: "Then they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus, (the one that was dead,) was one of them that sat at the table with him." 

 Okay, so maybe I am a little weird, but that's what I have always been! When I was a baby, I used the brown substance in my diaper to paint a tapestry on the wall. My mother used that, bragging about me, that had always been an artist, since I was a baby. A leopard may not change their spots, but God can surely change the color of those spots...

"Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, Wake up and look around, The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, 'One plants and another harvests.' And it's true. I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and now you get to gather the harvest."" (John 4:34-38 NLT)