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Love Like Jesus — Touch: Luke 5:12-13

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.


How Jesus Loved People

The life of a leper was one of isolation. The law demanded he live alone. His clothes were to be rent, his head bare, and wherever he went he was to announce his defiled condition to those around him by shouting, “Unclean, unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45-46)

There was also a law against others touching a leper. Most people would find it revolting anyway.

But Jesus reached out his hand, and touched him.

 

How to Love Like Jesus

A friend who does counseling once told me a patient of his came back to visit him a few years after her counseling sessions had ended. She was doing extremely well and credited my counselor friend with her improvement.

“What was it that made the difference?” he asked, “The wisdom I shared? My insights into your family life perhaps?”

“No,” she replied. “It was the hugs.”

A few years ago I read a fascinating article about the power of physical touch. Patients touched by their doctor perceived their visits to have lasted twice as long as patients who weren’t touched. Students who were touched by their teachers were twice as likely to volunteer in class. The human touch can ease depression. The human touch can improve relationships

In a Cal Berkley study, touches among NBA teammates were measured. Among all NBA teams who do you suppose touched the most? The top two were the Boston Celtics and the L.A. Lakers — the last two NBA champions at the time of the study.

Interesting.

(To learn more see the New York Times article on touch)

I love living in the information age. I love email, and Facebook, and Twitter, and Youtube. I love it. I feel blessed to live in an age when all this is available. But I also know I can have a tendency to become immersed in what I’m doing on the computer or on my phone, to the exclusion of real life face to face interaction with human beings.

It puts me at risk of neglect for showing people love through touch.

And touching, appropriately of course, is one of the most effective ways of communicating love to others.

Imagine with me what Jesus’ touch must have meant to the leper from our story. Picture living in a society where it was illegal to touch a leper — illegal. Put yourself in the leper’s shoes and think what it would be like to shout out, “Unclean, unclean,” so people could stay clear of you, and completely avoid any possibility of touching you. It’s hard to think of someone who would crave the touch of another human more. Jesus didn’t have to touch anyone. He once said to a centurion, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant, who was no where near Jesus physically, was healed at that very moment. Jesus, the Son of God, had the power to heal without touching. But he nearly always chose to touch. Concerning this leper, disregarding the law of man, Jesus reached out and touched him. (Matthew 8:9-13)

I want to encourage you to get in the habit of physically touching those you love. And to be on the lookout for those who will be encouraged by your touch — you know who they are.

Jesus’ touch accomplished great things in the leper.

Your touch can accomplish great things too.

Love people like Jesus did.

Touch.

 10 Comments

 Posted on October 13, 2012 by

 How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage

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Love Like Jesus — Give Like Jesus: Luke 5:4-11

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Luke 5:4-11


How Jesus Loved People

I love that story. Jesus was and is so generous. Jesus had the power to give — so He gave.

Jesus loved people by giving, materially.


How to Love Like Jesus

The last verse in our text says, “…they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” So we see Jesus didn’t give indiscriminately. He just finished speaking to a crowd of people, and almost certainly there were those in the crowd who were in need, but Jesus didn’t give to them. He only gave to those who would respond by leaving everything, and following Him.

Do you think I use Jesus’ approach? Do you suppose when I give of myself, materially, or my time, or my energy, I do it to encourage people to follow Jesus? So often the answer is no! How I have erred on this point. Too frequently I give so people will follow me.

I think many of us give out of a desire to attract people to ourselves. We think to ourselves, “If I help him move, he’ll think I’m a good guy.” Or, “If I pick up the check, he’ll think I’m generous.” Or, “If I make a great dessert, they’ll think I’m a great cook.” It’s human nature to think this way.

But think this through with me: Everything you and I have is God’s anyway, nothing is my own. My money, my time, my energy, my life, it’s all God’s. I’m just managing everything for Him. Doesn’t it make sense then, I should manage in a way that draws people closer to God and to His Son?

This conflict between giving to attract followers to ourselves vs. giving to attract followers to Jesus is relevant to anyone who blogs or tweets or speaks or writes for God’s kingdom. When we look at our number of followers or friends or subscribers or page views, are we looking out of an interest in drawing people closer to Christ? If you are, that’s a good thing. Jesus advocated numbering the 100 so the shepherd knew he was missing the 1. Tracking numbers out of concern for gathering sheep to Christ’s sheepfold is good. But we’re in error when we track numbers out of a desire to see how our followers have grown. Looking at his numbers to gratify himself was what David did when he numbered the men in his army. David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” (Matthew 18:12 vs. 2 Samuel Chapter 24)

Anytime you give anything, it’s important for you to ask yourself the question, “Am I doing this so people will follow me? Or am I doing it so people will follow Jesus Christ?”

I hear people say they want to be inspired by God’s Holy Spirit when they create their blog post, or their music, or their movie, or their book. I know I certainly want that. If you’re like me, and want the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, it’s important to remember the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. (John 16:13-14)

So as much as possible when you show love by giving, love as Jesus loved by giving as Jesus gave. Focus on those who you think will respond by drawing closer to Christ.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit Jesus said,

He will not speak on his own… He will glorify me…

John 16:13-14

 4 Comments

 Posted on October 6, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus — Magnify His Message: Luke 5:1-3

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

Luke 5:1-3


How Jesus Loved People

Jesus loved people enough to find a way to magnify His message, so more could hear His words of eternal life.

The way Jesus did it was to sit in Simon’s boat, a little way off shore, so the water could carry the sound out to the crowd still on land. In that way He could reach more people than if He had remained on shore with the crowd pressing against Him.


How to Love Like Jesus

I remember when I started this blog a few years ago. For the first six months or so my numbers were unbelievably skinny — I’m talking anorexic. There was one month in particular when I averaged around 14 page views per day. Around that time I started asking myself, “Why am I doing this?” I thought to myself, “What’s the point of magnifying Christ’s message if no one is listening?” But then I prayed about it — and the Lord showed me a few things…

1) From the beginning, a few of my family members have read this blog. The Lord showed me, even if they were the only ones influenced for God’s kingdom, wasn’t that alone worth the time and effort? Do I love these family members? Do I care about them? If I do, then why wouldn’t I want them to be influenced to draw closer to Christ?

2) Even at 14 page views, even if only say 4 out of the 14 per day actually read through a blog post, after a year that’s more than 1,400 instances when God used me to influence someone for His kingdom! Isn’t that more fruit than I would have born had I not blogged at all?

3) Obedience. Regardless of what happens with the numbers, God’s Holy Spirit has directed me to write these blog posts, so I must do it.

4) What about me? Even if not a single soul read a single word on this blog, I can tell you, I’m blessed, I’m influenced, I’m transformed every time I write a blog post. Many times, I’m the one who needs to hear the message the most.

So don’t remain on shore. Prayerfully consider taking steps to magnify your ability to share Jesus’ words of eternal life. Even if it means only reaching a few more people than you reach now.

Of course if you have the gift to do so, you can speak publicly, with a PA system to reach more people with Jesus’ message. But if that’s not you’re thing, there’s good news. Today there’s a myriad of ways to magnify Christ’s message. You can tweet. You can start your own Youtube channel. You can share on Pinterest. You can share on Facebook or Google+. I even know a Christian lady who started her own radio program.

Or, you can start a blog. In fact, if you want to start a blog or write a book for the purpose of sharing Jesus, shoot me an email at kurt@kurtbennettbooks.com and I’ll be happy to help you.

The great commission given to us by Jesus wasn’t just for pastors, preachers, and priests. It was for all of His believers. “Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men,” Jesus said. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” Jesus commanded. (Matthew 4:19, Matthew 28:19-20)

So prayerfully consider expanding your capability to share Jesus’ message.

And if there’s anything I can do to help, please email me.

The Holy Spirit may be providing you with an opportunity right now.

Don’t wait.

Leave the shore.


Related Links:

Bible Gateway

Francis Chan: Simon Says

Sharing the Gospel

How to Start a Blog on WordPress


Notes

I realize some may not have much experience sharing Jesus Christ with others. So below I’ve included a few simple thoughts about evangelism I hope you’ll find helpful. I want to thank the people over at GodLife for their great resource on the topic: Sharing the Gospel.


Pray

Pray God will bring people to you, people you can lead to Christ. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you recognize opportunities and to give you the words to say. And pray for the people God has put in your life to come to know Jesus.


Love

Just showing people God’s love, even in small ways, can move people toward Christ. You know I’ve found family members to be among the hardest people to talk with about the Lord. I used to argue with them about God and I can tell you, nothing good came from those arguments. It took years, but after finally recognizing the futility of debating (I know, I’m a slow learner) I finally started to focus on looking for opportunities to show them God’s love. Within a few years two of them gave their lives to Jesus.


Ask Questions

Ask questions like these to move their mind toward the eternal:

What three words would you use to describe your life?

What do you think happens after we die?

Who or what is God to you?

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your desire to know God?

What do you know about Jesus?


Share

Share your own experience with Jesus.

Talk about what your life was like before Jesus was a part of it.

Talk about what your life has been like since you’ve asked Jesus in.

Look for opportunities to share your own story about how Jesus has changed you. For me, one on one encounters seem to work out best.


Pray

Ask them if they want to invite Jesus into their life and then ask them to pray with you. Pray along these lines: “Jesus, I am a sinner. I need You to be my savior. I accept the work You did for me on the cross when You paid for my sins. Please come into my life. I want to follow You, no matter what.”

Tell them there’s nothing special about the words in that prayer but the important thing is that they’ve opened up their heart and invited Jesus in.

Then help them find a Bible to read, and a church to attend.

I’m no evangelist believe me. But with God’s help, I have had the privilege of leading a few people to the Lord.

If I can do it, you can too.

 3 Comments

 Posted on September 29, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus–Go Deep: Mark 1:35-39

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Mark 1:35-39

How Jesus Loved People

Jesus loved people by going somewhere. He went to nearby villages throughout Galilee, preaching and driving out demons.

But what about before that?

What did He do to prepare Himself — to preach and drive out demons?

 

Love Like Jesus

I confess, I’ve had many gods over my lifetime. For most of the time my kids were growing up my kids were my god, then when they left the nest my wife was my god, then tennis, then my real estate portfolio, then my job. Of course none of these things are evil in any way, but each had a place as the ultimate in my life, ahead of the God of Jesus.

Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. …his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

If everyone were looking for you, where would they find you?

Would they find you away from the house, in a solitary place, praying, or reading God’s scriptures?

Or would they find you with family, or on the golf course, or playing that online game you’re hooked on, or on Facebook, or watching football?

If people wouldn’t find you going deep in your relationship with God, in the way Jesus did, people won’t find you loving people like Jesus did either.

Think this through with me: If the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Messiah Himself carved out deep times with His God before serving Him, how much more do you and I need to?

A person will carve out time to spend with his God. The only question is: Who or what is your God?

What is it for you? Is it family, or golf, or that online game, or Twitter, or Facebook, or ESPN? Whatever your god is, I’m guessing you carve out time for it, right?

Or is your God the same God as Jesus’ God. The way to tell is to take an honest look at where your time is spent, where your energy goes, where your money winds up.

Your God is where you invest yourself.

To love people, Jesus first loved His God, by investing Himself in His God, in the morning, in a solitary place, One on One with Him.

Before you can love like Jesus, you must love God first, in the way Jesus did.

To love people like Jesus do what He did. Go to a solitary place, be alone with God, just you and He. Pray to Him, pray with Him, read His words written to you.

Then go and love people.

Try it.

You’ll be amazed at the difference.


Notes:

…Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)

 9 Comments

 Posted on September 22, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus — God’s Will When You’re Suffering: Luke 4:28-29

Photo by Edward Lim, Creative Commons

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.

Luke 4:28-29

 

How Jesus Loved People:

Jesus was rejected. He was rejected in a way you or I will probably never have to experience. He had just read from the scroll of Isaiah, implying very strongly He was the One Isaiah was referring to. He had just told the Jews God miraculously provided for a Gentile widow, rather than a Jew, through Elijah. (see 1 Kings 17:8-16) And He had just told the Jews God miraculously healed a Gentile of leprosy, rather than a Jew, through Elisha. (see 2 Kings 5:1-14)

These things He said infuriated them. And the enraged mob left the synagogue en masse. They took Him to the edge of a cliff to throw Him off. (Luke 4:16-30)

I’ve never been rejected in that way. Have you? So how does Jesus respond to what can only be described as murderous hatred?

He does good. In John 4:46-54 we see Jesus, still in Galilee, not long after He had suffered at the hands of the Galileans, doing good. An official’s son lay sick, and Jesus healed him.

 

How to Love Like Jesus:

I lost all my followers, yesterday. What I experienced is not even remotely close to the rejection and suffering Jesus experienced, because I’m only talking about Twitter followers. I’m trying to figure out a way to reach the lost, on Twitter, and I made some sort of mistake in the process, so my account was suspended for it. And now I’m suffering (sort of).

Did you know the Bible tells you what God’s will is for you when you’re suffering? 1 Peter 2:15 tells us we’re to do good when we’re suffering.

To this you were called by God because Jesus, the One who saved you, set an example for you. (see 1 Peter 2:21-24) He did good and gained followers. He did more good and some followers rejected Him. He did more good and nearly all His followers rejected Him. He did even more good and they reviled Him. He did yet more good and they crucified Him.

So you might say, why would I do good? Jesus suffered at the hands of the Galileans and the religious leadership of His day and responded by doing good, and where did that get Him? He lost nearly all His followers, He was reviled, and He was crucified.

That’s true, but what happened in the end? What good was done — ultimately? The relatively few disciples who remained, turned the world upside down for Christ! The consistent good Jesus did while suffering at the hands of others resulted in an astounding bountiful crop for God’s kingdom. According to the Daily Mail, a British online newspaper, Jesus Christ has 2.2 billion followers today.

So how do you love like Jesus? Do good in response to suffering — even when you don’t feel like it, or perhaps, especially when you don’t feel like it.

And yes, you might do good and lose followers for it. You might be reviled for it. You might even be crucified for it. But it doesn’t matter, do good anyway.

Because it’s God’s will for you when you suffer.

Because you were called by God to respond this way.

Because ultimately it will bear abundant fruit.

Jesus loved people by consistently doing good in the face of rejection and suffering.

You can too.

 

References:

Bob Thornley teaching: 9/5/12

 8 Comments

 Posted on September 15, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Suffering

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Love Like Jesus — Reach Out: Luke 4:14-15

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

Luke 4:14-15

How Jesus Loved People

After an impromptu stay with the Samaritans for two days, Jesus continues on to Galilee. And as He travels, He teaches in the synagogues in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hear we see Jesus loving people by reaching out to them. He reached out to people by teaching them about God, by opening the scriptures to people, and by teaching them about Himself.

How to Love Like Jesus

Sarah Coiner is thirty-six years old, and she has cerebral palsey. Compared to the average person, there’s not much she can do. In fact, because of her condition, she can’t even feed herself. But amazingly, she doesn’t focus on what she can’t do. Sarah focuses on what she can do. And one of the things she can do is answer emails. These emails she responds to aren’t just any emails, they’re emails from people inquiring about God. So Sarah who can’t even feed herself is obeying Jesus’ commandment to “go and make disciples of all nations, …teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

You know, I don’t feel like I could ever reach out by teaching in a synagogue, or a church, or even a youth camp meeting. Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you’re shy, or maybe your talents lie in some other area: writing, or music, or carpentry, or sewing, or maybe you’re talented with technology.

Let’s just assume for a moment you’re right. Let’s say you can’t reach out through teaching in a church. So how then can you love like Jesus loved by reaching out to people?

There are some amazing ways to reach out to people today. And one of them is so easy and so simple, someone with cerebral palsy can do it. You just answer emails. That’s it. You just respond to emails. You see millions of people, lost people, type in searches for God or Jesus, and there are websites to provide these searchers with an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ. One example of this type of opportunity is with Global Media Outreach. They’re set up so people inquiring about God can do so with an email. And the results are exciting. Lives are being impacted for Christ by people like you doing what Sarah Coiner is doing. People are accepting Jesus as a result of someone like you just answering an email. In case you’re interested, you can learn more here.

So there may have been a time when someone who’s shy like me, or like you, could make a case for sitting out. But today, there’s nothing stopping us from diving in.

Jesus loved people by teaching them about Himself.

You can too.

Dive in and contact Global Media Outreach or a similar organization and just ask what they’re about. They can help you to obey Jesus’ commandment to “go and make disciples of all nations, …teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

You’ll be glad you did.

 2 Comments

 Posted on September 8, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus — Living Water and the Fluid Life: John 4:40

time management Love Like JesusContent for this article was taken from the new book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus). For more articles included in the book go to Love Like Jesus Book. Love Like Jesus is due to be published in 2018.

 

 

…when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. John 4:40

How Jesus Loved People Read More

 8 Comments

 Posted on September 1, 2012 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus — Focus and Flow: John 4:31-34

How to Love Like Jesus — Where’s Your Focus?

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

John 4:31-34

How Jesus Loved People

Jesus just finished a conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. A conversation filled with grace, and love, and truth. His conversation was so gracious and persuasive, that Samaritan woman wound up getting the townspeople together with Jesus for two days. (If you want to gain insight into why Jesus’ conversation was so successful, see previous How to Love Like Jesus post: Grace and Truth)

A two day meeting with the whole town — this was a golden opportunity for Christ to share the words of eternal life with people. What we’re witnessing here is how Jesus’ focus on saving souls took priority above his appetite for food for his flesh.

How to Love Like Jesus – Focus

A number of years ago, my great grandfather Jess went for a walk in the Oregon wilderness. He was in his early nineties at the time. Now it wasn’t like he had to go far to find the wilderness. The log cabin where we were gathered that day is right there, near the Siskiyou National Forest. So he simply left the cabin to go for a walk. No big deal, right?

Well, great-grandfather Jess became lost.

It was quite a scene. My family and I searched all over that mountain. We searched for him well past dark, but without success. It was nerve racking to think about this ninety-something year old patriarch, alone in the forest over night. The next day Search and Rescue came out in force. They had airplanes flying over, ATV’s driving all over the mountain, a bunch of volunteer hikers. It was a huge deal.

Sometime after noon, they found great-grandfather Jess. After he was re-hydrated and had gained his strength back, he explained what happened. What happened was, he happened upon a buck who was in the rut and courting a doe. He became so engrossed in watching this courtship, that he followed them all the way to the top of a ridge line, without giving a single thought to how long he’d been gone, or food, or water — or his whereabouts. The guy was in his nineties! How does that happen?

Well it happens when we focus.

When Jesus said, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” I believe, he was talking about this phenomena of focus and flow. He had such inspiration from the Holy Spirit, He was in such a flow, he didn’t give a thought to food or anything else. Presented with this opportunity to engage with the Samaritan townspeople, His only focus was on doing the will of Him who sent Jesus, and to finish His work.

It’s similar to what happens when you’re absorbed in your writing project, or your photo editing project, or your music project — fruit producing activities. Or, even, perhaps, when you’re engrossed in non-fruit producing activities, like playing Eve Online, or Minecraft, or reading the book The Hunger Games. You’re so focused, so absorbed, so engrossed — you forget to eat, physical food. Your food is your work (I use the term loosely when referring to video games and reading).

Your food, is your focus.

Your food is your flow.

So then, to love like Jesus, what must we do?

You know, Jesus once asked, ““Why do you call me Lord, and then not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46) This is a scripture seldom quoted, yet there it is, truth, staring me in the face. Oh God have mercy on me! I hope I never fall into this category. And I hope you never do either.

To love like Jesus, we must do what Jesus tells us. We must focus on what He focused on, which was of course, loving God, saving souls, and loving people. So we find ourselves in this awkward position, you and I, where we have to ask, “What am I known for?” Because Jesus said his disciples would be known for their love. (John 13:35) And, “What am I doing to reconcile people to God? What am I doing to point people to Christ?”

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus said. And the will and the work of him who sent Jesus, was for Jesus to express the love of God to people, which results in saved souls. Jesus loved in a way that reconciled people to God.

That’s what He did for two days with the Samaritans.

That’s what He did His whole ministry.

That’s what He did on the cross.

That’s how He loved people.

And that’s how He wants you and I to love people too.

 

NOTES:

For more on the topic of evangelism, I highly recommend the blog post A Heart for Evangelism by Klaus Brune.

 6 Comments

 Posted on August 25, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus — Grace and Truth: John 4:9-26

grace and truth love like Jesus John 4

Read John 4:9-26.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

John 4:17-18



How Jesus Loved People:

He showed grace. We’ve already examined previously, how just by engaging her to begin with, Jesus showed love and grace to this Samaritan woman at the well. We also touched on how his request for her to give Him a drink was a way to further engage her, and a way to further express love for her. (see previous How to Love Like Jesus posts: Don’t Care and Ask for Help)

So what Jesus is doing here, is He’s building a foundation of love and grace.

Throughout the story He continues building this foundation by revealing Himself to her through conversation about the living water and the Messiah.

Then He shared truth. After, and only after, Jesus builds this foundation of love and grace, do we see Jesus begin to share truth. And even then, we see Him sandwich the first dose of truth between two gracious statements. When she tells Jesus, “I have no husband.” Jesus, rather than railing on her for her past sins of promiscuity, says, “You are right when you say you have no husband.” He then shares His knowledge of her promiscuous lifestyle, followed up by, “What you have just said is quite true.”

He goes on to share with her the truth about Samaritan worship, and the kind of worshippers God seeks, those who worship in Spirit and truth. And He reveals the truth about His identity. Ultimately Jesus shows love to this woman by declaring Himself to her. Speaking of Messiah, Jesus says,

“I, the one speaking to you–I am he.”

 

How to Love Like Jesus:

A twenty-something I know shared a conversation he had with a good lawyer. Right about now some of you are saying to yourselves, the word good and the word lawyer don’t belong in the same sentence. But this one happens to be a friend of mine, and although good lawyers are a rarity, he really does exist. He’s a skilled lawyer, and beyond that he’s a good person. He has a heart for the underdog, and he strives to do his best for every client. This good lawyer friend of mine said something during the conversation that really surprised me, he said,

The best lawyers are not those who love to win an argument.

When I heard this from the twenty-something, I thought to myself, “I know this can’t be true — because I’ve seen all the lawyer TV shows: Matlock, Boston Legal, Law and Order… Those guys always win the argument. And they seem to relish the courtroom confrontation.

But my friend says the best don’t take pleasure in winning the debate. He says the best are outcome oriented. He says the best don’t look for ways to win the argument, they look for ways to reach the best possible result. At the end of the discussion he made this statement:

“Never confuse pride with principle.”

I had to think about that. How many times did I believe I was standing on principle, when in reality, what I was after was victory and conquest, so I could feed my pride. And this was nearly always at the expense of outcome, and very often at the expense of the relationship.

Contrast that with what we see in our story, which is how unmistakable Jesus’ love is. It’s unmistakable to the reader, and most importantly, it’s unmistakable to the Samaritan woman. And look at the result! She left that conversation to gather up and bring the townspeople to Jesus, and she did it because she knew Jesus loved her. Yes, the truth was shared, but only in the context of Jesus’ love.

So here’s how you and I can love people like Jesus. When you’re sharing truth, it’s essential your love for the person you’re talking with be unmistakable. Unmistakable to you, to any observers, and most importantly to the person you’re sharing with. When you’re sharing truth, the person you’re talking with has to know you love them. When you’re sharing truth, you have to do so with a heart filled with Christ’s love.

Just as soon as your inner jail house lawyer begins to rise up, the outcome you’re looking for goes out the window!

Of course Jesus was a master at sharing truth in love. We’ll see him share this way over and over and over.

You and I have to recognize, while Jesus was a master at this, you and I may not be. (see John 1:20) In fact, I know I am definitely not a master at sharing truth in love. I’m a work in progress, or maybe even a piece of work, depending on the day.

Keeping all of this in mind, if you’re tempted to share truth with someone, and you begin to feel God’s love leaving your heart, you’re better off not sharing at all.

If you begin to feel God’s love leaving your heart, just keep your mouth closed.

If you begin to feel God’s love leaving your heart, consider walking away.

Because if you choose to share without love, it’s likely you’ll only cause that person to become further entrenched in their current position.

But if you share in unmistakable love, you give the Holy Spirit the best possible chance to reach that person.

So build a foundation of grace and love, first. And share truth, only when your love for the person you’re sharing with is unmistakable.

Jesus did.

You can too.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:1

 

[Image via waterdotorg – Creative Commons]

 8 Comments

 Posted on August 18, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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Love Like Jesus — Don’t Care: John 4:9

Photo by Kelly Credit: Creative Commons

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

John 4:9

How Jesus Loved People:

Jesus didn’t care, and He still doesn’t. Women were not well regarded in the culture Jesus lived in. Neither were Samaritans. And here we see Jesus engaging a person who was both. But Jesus doesn’t care about that. Though the people around him had a low regard for women, and an outright hatred of Samaritans, Jesus didn’t care. Without regard for her gender, or her religion, or her heritage, Jesus engaged the Samaritan woman at the well. He did so to share grace, and truth, and to offer the words of eternal life.

How to Love Like Jesus:

You know, when I was a little kid, growing up in Chicago, my dad used to take me over to his friend Waverly Carter’s house. While they visited I used to play with his kids. I had a blast. Not until I was an adult did it ever occur to me I was playing with kids who were African-American. (see Matthew 18:3)

Cultural boundaries evaporated before Jesus’ love. And they should for me and you as well. The guy who belongs to the other political party, or the awkward loner at work, or the obese neighbor nobody talks to, or the obnoxious teenager, or the atheist, or the person whose lifestyle you disagree with, it doesn’t matter what category you perceive them to belong to: love them. Love them, because Jesus loves them. In fact He loves that person every bit as much as He loves you. He loves that person so much, He died for that person.

And just as Jesus died, you and I are to die, to our own judgments and criticisms. It’s not our job to judge. Judging is God’s job. It’s our job to love. You and I are the body of Christ. We’re His arms, and His hands — and His mouth (Lord, help me). You and I are to be used by God to love people, without regard for whatever perceptions we may have concerning social boundaries.

So love with eyes that are blind to perceived boundaries.

Even as Jesus died, die for the person who’s different than you are.

Die to your own inclinations to judge or criticize.

Love like a child loves, without regard for differences.

Jesus did.

And He still does.

(For more on this topic see: SEEK AND SAVE by Bethany English and I Wish Every Church Said What This Church Says by Jon Acuff)

 13 Comments

 Posted on August 10, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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The Holy Spirit: How to Know if You Have Him

Pentacost by Jean II Restout (Photo Credit Wikipedia)

Content for this article was taken from the new book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus). For more articles included in the book go to Love Like Jesus Book. Love Like Jesus is due to be published in 2018.

The Holy Spirit Better Than a Burger?

At church the other night our pastor directed anyone interested in receiving prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to go to the prayer room after the service.

I was amazed.

Only a half dozen or so showed up. On a normal summer Sunday, our church offers free burgers and the line is a mile long. How much better is God’s Holy Spirit than a burger? (I was also amazed at a very different response just five months later. If you’re interested, you can read about it at “here’s the part where I eat crow.“)

I recently wrote a guest post about the importance of the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit for Not Ashamed of the Gospel and this prompted someone to ask, How do I know if I have His Holy Spirit?

The person asking the question is referring to God’s Holy Spirit being poured out upon someone in such a way as to provide supernatural inspiration. As distinguished from having the Holy Spirit inside you. Every believer, every person who’s received Christ, every Christian has God’s Holy Spirit dwelling inside them. But not every Christian has received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them. (see 1 Corinthians 6:19 and Acts Chapter 2)

What It Looked Like When Jesus’ Disciples Received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit:

John the Baptist referred to this phenomena of outpouring as the baptism with fire. (Matthew 3:11) And the classic example of believers receiving God’s Spirit in this way occurs in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 1 Jesus tells His disciples, “…wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)

So in obedience to Christ, they stayed in Jerusalem where they all joined together constantly in prayer. (Acts 1:14) A while later, at a time when many Jews were gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, 120 disciples who were gathered together in one place experienced this outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. They saw fire that came to rest on each one of them.

Tremendous fruit was born that day, as 3,000 of the Jews gathered there were saved.

But some mocked the disciples and said they were drunk. (see Acts Chapter 2)

What It Looks Like When You or I Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit:

So here’s the thing about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. In Acts, each disciple has this fire resting on top of them, so each one sees the fire on his fellow disciples, but can’t see his or her own! (If you look closely, you’ll see this depicted in Restout’s Pentacost painting shown at the top of this post) It’s similar to when Samson’s hair was finally cut, and the Philistines attacked him. Judges 16:20 says he did not know that the Lord had left him. (Judges 16:20) Samson couldn’t distinguish between when God’s Spirit inspired strength was with him, and when it wasn’t. It’s similar to when Moses came down from spending 40 days with God and his face was glowing: Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone. (Exodus 34:29-35 KJV) Moses had the residual effects of spending time in God’s presence manifested by a glowing face, but he didn’t even realize it.

That’s how it is with the Holy Spirit. On rare occasions people experience a sign from heaven, or the blowing of a wind, or a burning sensation as from fire, or waves of liquid love. But more often than not, you can’t tell if you have inspiration from God’s Holy Spirit. The only consistent indicator is the bearing of fruit for God’s kingdom, like the 3,000 saved in Jerusalem. The only problem with that is you may plant seed under the inspiration of God’s Spirit, but you may or may not be around when the season of fruit bearing arrives.

But take heart, there’s a solution.

You Can Know:

Did you notice the disciples received God’s Holy Spirit after praying constantly? (Acts 1:14) And also notice they received the Holy Spirit after spending three years with Jesus, three years living with Him, day in and day out, three years of intimacy with Him.

So, even though we usually can’t feel the inspiration and outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit, we can be sure we have His Holy Spirit by committing to two simple actions:

1) Like the disciples, we have to spend time with Jesus to ensure we’ll receive God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (see John Chapter 15) Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, and that includes receiving the Holy Spirit! Like the disciples in Acts, We have to spend time with Him, we have to live our lives with Him, day in and day out, we have to become intimate with Him, before we’ll receive His Holy Spirit. “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine,” Jesus said. (John 15:4)

2) Like the disciples, we have to pray constantly. (Acts 1:14) Jesus says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13) So, we have to ask. And the way to ask is the way the disciples in Acts asked, we have to pray constantly. Jesus says, if we pray like the woman who persistently pestered the unrighteous judge, God will not put us off, but He’ll answer our prayer. (see Luke 18:1-8)

So there’s the answer. There’s no immediate consistent indicator to let you know God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon you. We usually can’t see any readily discernible manifestation of His Holy Spirit when He’s upon us. But we can know, for sure, we have Him, or will have Him, because Jesus said it, that we can receive God’s Holy Spirit as long as we abide in Jesus, and, as long as we pray constantly, persistently, continually, incessantly for God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us.

There’ll be no bold font letters spelling “God” in the from field in your email box, with the words, “Holy Spirit Poured Out Upon You” in the subject line. But because Jesus says your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! If you ask as the disciples asked, and if you spend time with Christ as the disciples did, you can know, you’ll receive God’s Holy Spirit.

References:

 

1106 Design Love Like Jesus Book Cover

Coming in January of 2020:

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

  • Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
  • How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
  • The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
  • How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
  • How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
  • How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
  • How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
  • How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
  • How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback are scheduled to come out in 2020.)

 57 Comments

 Posted on July 17, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Seeker

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Love Like Jesus — Ask for Help: John 4:2

Love Like Jesus Ask for Help

Photo Credit: Egan Snow, Creative Commons

…in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.

John 4:2


How Jesus Loved People:

Here we see, Jesus didn’t baptize people, He had His disciples do it. And in verse 7, of this same chapter, Jesus asks the Samaritan woman to give Him a drink. Then in verse 8 we see, Jesus sent His disciples to buy food. (John 4:1-8)

Jesus gave (and continues to give) people the opportunity to participate in what He’s doing.


How to love like Jesus:

I don’t know about you but I’m a perfectionist personality. One of the most counterintuitive things, for me, I’ve ever had to learn is to ask for help. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1) “If I’m to love others as myself,” I think, “if the roles were reversed, wouldn’t I want things to be done for me?”

The answer to this question is a definite, “sometimes.” The problem with always doing things myself is, I deny people the opportunity to grow. Jesus not only loved his disciples by sharing great truths with them, and by setting a perfect example, He also loved them by giving them opportunity to learn by doing. He gave them responsibility. He gave them opportunity to love people by doing for them. In my experience, the greatest growth I’ve seen in people occurs when they’re given responsibility, sometimes even a little before they’re ready for it. Most of the most fruitful people I know, can point back to a time when they felt like they were in over their heads.

2) I often believe I can do it better myself, so I do.

Kathy and I built a house once (and I hope to never have to do it again). In the beginning I thought I’d contribute in all kinds of ways. I thought I’d paint, hang insulation, pull electrical wires, do the finish work, clean-up, build the deck, do the landscaping, the list went on and on. It didn’t take long before I figured out, if I were to do all these things, the house would be finished around the same time the Cubs win the World Series (I’m a Cubs fan — yea, I know, I’m a glutton for disappointment). So I had to take a big swallow and ask for help. I asked for help from family, from friends, and of course much of the help came from subcontractors.

Building a house, among other experiences, taught me to keep in mind five of the most important words ever spoken by John the Baptist: “I am not the Christ.” (John 1:19-20) Because I’m not the Christ, because you’re not the Christ, we can’t do it all! Even though it’s possible we might do a better job than most people around us in the short term, in the long term, we can accomplish more when we engage the participation of others.

Now obviously there’s a danger here. If we ask for help from others with a selfish motivation, we’re asking amiss. But, if our heart is truly to love people, by giving them opportunity to grow by doing, then we’re loving like Jesus. We’re providing people with a chance to grow and more fruit will come to bear as well.

The motivation for it is a fine line I know, but asking people for help, with the right heart, is one of the most loving things we can do.

Jesus did it.

You can too.

 2 Comments

 Posted on July 10, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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