Jesus Knows Us and We Know Jesus

 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me," John 10:14
Jesus is the good shepherd.  He knows us and we know him. We can know Jesus because he is the good shepherd by reading His Word and doing what says.

God Chose Me to Bring Good News

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.
Isaiah 61:1 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.61.1.NLT

God sent Jesus to fulfill scripture and He has given His spirit to us.  He gave us a message to share with other people that Jesus came to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that sinners have been freed.

This is the Good News that Jesus gave us freedom. That is the message of Jesus and His love for us.

Use Your Gifts to Help Others

God Wants us to use Our Gifts for Him:

Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
1 Peter 4:11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.4.11.NLT

God wants us to use your gifts to glorify Him, so remember He gave you your talent and use it to glorify him and not yourself.  So we should use our talent to bring glory to God, and we should also thank Him for the gifts and talents that he gave us.

It's easy to think that we have talent on our own, but God gives each and every one of us a special talent to use to bring glory to Him.

Encouraging Message for You Today:Luke 15: 1-7:

The Parable of THe Lost Sheep: 

Luke 15: 1-7:

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

Jesus Wants to Find The Lost:

Jesus is the Good Shephard and he wants to find all the lost people, the lost sheep.  Jesus wants us to find lost people and lead them to Him.

That is the most important thing about being a Chrisitan, leading others to Jesus.

Jesus Searches for The Lost:
Jesus searches for the lost people because He loves them and he wants to save them.

Jesus wants to find you if you don't know what you're supposed to do. He loves you and wants you to be in Heaven with Him.

Encouragement For You Today: Matthew 9:9-12

Matthew 9:9-12:

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?[c]”

12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”

Jesus Hung  Out With Sinners:

Jesus hung out with people that were looked down upon by Jewish society. Tax collectors were disliked because they stole money and they worked for the Roman government, but Jesus wanted Matthew to follow Him and He was willing to eat at his house.

Jesus Came for Sick People:

Jesus came to save sinners, people who are sick and in need of the Great Physician.  Jesus came to save people who need Him, not the healthy people who are righteous.

Jesus wants the people who are lost and need Him to save them.  He came for people who are not necessarily liked in society. He came for sinners everywhere,

People Came When Matthew Told Them Jesus Was At His House:

Matthew invited his friends when Jesus was at his house and they came because they wanted to see Him.  Jesus wants us to bring people to Him and that's what we're supposed to do as Christians.

I hope that this will encourage you as Christians to go and do what Jesus said we should do and carry out the Great Commission.

Encouragement for you Today: Matthew 8:5-13:

Matthew 8:5-13:

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer[a] came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant[b] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus Wants to Heal You:

Jesus wants to heal us.  A lot of people think it's crazy because well, we can't physically see Jesus so it seems strange to secular people when Christians say that Jesus wants to heal them when we pray for them.

Jesus wanted to heal the Centurion's servant and was willing to go to his house, which is amazing because Jewish people did not associate with gentiles in Biblical times, but Jesus was willing to go and heal the servant.

The Centurion Had Faith:

The Roman Centurion had faith in Jesus, he didn't even need Jesus to come to the house to heal him.  He just knew Jesus could heal through speaking because he understood authority. 

Jesus was impressed by his great faith and healed the servant and He can heal you too.

Jesus Wants to Heal You But You Have to Ask and Believe:

Jesus wants to heal you, but you have to pray and believe in Him to Heal you.  He wants to heal you but you have to ask and believe.  He is willing to heal you and He's able to do that if you believe.

Jesus will heal you if you pray, believe and claim that healing for yourself.

Encouragement from John 6:16-21

Jesus Walks on Water

16 That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him.17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19 They had rowed three or four miles[d] when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here![e]” 21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!

Jesus Can See your Struggling

One thing I learned from this scripture is that Jesus can see me when I'm struggling when I go through hard times and when I feel I can't do anything to become a better Christian.  He knows my problems and what I'm going through and He sees what I struggle with.

Jesus is With You So you don't Have to Be Afraid

Jesus is with you even during the storms of your life.  He will come with you and get into your boat and calm the storm.  He tells us not to be afraid because He is there with us.