We finished celebrating the birth of our Savior and now we celebrate the birth of the new year and new decade!
Wednesday January 6th, 2010 - HEART OF A CHAMPION
Having a heart of a champion is having a heart for others. Everyone has needs – physical, spiritual and emotional. And our Champion – Jesus – can meet all of our needs. He can also allow us to meet the needs of others.
We all know the story of Zacchaeus, the short tax collector. He was a wee little man, who climbed up a tree, for the Lord he was goin’ to see. Then some special happened, as we read in Luke 19. Jesus, the Lord, called out to Zacchaeus by name. You probably know you have to be pretty close to someone who is your superior in order to be on first name basis with them. Think of your teacher or neighbor – you call them Mr. or Mrs. But someone who is a friend calls you by your name. Jesus met Zacchaeus’ emotional needs of being known, being accepted and being pursued by calling him by name. And God knows your name too! Jesus went on to invite himself over to the tax collector’s house. You can experience the same joy that Zacchaeus did when he welcomed Jesus into his life.
In another story in the Bible, we see Jesus meet spiritual needs as well. In John 4:9 we start the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. She was an outcast woman who had resorted to visiting the well during the heat of the afternoon so as not to have to face the general public. Additionally, the Jewish people didn’t speak to Samaritans at this time. And here was Jesus, a man AND a Jewish person, and He is seeking out this woman to speak with her. As He approaches her and begins talking to her, she questions his motives. He asks for a drink. She asks why He is talking to her. He leads into the spiritual conversation with his question, which is about the basic physical need of water. But He goes on to explain that not only can He meet her physical thirst, but her spiritual thirst as well. After all, He explains, He is the living water of life. And every person NEEDS Christ. God loves each person and provides a way for a personal relationship with Him. He desires to save each lost person. God has chosen to use others to show and share their experience in order for others to drink of the living water of Christ. Knowing Christ, having your spiritual needs met, allows you to be changed, to have a reason to live, to have a heart for others and to be saved for eternity.
Jesus can meet your needs and give you a heart to meet the needs of others. Some things to do to show your heart for others:
1. Show genuine concern for others. Demonstrate outwardly that you care on the inside. Use eye contact, positive touch, and repeat back what you have learned, heard and understood.
2. Listen to a story and share your story as well. You have to open up to others for them to open up to you. They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
3. Extend an invitation. If you are outgoing, this may not make sense to you. But the majority of people want to be invited to events, parties, church, games in order to feel comfortable taking part. Invite people to talk, to hang out, to church and to meet Jesus.
4. Expect a variety of responses. You may get a smile, you may get blown off. You make make a new friend, you may lose a friend. Remember the parable of the sower. We must plant the seed in obedience to God. He will handle the response.
5. Follow up on the possible (to love them) and ask God for the impossible (pray for a response for Christ). You can control your behavior, so make sure you are acting with love. Only God can call someone to know Him, pray for your efforts to be fruitful.
Tie it all together with Alex’s sermon from Sunday January 10th. In Mark 6 we see Jesus showing compassion for a large gathering of people. He takes all they have, which isn’t much, and gives it away in love. He asks God to do what needs to be done to make it work. This is what we have to do too. We have to be willing and have the heart for others. Then, we ask God to use us and do what needs to be done to make it work. Alex finished with 2 Corinthians 5 :14-16 which says :
14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.
We cannot look at things through our own eyes and own abilities. Christ’s love must make us want to love others and see them through His eyes. In living no longer for ourselves, but for Christ, we can see others through His eyes and try to meet their needs.
