Editors Note: The devotional has a background song by called which can be heard if you use Internet
Explorer.
SCRIPTURE:
"They
came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus
to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the
village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him,
Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" He
looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were
opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus
sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village." (Mark 8:22-26, NIV)
OBSERVATION:
I asked myself what what happened when Jesus
and the disciples came to Bethsaida?
Some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
INTERPRETATION:
I asked
myself the significance of what the people did?
The people knew what Jesus could do and they realized that Jesus
alone could heal the blind man when He touches him. They knew the man
needed help and took it upon themselves to BRING the
man to Jesus. They realized the man’s condition which needed healing.
They did not stop there but went a step further. They begged Jesus to
touch him.
I asked
myself the significance of their action while they were before Jesus?
The people did not stop at BRINGING the man to
Jesus but were there for him and interceded on his behalf before Jesus
by begging Jesus to touch the blind man.
IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life. As the people
brought the man who was blind before Jesus, I too should BRING people
whose condition is not well before the Lord. As the people begged Jesus
to touch the man, I too should intercede on behalf of
those who are sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually taking them
before the Lord and asking for the Lord’s intervention.
HOW GOSPEL GIVES TESTIMONY REGARDING B.R.I.N.G:
It is not good
enough for me to live my life thinking I am born-again and have Jesus in
my life but need to care of
the condition of others before me and introduce them to the Lord and ask
for the Lord’s healing in their lives. It is exciting to know those of
us who know Jesus as our Lord and Personal Savior have the privilege and
responsibility to BRING others to Jesus. My job is to take them to Jesus
but they have to make their own choice. I cannot save anyone
but only lead them to the One who can save.
"But life is worth nothing unless I can use it
to do the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others
about God's mighty goodness and love!" (Acts 20:24, TLB)
I needed to be rescued from the
bondage of sin and death including from the oppression and clutches of
Satan. I was provided that rescue from those who brought me to the Lord:
Pat Robertson and my mommy!
I have been given the opportunity to
bring those who are in bondage to sin before Jesus so Jesus can touch
them and heal
them with His precious cleansing blood. I praise the Lord for that and
need to act upon it.
Only His blood can cleanse me where I am at and give me a new
beginning. His blood is the antidote to the deadly virus known as sin.
Jesus died for you and me, was buried, and on the 3rd day rose to give
me Eternal Life when I turned to Him. Jesus can do the same for you! Jesus
loves you so much that Jesus took upon Himself all of your sin. Jesus
wants to touch your life with His love right now.
"The Lord
waits at the door and knocks; if anyone hear Him calling them and opens
the door, He will come in and fellowship with them and they with Him."
(Rev 3:20)
I ask you
now dear friend, who do you bring to Jesus?
Dear friend, during the beginning of the school
year there is an activities fair at Pitt & CMU where there are multiple Christian
organizations representing Jesus Christ there. One of their purpose is
to have a fellowship each night of the week to provide each student the
opportunity for fellowship and bring people into the Kingdom of God.
Their fellowship is just one of the means to bring people to Jesus
and let Jesus work in their lives. You too can bring others to Jesus
that do not know Jesus and ask Jesus for healing in their lives.
Friend, is
it a loved one who does not know Jesus?
Bring them before Jesus and pray
daily asking Jesus for His healing Hand in their lives so they can come
to know Him as their Lord and Personal Savior.
Friend, is
it a stranger you know who does not know Jesus?
Bring them before Jesus for all
souls are important and we should not just follow the Great Commission
for those we love and know but to everyone around us regardless of their
nationality, race, creed, language, location, etc. Every campus is a
rainbow of nationalities and Jesus is needed for all.
You can be the one friend to
bring people to Jesus. One of the ways to do that is invite your
classmates and people around you to church, fellowship, seeker meetings,
etc. You do your part seeking the Lord and let the Lord do the rest.
Let the Lord guide you and lead you.
Most importantly, invite them to hang out with you whether they are
believers or unbelievers. Speaking of a hangout, Asian InterVarsity at
Pitt is having a hangout time of frisbee and other games on the
Cathedral of Learning lawn tonight at 7:00 p.m. Andrea and Jason Huang
of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship are staff workers who are
coordinating this. I hope you can bring your friends who do not know
Jesus for a hangout time there. If you know Jesus, please come so your
friends will hopefully follow. After that they are going to Dave &
Andy's around 8:30 p.m.
Those reading this message and are in the Pittsburgh area, I want to
invite you and your friends to come to Oakland International Fellowship
to worship with us. OIF meets at 9:00 a.m. for prayer time, 10:00 a.m.
for the worship service, 11:30 a.m. for Sunday School, and 12:30 p.m.
for lunch and fellowship. We are located on North Dithridge Street next
to St. Paul's Cathedral Church.
This Sunday we are having a combined worship service with Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland where the message and worship songs will be in
Chinese and English. I hope to see you there if you are not part of a
church already :)
(To be
continued…..)
May the Lord guide you and lead
you so that you can bring people to Jesus because beautiful Redeemer is
nurturing Giver! Amen!
“Beautiful
Redeemer Is Nurturing Giver!” (B.R.I.N.G)/”Who
do you bring to Jesus?”
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for pointing to me how I should reach
out to all and bring them to you and ask you for your help. Thank you so
much for sharing with me about the blind man who was brought to
you by some people. Your Word here did not say friends but some people
and they could have been strangers to the man. Yet, they interceded on
behalf of the man. Help us to do the same please Jesus. Thank you so
much Jesus. We thank you for dying for our sin and coming back to life
to save us. We are so sorry for our sin and ask you to forgive us and
heal us Oh Lord. Please hear our prayers and answer us for the glory and
honor of Your Name. Thank you so much Jesus! Give us the boldness and
courage to reach out to others with your love Oh Lord. Whatever we do,
let it be a means to bring others to you and let you work in their
lives. Thank you so much Jesus. Thank you for hearing our prayers and
answering us! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!!
May you experience the POWER OF
CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him the LOCKED areas of your
life too so you can experience His PEACE as you become an ACTOR in the
film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR, JESUS CHRIST who comes
to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
Come to Jesus as you are and pray this prayer to accept Jesus as your
Lord and Personal Savior. He will transform your life around! Praise the
Lord! You don't have to have all the answers! You can come as you are!
Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the BREAD of Life. You are the Living BREAD
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the BREAD
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
