Open Your Eyes

 

Jesus taught his disciples that there is a greater priority in life than food and drink. He had just finished his conversation with the Samaritan Woman at the well in John chapter 4. His disciples had gone into town to get some food because they were all hungry, including Jesus. But, when they got back after urging Jesus to eat something, he replied, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (John 4:32). The disciples wondered if someone had brought him food. Jesus explained: “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work (John 4:34).

The transcending priorities in Jesus’ life were serving God by doing his will and his work. When Jesus came to the well, he was weary. Then the woman arrived. He began a conversation with her, and as her spirit opened up, Jesus was consumed by God’s work.

Jesus took advantage of this moment to teach his disciples a powerful truth. He said to them, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). The natural harvest follows a four-month cycle, but people follow a very different cycle. A person may have had seeds of the gospel planted years before then in a moment be ripe for the harvest. Jesus was saying to us all, “Open your eyes and see the harvest!” Everywhere around us are people ready to hear the message of the gospel if we can but see them.

We met a lady who lived her life with her eyes open during our years in Chaco, Argentina.  We called her Abuela (grandma).  Abuela Maria was seventy-six years old when she came to know Jesus. She didn’t have much of this world’s goods, but she knew she had treasures in Christ.  Although she was in her later years, she wasted no time learning how she could serve. She so committed her life to the Lord that she became involved in every ministry she could. Her excitement about Jesus was contagious. Within two years after her conversion, she had touched many with her infectious enthusiasm for God. She was always reaching out to somebody, whether it was through a loaf of homemade bread or just her familiar words of “I’m praying for you.”

After church one evening, Maria told me goodbye, because she was taking a trip. She hugged me as she also did each member of my family.

The following day Pastor Pablo called me. He was fighting tears as he said, “Can you come and help me preach a funeral?  Abuela Maria went home to Jesus last night. This morning, we found her sitting in her chair with her Bible in her lap and three offerings posted for next Sunday. “Then he added, “Did she tell you she was going on a trip.” I found out she had told several others she was going home.

At her funeral, Pablo asked, “How many have come to know Jesus because of this little lady that we are now saying goodbye to.” We were all shocked to see hands going up everywhere. Her life and death had made such an impact on so many in such a short time.  I think it was because she knew who she was in Christ, and she took advantage of the riches God has made available to all his children.  She understood remarkably what it meant to be a servant.  She lived with her eyes open toward people.  boydbrooks.com

Giving

 

Giving to God and others changes us when we give from the heart. Luke tells us to “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). Indeed, you cannot out-give God. Some people are afraid to give away some of what they have been blessed with, but they will never experience the joy of being blessed by God in unusual ways. The larger the measure we use to give away is the same way it comes back to us.

Luke describes for us an interesting scene from Jesus’ perspective. Jesus was watching as the rich and influential deposited their money into the brass chests at the temple. Some of the offerings were undoubtedly impressive. It was not uncommon for more than one person to be carrying the gifts because they were so heavy. You could hear the loud noise as the heavy coins hit the bottom of the brass chests. It may have been impressionable for those watching, but it wasn’t for Jesus because he saw their hearts. Luke says that “As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury, but he also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.” Jesus’ conclusion about the widow’s offering is surprising. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:1-4). She gave it to God out of love.

Giving is part of our sincere worship. I remember when we started the Argentine Missions Department in the 1980s. We began taking offerings from some very poor congregations to send as missions offerings. I explained to the people that it was a biblical principle, not a question of amount. I remember one woman, Juanita, who wanted to give but didn’t have anything to offer. Then God spoke to her to not buy a bell pepper that she liked to put in a dish she was going to make. She obeyed, and God used her offering the same way he did the widows’ two mites. 

boydbrooks.com

Reaching Out to Others

 

Reaching Out to Others

 

Selfishness isn’t something we have to be taught; it is born inside of us. On the contrary, we have to be guided by our parents and teachers on being unselfish. Even our concept of love is very egotistic. We love people who love us. We are nice to people who are nice to us, but to be nice to someone rude is hard. Here are three things that God wants from us: “God wants us to love people the way he does.” “God wants us to see people the way he does.” Lastly, “God wants us to have a heart that ministers to people.”

God wants us to love people the way he does. God loves the whole world. His love does not depend on our goodness. Dennis the menace and his partner in crime received cookies from Mrs. Wilson. His accomplice said, “Wow, we must have been good to get these cookies today.” Dennis replied, “Mrs. Wilson doesn’t give us cookies because we are good but because she is good.” That is precisely the way the love of God works. We have to learn to love people who don’t deserve our love but need to be loved.

God wants us to see people the way he sees them. Not the way they are but the way they can be, not with their hang-ups and fears but with firm faith and trust in God. God sees past their faults and envisions where they can be.

God wants us to have a heart that ministers to people. We live in a broken world filled with broken people. They are everywhere, in our family, among our neighbors, acquaintances, and even strangers. If we observe how Jesus ministered to the broken-hearted, we can learn. The story of Jesus and the woman at the well in John chapter four gives us insight into ministering to the broken-hearted.

I believe that God wants us to break out of our comfort zones and begin to minister to hurting people. Some of us are too comfortable and don’t want to be burdened by someone else’s problems. Others are very closed off and unwilling even to initiate a conversation with someone you don’t know.

I am convinced that God arranges the people he wants us to meet. As we go about our day, the Holy Spirit sets up divine appointments. Such was the case when Jesus ministered to the woman at the well.

One of the most gratifying things in life is to be used by God to minister to people. It is a sobering thought to realize that we meet people who have eternal souls and are so precious to God that he has arranged for us to get to know them. The Holy Spirit will arrange the circumstances with people who have broken hearts if we desire it. Never have there been more broken people in the world than there are today.