Changing Lives for Eternity Requires Action
“Love one another deeply, from the heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)
Sometimes, when we accept Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah, we distort our salvation as a testimonial of spiritual superiority or view it as a get-out-of-jail-free card that permits a carefree, ineffective and quite often, selfish life.
In this, people ignore the reality of what it means to be a follower of Yeshua who walks in His footsteps, living according to His teachings.
Following Yeshua requires action arising from commitment, obedience and a heart dedicated to service.
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6)
A destitute man prays at the Western (Wailing)
Wall in Jerusalem.
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Throughout history, it has been all too common for people to ignore human suffering and oppression. Sometimes, people express sympathy but, not long afterward, invest their God-given time in short-term pleasures that consume all their energy.
In the 21st century, few are innocent in this.
Yeshua, however, set a different example for us to follow:
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26–28)
“Leading in a way that transforms society is a goal to which few leaders even aspire. Yet, Yeshua (Jesus) led in a way that produced profound systemic changes in His world, changes that still influence us today after many centuries,” states Regent University's Jon Bylor.
“The leadership of Yeshua continues to impact the world. Although He offered practical advice to soldiers and peasants, His strategy focused on long-term change that would ultimately, but not quickly, transform society,” Bylor said. (Leading Like Jesus for a Change)
In a society that resembles the time of Noah, the seemingly bleak future of our world can drive us to despair.
Were we to watch the world crumble around us as we gratefully accept God's saving hand for ourselves and our loved ones without advocating for the lost, we might compare ourselves to Noah.
If we embraced a deeper level of commitment to the troubled world around us, we could develop the same righteousness and compa**ion of Abraham, who actually pleaded with God for Sodom and Gomorrah:
“Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? … Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to k** the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:23–25)
The growing influx of Soviet Jewish olim in the late 80s and early 90s
meant that Israel had to embark on a crash effort to build housing. In the
above photo, olim and soldiers pa** the time together at an army base in
Israel where the immigrants were temporarily housed.
God is not calling us to be pa**ive spiritual spectators. Faith is active. It involves running “with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Yeshua, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1)
God is calling us to make a difference in the lives of others.
Sometimes this involves standing up for someone much like Paul did when he wrote a letter to Philemon on behalf of the escaped slave Onesimus, who had become a Believer.
Although Onesimus could have been put to d**h for having escaped, Paul sends him back to his master, asking Philemon to welcome him back as a brother(Philemon 1).
A Jewish man in France takes a moment to offer help to someone in need.
Making a difference also means helping the poor and the oppressed.
“Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:3–4)
It includes joining hands and vocally standing against a tide of anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Israelism.
Those who have been set free from their sin are lights shining in the darkness of this world.
When we show the love of God and hold out the Word of life, we will actively make a difference in our families, communities, Israel and the world.
If I've learned one secret in life in my more than 50 years of service to the Lord, it is this: In a time of storm, never put your focus on how big your mountain is. Instead, bless the Lord and declare through worship and giving how big your God is. Every time I've done this, God has stilled the storm and opened amazing doors in the midst of it. With all my heart, I am praying and believing God for a breakthrough for your life today.