There's something that always happens when we decide to leave everything for Jesus but instead of telling you what it is, I'll take you with me in my trip and show you what it is. While getting ready for a long trip, we get prepared many days before and spend a lot of our money. We leave everythin behind, our home, family, friends, work and we wait, wait and wait.
Until it's time to meet other people somewhere else. The point to me is: if we decided to follow Jesus for a lifetime, and agreed with His command to leave everything behind. .
. why sometimes we insist in carrying extra luggage? Why are we scared when it's time to wait?
And why do we hesitate to meet new people in new places? PART 2: THE PROMISSE I hope that just like me you don't like cheap grace preaching or enphasis on prosperity theology or all this "God will give you" and "God is here to serve you" kind of preaching. but it isn't about it that I want to share now.
In fact, there's something that Jesus promises that once we leave everything we have for him and his gospel, we're going to receive. And He says not only that we will receive but that we will receive a hundred times as much in this life - and in the age to come eternal life. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — along with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life.
" In 2015 my relationship with the Lord got deeper and 2016 and 2017 was all about to let go of what I had as my will and dreams to let God reign and guide my life as it pleases Him. During this process, that was quite hard, of course, it's not easy to leave our everything for Jesus. In my first time in a gathering like this (2017) God released to me the revelation of how precious His family is, how precious those for whom Jesus died were, how his eternal pourpose: of having on earth a family of many children similar to Jesus is the best thing to expend my life and myself for.
So it doens't matter what I have left behind because there's something of eternal value and that, thanks to Him, I can take for granted in this life and for eternity: His family. Besides having my family and home I can have waaay more: homes, fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and so on. The "theme" isn't important because we came here to.
. . gather together.
Find someone you don't know and ask: What's you name? Where are you from? Can I seat next to you during luch time?
If you're here for the first time, don't sit only with people that came with you, from your church or city Because you came here to be encountered by people ans also encounter them. Amen? Amen.
PART 3: THE TREASURE To live family is risky. We misunderstand each other, we have conflicts and get hurt. but there's a good song that reminds us: because everything is full of grace, there's nothing the Owner of all things can't change into good.
We understand each other, adjust one to another and are healed in communion. Greater than the challenges is the glory: the glory of being part of the family of God, of being part of church. So.
. . if you ask us what church is, we will say: A kingdom of friends.
To give oneself for the other. Friends. One body.
Communion. One body. Complete.
Communion. Belonging. Unity.
Life. Refuge. Jesus' bride.
Friends. Friendship. Family.
Family. Family. Family.
