We have control over our prayer life, our relationship with Jesus.
Francis ChanRead
People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to Him.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of living a life connected to the poor and highlights Jesus's teachings on money and poverty.
Francis Chan suggests that true devotion to Jesus manifests in tangible ways, particularly in how individuals relate to and serve the poor. He asserts that a genuine obsession with Jesus inspires believers to prioritize caring for those in need, reflecting the significance Jesus placed on this issue in his teachings.
In practice
In a sermon discussing charity and compassion, I would quote this to emphasize our responsibility to help those in need.
We have control over our prayer life, our relationship with Jesus.
A disciple is a disciple maker.
Don't fall into the trap of studying the Bible without doing what it says.
Our God listens to us. Our God is a living God. He's not a block of wood you made up that's not going to answer you. My God listens to me. He answers me.
...I don't have to worry about not meeting His expectations. God will ensure my success in accordance with His plan, not mine.
People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.
There are many examples of this mistaken idea of freedom, such as the elimination of human life by legalized or generally accepted abortion.
I'm sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I'm not going to start wearing ties, I'm also not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords.
This living hand, now warm and capable Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold And in the icy silence of the tomb, So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood, So in my veins red life might stream again, And thou be conscience-calm'd. See, here it is-- I hold it towards you.
To look away from the world, or to stare at it, does not help a man to reach God; but he who sees the world in Him stands in His presence.
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.
They'd smash up the world if they thought it would make a pretty noise.
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