The Whosoevers

Sometimes we need to be reminded that we were once a whosoever.  The Gospel is for everyone, regardless of their past, their name, skin color, economic status or any other dividing issue. Jesus is still in the life changing business and we either work for Him, or against Him.

Transcript

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Hey guys, thanks for tuning in to Unfiltered with Jesse B. And I just want to apologize for my voice ahead of time. You may hear some coughing and sneezing. It's just that the springtime allergies have finally gotten to me. But I'm going to push through and talk about something today that I think we can all benefit from and certainly stand to be reminded of from time to time. So Colossians 124, and I'm reading this out of the ESV, says, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church. So rejoicing in suffering for the benefit of somebody else doesn't really sound like a good time. Doesn't sound fun to anybody or something that we want to do. Typically, when we are suffering or going through a bad season in life, the last thing we want to think about is how somebody else may be thinking about us. While I have never been one to buy into that just suffering for Jesus type mentality, because it goes against anything and everything that I've read in Scripture or heard preached about, yet, we all know that in this life we're going to have tribulation or trouble. Somewhere along the line, we have adopted this mindset that if we're Christians, we shouldn't have any trouble. And if we do, it's typically because we have done something wrong. Now, certainly we all have the ability to make choices and we will face the consequences of those choices, be it good or bad, and that's not what I'm talking about necessarily, as much as I'm just talking about getting through life in general. So today a group of guys from the local adult and teen challenge facility organization came to our service this morning and shared some music and personal testimonies. And then the reverend of that particular facility shared a message, and one of the verses was the one I just quoted, uh Colossians 1.24, and it was the Apostle Paul talking about rejoicing and sufferings for the sake of the church. This pastor or reverend went on to say that sometimes it is sickening to hear about people's blessings, like they've never had a bad day in life, and life is just perfect. And I thought about that for a minute, and it's true. Not that I wish bad times on anyone, but I would learn a lot, I think, or we all would, if people would just be open about their journey. In other words, hey, it's okay that you might have a bad day or a bad week, month, year, etc. Sometimes, maybe a lot of times, it's more inspiring when someone not only admits that they're struggling with something, but also to see how they're handling it and what God has taught them from it, how God deepened their faith through it. And a lot of times I think that is more inspiring than, you know, God is just really blessing me financially, God's really blessing my family, which is important as well. But it kind of reminds me of Facebook posts in a way. You never see the bad things, only the good things that people post. But anyway, one of the main reasons that I started this podcast and chose the name Unfiltered was because it seems like people always want to talk about the best, but they never want to talk about what's real, what's going on. And as I said, sometimes that can be a lot more helpful and more inspiring. So John 3.16 is one of the verses that we all know and love. But it's actually John 3.18 that I would like to focus on tonight. And I'm reading this out of the amplified, it says whoever, which of course some translations and the way I learned it say whosoever, but this is in my notes. So whoever believes and has decided to trust in him as personal savior and Lord is not judged, for this one there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation. But the one who does not believe and has decided to reject him as personal savior and Lord is judged already, because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the one and only begotten Son of God, the one who is truly unique and the only one who is king, the one alone who can save him. So a few years ago there was a movie about Rich Mullins, and it was titled Ragamuffin. If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it. I don't know if Rich actually said these words or if it was just written into the script, but uh there was a point where there was a scene that he was talking to uh his audience uh during a concert, and he said something to the effect of being a Christian is not about perfection. It's not about having the perfect family, the perfect career, perfect little house in the perfect neighborhood where there's no drugs, no crime, no gays around, etc. And of course, my version to sum all of that up is being a Christian is not about having the Hallmark channel lifestyle. It's about sharing Jesus and rejoicing when lives are actually changed because of Jesus. And that is something that we as Christians need to be reminded of. Uh, when life is great, I'm going to remember to give praise to Jesus, and when life is crap, and it has been for me this past year, I'll still give praise to Jesus because I know that he will get me through it. I may have words and attitudes and opinions about it, but I am not going to turn my back on him because he never turned his back on me. So while I was looking at these group of guys who have been through jail, prison, dealing with addiction, uh, the consequences of broken families and just, you know, having to uh pick up life and start it all over again. Some of them, you know, came from some pretty rough backgrounds. But the one thing that I noticed is that most of them, if not all, have a sincere heart for the Lord. And they credit the Lord for giving them a second chance in life. Some of their families and friends might have given up on them, society may have given up on them, but God didn't give up on them because they are the whosoevers, just like I am a whosoever, and you are also a whosoever. It's not by our own merits, but by the grace of God and the blood of the Savior, King Jesus. And that is something that we can all uh make the choice. If you haven't already, you can say that. Uh I do say that. And you know, Jesus came to save the broken, he came to uh, you know, give hope to everybody regardless. So something that we all just need to be reminded of, and it's it's all about Jesus, and it's all about Jesus changing lives and spreading the word. So anyway, uh thanks for listening to I know that this was kind of a hodgepodge of a a podcast, but uh these are just things that is on my mind. Hopefully you got some good out of it. So love you all, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good night.