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Loving the Lost

    Jesus didn't come to save religious people who think they already know everything there is to know about Christianity, He came to save the lost. Let that sink in. A lot of Christians like to get into their "Holy huddles" and to separate themselves from the rest of the world. That's not the mentality of Jesus. He was where the people were at. Jesus desperately longed for those who were lost to know His love for them.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (ESV)

Luke 13:34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. (NIV)

    If we want to make a difference in this world for Jesus then we must imitate His heart for the people of this fallen world. When Jesus looked around, He saw lost sheep without a shepherd and had compassion for them. What He didn't see was people who were so messed up that somehow they would infect His Holiness. Why do we so often think that way? That is the mentality of the old covenant. Because of the nature of their covenant with God, the Jews had to remain separate from the world to maintain their relationship. Jesus abolished that when He died for our sins 2,000 years ago. It's about time to stop thinking that way. 

Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (ESV)

    Look at the people around you differently. See them as Jesus did, with a compassionate heart and not with judgement as the Pharisees did. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, were the only people who Jesus rebuked while here on earth. They kept the law themselves, but did not love and shepherd the people they were meant to guide. Let us not make the same mistake, but draw the lost in with the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (ESV)

Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. (NIV)

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