Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 68

March 9, 2018;      Matthew 18:14;       18/260(IV);        ‘That None Should Perish’

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 

The loving heart of God the Father and the Lord Jesus is very clear in this verse.  The Lord does not love those who are born again any less than those who are not born again.  He just does not have to spend time endeavoring to bring those who are saved into the Kingdom of God, as they are already in.  How does the Lord seek those who have gone astray?  Through us, His church.  We are everywhere.  Christians are to do everything we can to see to it that our family, friends and those we work with are born again.  How we conduct ourselves, how we speak to others, our willingness to be courteous to those who are unkind and our constant looking to pray for those who are hurting makes us the ones who are constantly looking for the ‘lost sheep.’  One of the long list of things I love about Jesus is that salvation is universal, it is for everyone and yet He is interested in every person individually.  If that same attitude is in us, it will make our lives so incredibly exciting.  Every person has a story.  If they are not yet born again, they have things to deal with that only Jesus Christ can fix.  We have the privilege to bring the Lord Jesus to them.  The Lord is our Example. Scriptures like this one and ‘Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10), is what we can pattern our life after if we choose to.  Life is Jesus.  The greatest joy is to share the Lord with someone who is hurting (Rev. John Osteen said ‘treat everyone as if they had a broken heart because most likely they do.’) and to see them accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Lost sheep, we’re on our way to find you.