Devotion Weekly Message
November 3, 2019
Luke 19:1-10
Zacchaeus Sets Out to See Jesus, Whatever It Takes!
Sermon Prayer: “Heavenly Father, I stand before Your people, to deliver Your message. Though the words are mine and I prepared this message, I pray that this message is Your message in its entirety. I pray your blessing and anointing on its delivery, its reception and most of all its application in our lives.” Amen
The Reading
“He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short of stature. So, he ran ahead and climbed a Sycamore tree to see Him, because He was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So, he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.
All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”
Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay them back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.”
Zacchaeus is one of my very favorite bible characters. I can identify with him in a few ways and it amuses me. Can you picture a guy that the bible describes as short of stature pacing back and forth behind the crowds hoping to find a spot where he might see Jesus, when He passes by? In my childhood days, when there was an annual circus parade downtown, I was always pushed to the back and I would run and jump trying to see an elephant or the clowns when they passed. It really didn’t work so well for me.
And next we read that Zacchaeus was so determined to see our Lord that day that he ran ahead and climbed a tree, just to get a glimpse of Him, in passing. We already know that Zacchaeus was a tax collector and we also know that tax collectors in those days were notorious for cheating those who came to pay their taxes and pocketing the monies. Wow Pastor, how do you identify with that? There was a time in my life many years ago when I was a backslider and failed the Lord and my family in many ways. I came to a point in my life where I realized how much I needed Jesus. I began looking for ways to FIND Him. Visits to churches were not resonating well and I realize now that the mistake I was making was in a misguided belief that just going to church would make all the changes automatically.
I began to read my bible and pray for Jesus to come into my life. In other words, I began LOOKING for Jesus. I wanted to see Jesus. I wanted Jesus. Just as in the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus appeared to me and I crawled out of bed in that lonely little one room apartment in Miami, Florida, and fell on my knees. It has been a very long miraculous journey from there to here.
You see folks, we all encounter Jesus in our lives from day one. The problem is that we don’t recognize Him. We must seek Him, truly seek Him to see Him. Sure, we can hear wonderful, moving sermons, read terrific devotions, get our emotions at a peak and feel good. The truth is we won’t see Jesus until we seek Him.
Please remember that the words that leave your lips must also be the prayers of your heart, Otherwise, our prayers fall short.
If you have fallen away from the Lord and truly want to have Him back in your life, may I suggest that you seek Him. Tell our Lord how much He means to you and how empty your life is without Him. Climb that Sycamore tree, or whatever it takes to show how serious you are to see Him.
Let us pray.
Let us now go forth loving and serving God by loving and serving each other – EVERY each other.
I humbly and sincerely ask for your prayers!
https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/311609-how-to-pray-for-your-pastor-ronnie-floyd.html?utm_source=outreach-cl-daily-nl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=read-more&utm_campaign=cl-daily-nl&maropost_id=&mpweb=256-7370272[HG1]
“…but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4)
Note: It is the practice of this church to preach straight from the bible. We follow the lectionary assigned readings from which the sermon/messages are derived.
