Light Bulbs, Turkeys and Atheists

by Cy Ricker

Over the past couple of days I’ve been thinking about a variety of things.   John chapter 8 gives account of Jesus challenging the Pharisees about casting stones at a woman found to be in sin.  Then in John chapter 10 we see how the thief comes to steal, kill, & destroy. This morning at city life church a friend of mine pointed something out to me about this particular passage. Our thoughts on this passage have always been directed towards the devil, being the thief Jesus is talking about. But at a closer glance, I see that Jesus could be speaking about the Pharisees being the thieves here as well as He did in chapter 8.

How often do our actions and words contribute to the death of something we don’t understand or agree with. There is, after all, life and death in our tongues.

Last week I mentioned seeing turkeys and that God had shown me something through that experience. The simple version is that everywhere I’ve been people are the same. We are all alike. As Christian people we want everyone to experience God the way we do. The reality is this, not everyone will experience God the same way.

This has been a blister with believers for a very very long time. It’s such a bitter-sweet spot. Some experience the fullness of God through worship, while others experience Him through a Word, while others experience Him through both. Some experience His healing through confession while others experience it through silence. Some want the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven while others say His Kingdom is already here.

The commonality I find with almost every personal subjective view is this…All believers want to see people set free. To see people saved.

I think the enemy gets great pleasure out of watching Christian people argue over how a person is saved or how their walk should look.  I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my past as a believer. Sometimes the mistakes have been because I spoke too soon and other times it’s been because I didn’t speak at all.

This morning Pastor John at neighborhood fellowship/city life church spoke about how he once defended the Gospel to someone in his Bible study who didn’t quite see things the way he did. Through the experience he found that Holy Spirit was a much better defender of truth than he had given Him credit for.

At Pentecost all the people were in one accord. Shortly thereafter things were scattered out again so the gospel could reach the ends of the earth. God is still looking for people who want the same thing, for the lost to be found, and the found to be in unity.

My message to everyone from now on is simple…once we get a hold of the love of God and the kind of love He has for us, nothing else matters because our existence is supposed exude or display that very same thing or love towards each other.

In no way shape or form do I want to perform like a Pharisee. Even though my actions don’t and won’t affect the sanctification Jesus has given me, I want to act in a way that’s pleasing to Him.

Some of my thoughts might seem a little scattered out throughout this post, but the one thing we have to get out of this life is that Jesus goes to great lengths to meet each individual person where they are to draw them into a deep and rich relationship with Him. We can’t limit or criticize how that’s accomplished.

Brother Cy pastored a Cowboy Church in Kansas and is currently evangelizing in the Midwest by bringing speakers together to minister at revivals.  You can read more and follow him on Facebook at Chainbreakers Alive https://www.facebook.com/groups/1266878356715062/permalink/1401767416559488/