Reaching out

Thursday night I was at my parents home making dinner. My parents were both gone so I was with all of the kids. I was kind of like their nanny even though two of them belonged to me. 2 babies, Joe the 5 year old, Alicia the 8 year old and my Alivia who will be 7 next week.



The girls came in to ask if they could go to the neighbor's home and visit Mr. Kyle. I said "no". So Alivia, with her little persuasive self said, "Mom, Mr. Kyle is a Christian so it will be okay. If he wasn't a Christian then I wouldn't even want to play over there."



My answer was still "no" even though Mr. Kyle is the nicest guy. Plus I knew they'd just bug Mr. Kyle to no end.



As I was finishing preparing the burritos, I was thinking of what Alivia had said. How often as adults do we do this? Aren't we just so safe if everyone around us believes like we do? It's much easier to go through life surrounded by those who know how we already feel about Jesus. When we are around people that love Jesus too then we don't seem to be watched as closely. Our margin for error seems to have a little more leniency to it.



AT&T has an ad we've all seen asking us "Who's in Your Circle?"
Just think of who would've missed out on experiencing Jesus if He would've have never reached beyond His circle. What if He had been satisfied at just reaching the disciples and not

~the woman at the well

~the woman of sin who washed His feet with her tears, perfume & kisses
~the woman who touched His clothes in faith of healing
~the adulterous woman about to get stoned to death
~the mother of the demon possessed little girl
~Zacchaeus...

Luke 19:1-9 (NLT)

Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.

If Jesus wouldn't have reached out to that "notorious sinner" that day we wouldn't be spending eternity with him.

I think it is so important to surround ourselves with friends that are strong Christians because that is one way of how we stay focused on Jesus. Women who believe in God and are bold to share their faith is who I have in "my circle", but I also believe we need to reach out to those who have no clue who Jesus is. Don't keep Jesus to yourself. When your path crosses with someone who doesn't know Him, let Him use you to reach them.

Let's make our lives available for Jesus to reach the Zacchaueus' that He brings our way.

~Many Blessings~

Join me tomorrow for YES to GOD Tuesday discussing Chapter 2 of Lysa TerKeurst's book "What Happens When Women Walk in Faith"!