Topic: Leave the Ninety Nine  [Church of God Mission International] Above Only Daily Devotional 1 July 2021

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Above Only Devotional

Thursday, July 01, 2021

Leave the Ninety Nine

Luke 15:1-6a (GNB)
One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!” So Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them – what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the posture and go looking for the one that get lost until you find it. When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders and carry it back home.”

After His encounter with Zacchaeus that led to Zacchaeus’ salvation, Jesus clearly stated His purpose: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10, NIV.) This was the primary purpose in Jesus’ mind as He related and interacted with sinners every day. When the Pharisees murmured that He ate and drank with sinners, Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32, NIV.)

God does not want us to ever reach a place of comfort and complacency simply because the majority of people around us are saved. Rather, He wants us to remain concerned about the one out there who is not yet saved, the one out there who is sick, bruised and hurting. Our hearts should remain concerned for the one out there who is in need, confused or hopeless. This is a major aspect of our purpose as believers in Christ because the soul of every human being is of great value to God. That is why He sent Jesus to suffer and die for the sins of the whole world.

There is something within you that the lost, sick and afflicted desperately need. You have the life, the love and the power of God in you. You have the gospel of Christ in your heart and mouth. As such, be more sensitive and yielded to recognizing and maximizing the opportunities that God brings your way daily to seek and save the lost. Let your heart bleed and yearn for the salvation of the lost around you. Use every means possible to reach people with God’s love.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please use me to reach someone with the message of your love and saving grace in Christ Jesus. Use me to touch and heal someone today.

Bible in One Year Reading Plan
2 Kings 18:13-19:37, Acts 21:1-17, Psalm 149:1-9, Proverbs 18:8