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Dear Christian Friend,
Greetings in the name of Jesus! In Luke 7:36-50 we read the story of a
Pharisee named Simon, who invited Jesus to his house to have a meal. This
religious man also invited a select group of religious leaders like himself
to join him at the supper table. These religious men kept the law, tithed,
and went to God’s house daily. They were very religious, and wanted everyone
to know it.
The next thing we read is that a woman of the streets who was a sinner
crashed the scene. Somehow this sinner made her way past the servants of the
house and walked up to the table where those religious men were dining.
There she knelt at Jesus feet weeping, and began to wash his feet with her
tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and anointed his feet
with ointment.
The Pharisees were shocked and angered. They probably thought, how shameful!
Jesus can’t possibly be a prophet. If he were truly sent from God, he would
have known this woman is evil and stopped this display of sinfulness!
Scripture says these were Simon’s exact thoughts (see Luke 7:39).
This whole story (you need to read it) is about two Spirits. The Spirit of
Phariseeism, which is being judgmental and cold towards others. The other,
Christ Spirit of forgiveness and restoration.
A Pharisee is one who monitors the sins of others while justifying
themselves. Jesus illustrated this by pointing to a Pharisee’s prayer in the
temple: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers…I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I possess”
(Luke 18:11-12). Simply put, the Spirit of Phariseeism says, everyone else
is in error and I’m right.
Jesus was trying to tell Simon in this story that this moment around the
table isn’t about this woman who has come in here. It’s about you, Simon!
It’s about the spirit in you, your religious pride, your arrogance, your
judgmental attitude, and a lack of compassion. I believe Christians who are
judgmental and have a lack of compassion, are Christians who never have
received Christ’s forgiveness! Notice: This woman knew the Pharisees
whispered against her, but she never judged them, or was bitter against the
Pharisees, because she knew she had forgiveness from Christ!
Consider the other Spirit that was manifested in Simon the Pharisees house
that night - the Spirit of forgiveness and restoration. One of the biggest
problems of churches today is – we tend to forgive those outside the church
more then we do those inside the church! We have forgotten – that we are
called to restore the fallen!
We are to seek the Spirit that Jesus had in Simon’s house. When we have such
a Spirit in us, it works like a mighty magnetic force to draw those who need
God’s mercy. When God enlarged your heart, suddenly so many limits and
barriers are removed. You don’t see through a narrow lens anymore. Instead,
you find yourself being directed by the Holy Spirit to those who are
hurting.
And the hurting are drawn to your compassionate Spirit. This is why we go
into some of the world’s poorest and hurting nations!
Do you have gentleness of heart when you see hurting people? When you see a
brother or sister who has stumbled into sin and wants to be restored, who is
having problems, who may be headed toward divorce… are you temped to tell
them what’s wrong in their lives? They don’t need this – they need to be
restored in a Spirit of meekness, and gentleness. The Amplified Bible says
in Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, If any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin
or any sort, you who are spiritual (who are responsive to and controlled by
the Spirit) should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any
sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on
yourself, lest you should be tempted also.”
We need to encounter the Spirit that Jesus demonstrated at Simon’s house.
The Spirit of forgiveness and restorations! This is why Jesus went to the
cross!
Jesus never waited for people to come to him, He went after people! He
simply spoke the Word to them in a way that others could understand Him.
When was the last time you took time to tell someone about Jesus? There is a
world out there going to hell, and we have the answer – and His name is
JESUS! To me it’s the most fulfilling thing that we could ever do.
We are all getting older, and as a Christian, we want to make an impact in
this messed up world we live in. To often, we watch the news and all the bad
reports around the world. We talk about the daily events that seem to take
all of our attention away from what God has called us to do. We are
impacting Asia, and Africa with the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. Our mission
is to reach out to a lost and hurting world with a massive crusade (we call
them Festivals), we bring in Bibles and food for the poor and needy. Then we
plant, and operate a Bible School for those called to reach their own
country. And finally, we plant churches for those called to preach and
teach. We take a select few that graduate from our Bible Schools, and place
them in a new church that is fully paid, and debt free. We do all this
because of you! Without you, we could do nothing! We thank you so much!
We appreciate your prayers, love, and financial support. You can visit us
online at
www.worldharvestevangelism.org
We thank God for calling us, we thank you for sending us to South America,
Africa, and Asia.
Cliff & Kelly
World Harvest Evangelism
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