As you may recall, the last blog entry was about the frustration all of us as followers of Jesus feel from time to time. Often we become so focused on our own frustrations, or on our own business with tasks, that we do not notice the frustrations of other people around us. And, even the most empathetic among us often fail to consider the sense of frustration of Jesus.
Naturally, because in the eternal realm He knows the end from the beginning, His frustration is a bit different from our own when we go through the loss of perspective common to times of frustration. His frustration at times literally brought Him to strongly emotional displays of tears and swinging a whip. His frustration arises when He is confronted with our choices to believe more in the ways we have always done things than to believe in Him and what He has demonstrated.
Take a moment to consider His simple statement. In the same manner the Father sent Him into the world, that is the manner He is sending each of us, His followers into the world. Take a moment to “get real.” Does the style of what you are doing actually resemble the style of Jesus. Often we justify our differences by telling ourselves how different the world around us has become. But look at some very important points of Jesus’ manner of doing things:
He was humble. He did not try to draw attention to what he did. He even asked people to keep His miracles a secret.He made Himself a servant. People called Him master but He remained their servant.He did not rely on emotionally stirring people.He did not create a niche market for Himself.The most important impact of His ministry was in the context of intimately close personal relationships.In big meetings He intentionally taught in ways that people would not understand the import of what He said.His life was a demonstration of the character of God the Father.
How many of these statements actually describe our manners of walking in the world ? Are we following Him or frustrating Him ?
His, thus Yours,
Stuart
His-Family 
Thank you for a word of encouragement! I needed to be reminded of this.
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The most important impact of His ministry was in the context of intimately close personal relationships.
This will probably frustrate you that I am even saying this. You have tried so hard to help me understand it. I know. But when I read this statement it means nothing to me. I don’t understand this sentence at all. I am still not entirely sure what you actually mean when you say “context of intimately close personal relationships”. I am just not grasping this concept at all and I am not sure what it will take to finally get it. 🙂
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