Dear Morning Devotion Group.  Today’s devotion concluded my 100% Jesus series.  We will begin a new series next week.  Tomorrow I will send you a link for the entire devotion series, unedited, and in sequential form (1-100).  If anyone feels led to edit the devotion book, please do.  I will probably self-publish it at some point in the future.  You can also access the devotion book now  by clicking on the “100% Jesus” tab on my blog site, www.storiesofvalue.  I have left it in simple Word form so you can download it to your electronic device.  Blessings,  Larry

Let them see Jesus!

My barber has a license tag that reads, “ICGSUS”.  Ordinarily, I would only give the tag a passing glance.  It is creative, but not much different from other statements of faith I see as I drive around town.  But there is more to the tag than meets the eye.  My barber has a prayer room where she comes early in the morning and spends hours before the Lord.  Her mother, who is 101 years old, still spends three hours in prayer every day.  Over the years I have watched my barber answer God’s call to reach out in Jesus’ name, in every way possible.  She has visited women in prison and given them hair makeovers, then given them free cuts after they were released and even offered to teach them her trade as a gift.  She has taken trips to third world countries and loved on poor children who need to know they are not forgotten.  I am not sure what my barber has seen, but I have seen Jesus in her.  Through a faithful prayer life, she has successfully guarded her heart against the world’s toxins and remained organic in her love for the Lord.

Before I close, I want to make sure we know developing a walk that centered in the 100% Jesus is not achieved by following a formula.  The Beatitudes are not incantations we repeat to evoke some sort of mystical blessing from God.  The organic Christian life is fundamentally an honest relationship with our Savior.  Our relationship grows as we focus on His Word and journey with Him in prayer.  We must have a passion for the lost, but we don’t live for them.  We live for Jesus, and as a result the lost are able to see Him in us.  This means the most loving thing we can do for people who need Jesus is to love Jesus with all of our being.  The Lord’s heart for the lost will spill over into our relationship with everyone we meet.

Just recently, I unearthed a picture of my Uncle Gene.  Uncle Gene had a serious alcohol problem, and battled other demons that affected his marriage and his relationship with his co-workers on the railroad.  I love the picture because my uncle is sitting on a back porch stair, with a railroad cap on his head and a coffee mug in his hand.  He looks reflective.  The picture makes me think of the things my uncle might have been reflecting on when the picture was taken.  At the time he had turned his life around.  He quit drinking and restored his relationship with my aunt and others.  Most importantly he gave his heart to Jesus.  One of the biggest factors in his decision to accept the Lord was my father, who had a pure interest in seeing his brother saved for eternity.  They say familiarity breeds contempt, and I can’t help but think my father’s love for Jesus and for his brother was so sincere and unwavering, it eventually reached its target.  I doubt my Uncle Gene would have come to the Lord through creative marketing and packaged principles of evangelism.  Instead, he came by way of those in his life who cared more about his soul them themselves.

This is the spirit of the 100% pure Jesus.  He cared more about us than He did about Himself.  He left His home of glory and gave everything for our salvation.  That’s pure.  That’s organic.  That’s the 100% Jesus!  Oh that I would reflect a single percent of His love for me.