Be of Good Cheer

“And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” 

Matthew 9:1- KJV

What does a lost sinner see when they look at you?

Are you moping about, sad with a drawn face, constantly complaining? If so, why would a lost sinner look at you and think, gosh, it’s good to be a child of God! Why would they in turn want to take hold of the salvation Jesus offers?

Truth is, they wouldn’t.

As Christians, we need to keep in mind that our outer emotions and actions speak just as loud as our words when trying to bring the lost sinner to Christ.

We need to be shouting our good cheer from the roof tops; telling everyone we come in contact with of the amazing saving grace found in Jesus and the forgiveness that is offered for our sins by His shed blood.

We need to be giving praise; falling down on our knees in the worship of Jesus, the only one who can pronounce and provide forgiveness from our sins.

Sins which can paralyses us both spiritually and physically.

When the saved sinner sins, we cannot lose our salvation; but every moment of every day we need to be asking for forgiveness. And when our sins cause us to walk away from God, all we have to do is turn, repenting from that sin, and run back into God’s waiting arms.

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 9:12- KJV

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:14 KJV

Eternal redemption and eternal life is provided by Jesus’ perfect sacrifice and shed blood, fulfilled by the promissory note of the Holy Spirit, and proved by our faith.

 Like the faith possessed by the men who brought the man sick of the palsy to Jesus. But the most important thing we need to realize and keep in mind is that when our faith is in Jesus, our physical healing doesn’t matter when compared to the healing of our spirituality. Undergoing a physical healing won’t get you into heaven, but having a change in your spirituality will.

By healing the sick man and preforming miracles, Jesus was giving us physical proof that He is God and He has the power to offer and deliver our forgiveness.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”- Romans 8:28- KJV

With God, He can make bad things into good. He has the ultimate power to do what we need Him to do and for that, we should be of good cheer. 
We just have to trust Him and have faith in His will.

Christ In You

I'm not sure I should be posting this on social media, given I might start a backlash with unintended consequences. But as a Christian, I feel we should acknowledge when others do something right in a world that frowns on displays of Christian faith.

I'd like to give a public shout out to the entire staff working today at Whataburger. It's been a long time since I've eaten there, much less dined in, but today I had an awesome experience. From the time we walked in, the place was clean, the cashier and server polite and friendly as they took our order and brought it to us at our table. Any other day, this wonderful service might have gone unmentioned- chalked up to another meal at another fast food restaurant- until I heard what was playing on the radio as I sat there munching on my Double Meat Whataburger Jr. CHRISTIAN music! I listened with half an ear to the first song as it caught my attention, listened to the second- thought it sounded like Britt Nicole, Francesca Battistelli, or Barlow Girl,I wasn’t sure, but I WAS listening. To the third, and to the fourth, which by now, I knew it wasn’t a fluke. WOW!

As I sat there, floored, I knew I had to say something.

How could I possibly let an opportunity to acknowledge this business for being brave enough to praise God pass? If I myself wasn’t brave enough to speak of their courage, who would be?

Making sure I had my receipt before we left, we gathered our trash and as we were going out the door I let the cashier know how great the music was. But I didn’t stop there. As soon as I got home I called the Whataburger 800 number. I’m pretty sure I surprised the operator when I let him know I wasn’t calling to complain, but to compliment. To give praise to a business that wasn’t afraid to testify of God’s love and salvation by way of the soft sounds that drifted through the overhead speakers. I posted a brief snippet of my thanks on Twitter and now here on this blog.

Now, I don’t know the title of all the songs that were playing or the names of their singers, but I do know that the same song that was playing in the restaurant as I was leaving, was playing on 93.7 WDJC on my car when I cranked it- Jeremy Camp, Christ In Me.

“So come and empty me 

So that it's you I breathe

I want my life to be 

Only Christ in me 

So I will fix my eyes

'Cause you're my source of life 

I need the world to see

That it's Christ in me”

So tell me, in this day and age when prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes, when Christian faith and values are being persecuted at an astonishing rate, can others see Christ in you?

I could in Whataburger and its employees.

Was it a showy display of God’s power like Moses parting the Red Sea, a remarkable sermon like John the Baptist as he prepared the world for the Word made flesh, or a wondrous event like the disciples casting out demons, healing physical bodies, and raising people from the dead? No. It was a small and understated action that I doubt many even knew was taking place. But nonetheless, it was powerful, impactful, and it was amazing.

In the words of Martin Luther King, jr. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”

Today, Whataburger did a small thing in a great way!