Mark
10:21a “Then, Jesus looking at him, loved him.”
It is
interesting to note what Jesus saw as He met people. He met a young a man who
was wealthy and he was seeking eternal life. It was recorded in the gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark includes telling detail, “Then Jesus, looking at
him, loved him.”
Jesus felt
genuine love for this man as He looked at him. “You lack one thing,” He told
him. “Go and sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” At this, the man’s face
fell, and he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
Actually, he did
all that was required of him, yet he wasn’t satisfy. It seems that he felt
there were more to it than what he had. But when Jesus challenged him, the
money became an issue to him that Jesus knew the depth of his heart. The young
man realized it and he was disappointed when it came to that part about the
money. The young man who was wealthy realized that he just couldn’t do it.
What does your
money mean to you? Although Jesus wants this man to sell everything and give
his money to the poor, this does not mean that all believers should sell all their
possessions. Most of His followers did not sell everything, although they used
their possessions to serve others. Instead, this story shows that we must not
let our possessions or money keep us from following Jesus.
I remember at
one time when God asked us to give something when it hurts the most. It was
just before we moved from Bloomington, Illinois to Peoria to start a deaf
church. We had $300 dollars saved for moving expenses and deposit to rent the
apartment. At each time, God spoke and we gave away three times, each $100
dollars. It broke our hearts and we went ahead and met with a deaf friend’s
home.
Ed Beck came
over and we were surprised to see him. He said that God spoke to his heart to
take a personal day off from his work to help us out with phone calls from the
newspaper ads on renting apartment. It was a blessing to have him. When it was
almost at the end of the day, we found an apartment with downstairs basement
and a half way stairs to an outside door where the drive way was. It was a
bi-level apartment which lead up to the kitchen and living room, etc. Eventually,
it led to begin a small deaf church.
When the Christian
landlord discuss with us about the deposit agreement, we could only deposit $50
dollars at that time. While discussing our lack, the Lord spoke to Ed to help out.
Ed Beck politely interrupt and said that he would pay for the rest of the
require amount of the deposit and also paid advance on the first rent. Even the
landlord was surprised how the Lord works out a miracle for us.
Later on, Ed
Beck then explained to us that he owed God back pay tithes for three years and
he was waiting on God to show him who to start the support to. God told him to
support us as missionary work. Then God spoke to Tony and me that this was what
we will “reap” for our support after we gave away our $300 dollars. We learned
that it was a seed-faith for our ministry. We actually harvest God’s blessing
for our support. We felt like “Jesus loved us, looking at us with eyes of love when
we gave away our $300 dollars.”
It is possible
that you may have given away something and wondered if it means anything to
Him. Know this for sure, “Jesus loved you, looking at you with eyes of love.” I
am not sure why I have written this Manna, but I believe God has a purpose for
you …
So I am trusting
Him today!
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