The Invitation of Jesus

We’ll continue this week with the question we ended with last week: Who needs Jesus?

The answer is that we all need an encounter with Him! The one who needs new life needs to come to Jesus. That includes:

• Those religious people who acknowledge God need to know Him.
• Those Christians who are defeated need to be renewed by Him.
• Those who have lost all hope.
• Those who feel the emptiness and the pain of life apart from God.
• Those with full houses, closets, portfolios, and garages but have empty hearts.
• Those who call Jesus King but have ascended to their own thrones.
• Those who offer Him a superficial kiss but have never embraced Him.
• Those who acknowledge Him intellectually but have never given Him their lives.

“Come” is His request of you so that you may have His life, His peace, and His joy.

Do you want to be free? Do you want to be whole? Do you want to know why you were created by God? Do you want to drink of a cup that really satisfies?

You must come to Jesus who alone can set you free to be what you were made to be for God.

Only this supernatural love can explain why a person who knows the love and forgiveness of this God-Man would:

• Abandon himself to a God he cannot see.
• Trust this Jesus hanging on a cross—condemned as a common criminal.
• Become gracious enough to give his money to a cause that recruits liars, cheaters, murderers, and hypocrites into its service.
• Be willing to leave the comforts of his home, friends, and society to go and live with the poor, weep with the hurting, and serve the orphans.

Only an encounter with God and the touch of His love can explain the freedom of:

• Having more joy in the giving than the receiving.
• Serving rather than being served.
• Forgiving rather than condemning.
• Loving while being rejected.

If this unseen God possesses all power, and this rejected Jew has all authority in Heaven and Earth, coming to Him will bring freedom that makes our lives free and joyful. This makes us complete and free to be what we were made to be.

Think about it:

• You have everything, but without Him you have nothing.
• You have nothing, but with Him you have everything.
• There is no lasting hope apart from Him.
• There is no lasting peace apart from Him.
• There is no lasting purpose apart from Him.
• Yes, there is temporary hope if we win the game or work the deal.
• Yes, there is temporary peace if we marry who we want or gain what we seek.
• Yes, there is temporary purpose if we accomplish our goals and achieve our promotion.

But only Jesus gives lasting peace, eternal hope, and complete fulfillment.

If you understand and want to say, “Yes,” to what we are talking about, your heart is open and your soul thirsty. Jesus is knocking. He is seeking you. Yes, you personally.

If your ways have left you empty and your feelings have left you incomplete, then come. It is God who draws you to Himself.

If you come, He does not promise you a pain-free existence, but He promises to be there with you. No matter what your circumstances, you will know His peace. No matter what your pain or sorrow, you will know His presence. No matter what your regrets, you will know a new beginning.

He can’t promise a sorrow-free life or a first-place finish in everything, but He does promise to use your sorrows for your good and your broken dreams for your greater gain.

There will be no sinless perfection, and future failures will cause disappointments, but He knows what is in your future now and still bids you to come to Him. Once you come, He will never leave you (Hebrews 13:5). When pain and sorrow touch your life, His touch of love, peace, and compassion will fill your heart. Come to Him now.

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