Jesus' Blended Family - A message that reminds us about our commitment to the spiritual family

What comes to your mind when you think of a spiritual family? Your thoughts could be anything from simple words like good, love, or hate, or your thoughts could go to "I don't believe in a 'spiritual' family," "They are a bunch of hypocrites," "We are not close, we are not any kind of a family," or some other elaborated answer.

If you were to define what family, in this sense means, it would probably come from this definition, "a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation." One's spiritual family would be connected by their belief in certain religious convictions. They may not be the exact same, but most would agree the "core" of the beliefs are similar.

Jesus was told that His family was wanting to visit with Him in Matthew 12:46-50. He then replies with a question that can be summed up with this question, "Who is my family?" When it comes to the type of family Jesus answers with, He is basically describing a blended family of different genders, races, cultures, and beliefs. That all together makes up Jesus' family! Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Understanding ~ When Jesus answers this question, in the text, He uses the word "whoever." This world will be an umbrella term for everyone. For some, that may have really strong biases or prejudices, this word may challenge your thinking. To think about someone who has a lower education, children out of wedlock, drinks too much, cusses like a sailor, dresses different than you deem "normal," likes the same gender, has a different color skin, wears a turban, and the list could continue, that any of these could be welcome to receive the grace that Jesus offers and have their sins forgiven may seem preposterous. Some of these are lifestyle sins and some of these are simply differences. The ones that are lifestyle would need to change their lifestyle in order to continue to enjoy that grace. For the ones that are simply "differences" then we may need to just "accept" and not judge them. Let us be understand of who the "whoever" is when it comes to Jesus' invitation.
• Just at Your Church? ~ As I mentioned a definition of family, think about how that applies to you spiritually. I am focusing on those who have a religious affiliation. Are you seeing those who are "within" your church building's walls as they only "Christians?" Are they the only one's you foresee joining up with you in heaven some day? What do you think would be your reaction if you were wrong in your thinking and there was someone else...maybe me...there as well? I think it would be surprising to some to find out who is going to be there. I have to say that I may be surprised as well. May we try to find the main point of our beliefs and be open to others who may share in that same set of beliefs.
• Love Less ~ Remember that whether we are talking about our own biological family or our spiritual family, we are still to love Jesus more. However, because Christ is the head of the spiritual body, would we say we should love our spiritual family moreso than our biological family? I think they may rank a bit higher. When they are one-in-the-same, then that is a totally different variable. Let us love Him most!a group of people united by certain convictions or a common

Though we may be able to trace our family trees so far back and find out exactly who is on our tree, one thing we will never know is how many we have in our spiritual family until we make it to heaven. As you go through your week, ask God to open doors to lead you to people that need to hear about Jesus. They may be related!

Now it's your turn...what is it that you like best and least about having a spiritual familie?

Tell 'Em "Good Job!"

Teachers are usually one of the best at making kids feel important. That child-aimed praise is needed for kids in their development. For some unfortunate kids, they will not receive the needed praise at home - maybe even none.

In addition, peers can be very mean so an acknowledgment of praise is needed to counter the negative messages from the schoolyard. We have all been there to one extent or another.

Also, society can bring about negative messages, so we need to hear some positive, encouraging messages from time to time. That brings us to this week's quote...

No matter how small, acknowledge the achievement. ~ Greg Henry Quinn

One of my personal ministries has evolved into encouragement. I wouldn't have dreamed that I could have been one to have that desire if you asked me years before this, as a youth. I can remember, even as a young adult, having a difficult time saying "good job" to someone and it being genuine. That was all before ministry.

Ministry and becoming a minister changed a lot of perspectives. I saw how many people need encouragement and acknowledgment for their achievements. I learned how you cannot be "over encouraged."

The question is, whose achievement do you need to acknowledge? If you can't think of any, just keep it tucked away for the next time.

Thanks for all you do, in whatever capacity!

Encouragement

Everyone needs it. Some provide it. Rarely is it overused. I am talking about encouragement.

“Good job”, “Way to go”, “I’m proud of you”, and “You are good at that” are examples of encouragement one might use to make someone else feel good about themselves. After all, that is what encouragement is about.

Growing up, I was one who needed encouragement. I had areas that I wanted to be better at, but I wasn’t. Other areas I did do pretty well in. However, there was something about life that caused me to need encouragement. From this, I began to feel like I was probably the only one who needed the encouragement because most others seemed OK.

Then, I grew up. Still with the cloud of discouragement around me, though it was lifting a bit, I had a hard time encouraging others. I was a young adult and would see someone do a good job at something and it was like pulling my own teeth to get me to say “good job” to them. It felt forced and fake, even though deep down inside I was proud of them. I wanted to have someone say those kinds of things to me, but it wasn’t coming. However, I still felt the urge to say something to others.

I then met my wife, and she was a very positive and uplifting person. She was such an encouragement to me, both verbally and by example. She would pump me up and let my strengths be known. I don’t know what life would have ended up like if it hadn’t been for her. The only downside was, I still felt fake and forced to say something nice to others, but it wasn’t as much as it used to be.

Then, God put me on a path that had some definite out-of-my-element phases to it – ministry. For most, ministry probably seems like a Sunday and Wednesday job, keeping in mind those who call or come by to visit. However, I quickly realized the pains that people go through or are involved in. These pains happen at any given time to any given person. These pains will range from frustrations to interruptions to loss. No matter how painful life is, I quickly found out that people need encouragement.

People need to know that things are going to be OK in the end, even if, in the storm of stress, it doesn’t seem like that is ever going to be the case. They need to have regular “pick-me-ups” so when the storm does come, maybe they’ll remember those words of encouragement.

Even though I was not very comfortable with telling people they did a good job at something, when I myself was waiting for the “good job” but not receiving any encouragement, the job seemed to be tugging at me to do more for others along the framework of encouragement.

One thing I began to realize, very quickly, was no matter if you were the star of a sports program, Valedictorian of your class, or most popular. Somewhere, sometime, would be a time or times when you would need some encouragement.

That is when I began to think about what I could do to encourage others. I began to write a blog that is geared toward encouragement (www.jarrodspencer.info) and send out e-mails of encouragement. A few years ago, I thought about an idea to reach the “non-e-mailers” where I send free texts messages to over one-hundred forty different people, which is focused on encouragement.

I am always looking for new ways to encourage people, individually and as a group. Traditional ways still work well. I have yet to witness someone giving too much encouragement or refusing to accept it. If you have a difficult time giving it out, may you learn to give it out because you know how beneficial it is to others.

Who are you going to encourage next?