Tag: When You Meet Jesus

‘Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. ‘ Luke 19:1-9(NLT)

Zaccheaus was like a guy in a community with few friends or no friend, he was hated, despised as a traitor and passionately disliked for what he did. When he made the effort to see Jesus by climbing the tree, Jesus said, “Today I will live in your house.” (Luke 19:5) 

Surprised by the invitation Zaccheaus responded by giving half of his possessions to the poor, and offering restitution to anyone he had cheated. Jesus replied, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

When we truly meet Jesus and show desire to make right our past wrongs we get a fresh start, a clean sheet, a new chapter, a new hope called salvation; which is only found in Jesus.  Like Zaccheaus Jesus will stay in our home, eat with us and bless us.

I want to encourage you on this final day of this devotional plan that until God calls you home, everything is possible with Him but you will need to meet Jesus, whom  all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. Amen 

from When You Meet Jesus Richard Owusu Bediako

‘So they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in the tombs outside the town. As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power. Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, for he was filled with many demons. The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying, “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.’ Luke 8:26-39(NLT)

‘Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,’ Philippians 2:9-10(NLT)

Luke chapter 8:26-39 is a story about a demon possessed man who had made a whole area a “no go zone” for everybody. This man had no clothes on, didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs. He was kept in bound with chains and in fetters, but he broke the bands and was lead by many demons into an uninhabited region of land.

When he met Jesus,  “He cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.” Luke 8:28

When you meet Jesus any demonic spirit  assigned to follow you and make sure you become  a derision among your peers should fall down at the feet of Jesus.  The name Jesus is the only name  God has highly exalted above every other name, and given to us. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. Phil 2:9-10

Your encounter with Jesus will set you at liberty, breaking every chain of oppression and bringing you back to where you belong. The people who once runaway from you will run back to you and listen to your testimony. There is no single person who met Jesus with a problem and went back home with the problem. Your focus should be on meeting Jesus because you know when you truly meet Him you will never be the same.

from When You Meet Jesus Richard Owusu Bediako

‘Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? ‘ John 4:1-11(NLT)

‘I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ‘ Philippians 3:10(NLT)

Sometimes you search within you and wonder how Jesus will do what He has promised. You act like the woman at the well who wondered how Jesus would get water from the well with nothing to draw with. “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” (John 4:11). 

You may think your circumstances are just a little too difficult for Jesus. Your marriage is close to divorce, your children have gone to the world, your business profit is going down, the diagnosis report doesn’t look good, most messages you get from family and friends are negative news. Let me encourage you. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding, for He’s able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you think or ask.

When you meet Jesus He tells you secrets about yourself, your health, your relationship, your family  that no one ever will know and sets you free from it’s bondages.

If Jesus really wanted to get water from the well He would have commanded the water to rise to His level but that was not the case. The woman met Jesus but she didn’t know Him. It is one thing to know about Jesus and another thing to know Him personally. Paul said, ”  that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” Phil 3:10

Let me encourage you today, set your eyes on meeting and knowing Jesus through prayer and His word. He’s alive and ready to meet anyone.

from When You Meet Jesus Richard Owusu Bediako

‘In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.’ John 1:1-3(NLT)

On the first day we read about how Jesus healed the man who had nobody to get him into the pool water when the angel would come to stir it. We have the tendency to think God will send somebody to bless us. We sometimes call them “angels,” but the truth is God can bless us with or without people. 

When you meet Jesus, you don’t have to wait for the waters to be stirred. Imagine Jesus telling the invalid to wait, and when the water is stirred, He will let his twelve disciples carry him into the pool. After all Somebody to carry the man into the pool was what the man was looking forward to. 

Jesus made the waters the first chapter of the book of John, which talked about Jesus from the beginning also credited Him with creation.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1–3)

He made the water and stirs it up when He wants. He doesn’t need to wait for something He has created to give Him permission before He uses it. Even His disciples attest to the fact that the wind obeys Him. Out of season and in season, He can do anything for anyone who meets Him. This is the privilege you have when you truly meet Jesus: your provision is not contingent on economic indicators. He’s a mighty God and can create anything out of nothing.

from When You Meet Jesus Richard Owusu Bediako