Focus on the Word, February 04, 2024

It's time for the Champions in Christ broadcast with Rhonda Harrison on 1017

Bay FM.

Good morning and welcome to Champions in Christ with Rhonda Harrison. It's such a

beautiful day out. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be

glad in it. You know there's all kinds of things going on in life and but we're

going to focus this morning on the Word. We're going to get into His Word and

let's talk about Jesus. Alright so let's start in Luke 7. We're going to go to

verse 36 and it starts out and says, and one of the Pharisees, excuse me, desired

that he would eat with him and Jesus went in and sat in the Pharisees house

and sat down to eat and behold a woman in the city which was a sinner when she

knew that Jesus was at meat with in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster box

of ointment and stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash his feet

with her tears and she wiped them with the hairs on her head with and kissed

his feet and anointed him with ointment. Now when the Pharisees which have

invited him saw it he spoke with it himself and said if this man were a

prophet he would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches

him for she is a sinner and Jesus said unto him Simon I have somewhat to say to

you and he said master say on there was a certain creditor who had two debtors

one owed him 500 pence the other owed him 50 and when they had nothing to pay

he frankly forgive them both tell me which one of them will love him the most

and Simon said I suppose it would be he who was forgiven the most and Jesus said

unto him you have judged rightly and then he turned to the woman and said

unto Simon do you see this woman I entered into your house and you gave me

no water for my feet she's washed my feet with tears and wiped them with her

hair on her head you gave me no kiss but this woman since the time I came in has

not ceased to kiss my feet my head with oil you did not anoint but this woman

has anointed my feet with ointment therefore I say unto you her sins which

are many are forgiven for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven the same

loves little and he said to her your sins are forgiven and they that sat with

him at me at the mealtime began to say within themself who is it that forgives

sins and he said unto the woman your faith has saved you go in peace you know

this is a profound story of great love both that Jesus had for this woman the

same way he loves us he loves us with a great everlasting love he loves us with

a love that bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all

things as long suffering and kind and gentle he loves unconditionally he loves

non-judgmentally but let's go over the story let's talk about what's happening

here so so Jesus is invited by a Pharisee who was a religious leader or leader in

the town and he was invited to dinner and Jesus went and when they sat down to

eat then this woman who came in who was known as a sinner because a Pharisee

Pharisee recognized her as a sinner you know he was looking at the outward

appearance he was looking at her reputation you know and we read where

he spoke to himself that oh if he was a real prophet he would know what person

this is touching him well you know the Bible says in Matthew 621 for where your

treasure is there your heart is also and she brought an alabaster box of a very

costly perfume to anoint Jesus and to pour over him as she wept she came with

her treasure to honor to love and to worship Jesus and the Pharisee couldn't

see that all he saw was the outward appearance you know the Bible says that

man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart that's in 1st

Samuel 16 17 you know man we're always have a tendency to look at people what

they're wearing we judge them by what they say we you know we're not looking

at the heart you know Jesus is always looking at the heart right and he's

worth looking love is a verb and she came to love on Jesus to worship him she

came to honor the master you know and Jesus said to these Pharisees you know

you I came in your house you offered me no water to cleanse my feet you didn't

anoint my head or refresh me you you know the Pharisee treated him like he was

just another person but that's not the way she saw him and she was a sinner this

isn't someone who followed you it's probably someone who just heard about

how awesome he is and all the good things you know the Bible is good news

what Jesus does for others is always good he loves you he wants to bless you

there's not a day that goes by that he's not ready to bless you you know and all

it takes his faith faith in him believing that's what what he wanted he wants

you to be blessed you know this girl as we talked about was a sinner she had

love and compassion she wanted to show that love and her thankfulness to him

for what a great wonderful person or God he is she wanted him to love him

completely you know she risked her reputation she risked ridiculed you

know they murmured against her you know if we the same story is also in Matthew

and in Matthew you know he talks about how they were disgusted they the

Pharisees were like they were so indignant because she did this you know

she interrupted their meal and she but they neglected to see her heart towards

Jesus and really that should be all of our hearts towards him because he's such

a good God it's such good news the word of God Jesus Christ came to save set free

heal deliver and raise from the dead he is he is always wanting to bless you

always wanting to bless you and she just wanted to love him she just wanted to

love him did you notice what he said when he asked the question you know which

one will love more when he gave the parable of the of the debtors and he

said that that one who is forgiven much loves much you know God loves you so much

and he's willing to forgive us of our sins he's willing to take on any task

that we need help with he's willing to lead the way he's willing to heal us you

know she just came to him she wasn't invited her heart was stirred when she

knew where he was she wanted to go and bless him she wanted to love on him she

wanted to worship him so she humbled herself you know the Bible says Jesus is

close to those who are of a broken spirit of a humble heart he will run he

will pass over a thousand to get to you if you're humble and you have faith and

you're looking under him and you just say his name Jesus you know the Pharisee

was full of pride he was disappointed that she interrupted his dinner he

couldn't you know he was already judging her they were murmuring against her you

know this story is also in Luke and I mean I'm sorry Mark and and that's where

you can read how they murmured against her but she didn't care her focus was

completely on Jesus her love for him you know when we read the scripture for

where your treasure is there your heart will be also which is in Matthew 621 you

know it makes you stop and think you know let me look in my on my statement or in

my checkbook or online and see where's my money going that's where you'll see

where your heart is you know where your treasure is your heart is also the Bible

says and all she wanted to do was love him and she loved him with the most that

was a very costly perfume and so it cost her a lot and it cost her her

reputation it cost everything to do what she did and yet it says in the word

that and we are now talking about it the Bible Jesus said because she did this

it'll be a memorial memorial to her every time this is shared and we're

sharing it right now we're talking about the love she had for him you know you

say well you know how do I love God how how else can I love God I can't go get

costly perfume and pour it over him anymore you know he instructs us in

the word of God how we can love him John 14 15 through 17 talks about if you

love me you'll keep my commandments keeping his commandments well that you

think wow who can do that you know we've all sent and fallen short of the glory

of God but in Matthew 22 37 through 40 it talks about how we love God how we do

that right and it talks about if we love God with all our heart all our soul

which is our mind our will and our emotion and our mind that Lord this is

the first commandment and second is to love your neighbor as yourself and

that's what she was doing and so I encourage you today and I'm speaking to

myself as well you know how Lord show us how even more so to love our neighbor

you know the Bible says if you love what's lovely what reward do you have

because a heathen can do that but it's when you love the unlovely he loved a

sinner he turned to her and told her her sins are forgiven and that she was

saved and this is forever spoken about from that time till now and continue on

as a memorial to her because it was authentic love you know I say if someone

hurts you love them anyway that's what Jesus says you know they heard him every

time they spoke about him ridicule him they spit in his face they pulled his

beard they beat him to where in Isaiah it says he was unrecognizable prior to

the cross he hung on a cross and he didn't deserve it he'd never send but

yet he loved he loved them anyway and that's what we're to do we're to love

our neighbor as ourself if you have a widow as a neighbor and they need to

know you're there they need to know you love them that they're still important

that they that you could find out what you can do to help them if you if you

know an individual who's struggling in their finances who maybe has lost

everything due to bankruptcy or failure maybe something they did themselves

they still need that love they need a helping hand you know when you give to

the poor you give to the Lord you lend to the Lord and he'll never not repay

you but he'll not just give you back what you gave he'll bless you beyond that

you know there's so many ways to love and we want to love authentically and we

want to love the unlovely you know if you and your spouse are having fights

and fuss and arguments and maybe not on the best of terms love them anyway do

something good for them nice for them remember how it was and why you originally

fell in love with them no grudge is worth holding or keeping we all get angry

the Bible says you can be angry and sin not you know just don't sin just it just

let your anger out some other way but love that person maybe they're dealing

with something you don't know about you know you never know maybe someone who

cut you off you know sometimes that's the easiest time to to get upset is when

someone cuts you off or slams on their brakes in front of you or is looking at

their phone when they should be watching the road or maybe they're drifting off

to sleep because they worked all night or worked a 12-hour ship you know always

forgive always love always let it let it go let it go you know be like the the

character and frozen just sing that song let it go let it go just let it go

it's not worth it you know the things in life you know since the passing of my

husband I you find out what's really important and what's really important are

people and people need each other and we need to love one another and let it go

let things go just like Jesus he didn't ask her her sin he didn't make her do

some kind of penance for her sin he knew she was sorry for her sin she didn't

have to say Lord forgive me he just forgave her that's the love of God he

will forgive you right where you're at if you just did a sin right now as I'm

speaking if you're in your car and you're doing drugs or or you just cheated on

your husband or your wife you know just ask for forgiveness repent turn away

from it God has too many good things he can bless your marriage he can turn it

around I've seen it over and over and over he can turn it around you know

maybe you've had bad thoughts towards someone or maybe you screamed at your

kids unnecessarily not that any times a good time to scream at them but sometimes

it happens repent you know love on them encourage them you know yes they need to

be instructed but when we blow it we need to we need to know it admit it and

quit it you know God says you know we're to love one another we're to love one

another you know he loved us so much that he gave he gave his only begotten son

that whosoever believed on him would be born again would have eternal life you

know my husband's enjoying eternal life but before he did he shared Jesus

everywhere he went he shared him anytime he could he loved with authentic love he

loved deep and his love was shown he was very humble both to others and he was

humble before God and he was a worshiper because when you know him when you know

the father when you know our heavenly father you are humbled you are you just

fall to your knees not because he demands it but because you want to because

of who he is and how much love he has towards you and he wants us to love like

that he wants us to forgive like that and he has so many blessings for us he

said all the blessings of God are yes and amen yes and amen he won't deny you he

loves you he said the Holy Spirit that when you get born again he lives in you

and he's with you and he never leaves you or forsakes you and there's no fear in

God you've nothing to fear the Bible says fear not for I am with you you know if

you're struggling with fear right now I just command it to go in Jesus name it's

a spirit the Bible says God is not giving me a spirit of fear but of power

love and a sound mind he's giving you a power to endure a power to walk it out a

power to succeed a power to live strong live strong and live long no nobody is

promised tomorrow but make today a day living for Christ make today look in his

word find out who he is find out what he's about you'll feel his presence he's

wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father the prince of peace you

need peace today he'll give you peace the peace of God will overcome you you

just ask him you just ask in the Bible says if we set our mind on Jesus that

perfect peace will be our portion wow what a promise huh perfect peace perfect

peace God loves with an eternal love with an eternal love you know think

about how she worshipped him she brought her most treasured item this expensive

perfume and she just washed his feet with his tears that is great love that

is great love you know God's given us the Holy Spirit to lead and direct us

he'll you know I pray my husband and I used to pray every day you know Lord let

us see people the way you see him let us love people the way you love him and

that's what he wants he'll fill your heart with joy and speakable and full of

glory even in the hardest of times you'll find peace and joy in the midst of

the storm he's such a good God he's such a good God you know Ephesians 5 and

we're going to start in verse 1 it says be ye therefore follows of God my dear

children and walk in love this same love that this woman with the alabaster box

loved with that's the kind of love he wants us to walk in as Christ has loved

us and has given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a

sweet smelling Savior it says that everlasting love everlasting love a

sweet smelling Savior you know when you love someone when you love your

children when you instruct them in the things of God when you bless them you

know they get excited about it but how much more rewarding is it for you as a

parent and the Bible says that we being evil know how to good gifts to good

gifts to our children how much more he knows how to give good gifts to those

who follow him who love him he will bless you with good gifts you may think

I haven't had one of those gifts lately well one of those gifts are about to come

upon you if you'll just cry out to him he'll bless you he'll bless you he loves

you so much he absolutely loves you with an everlasting love and I have to tell

you if we go over to let's see first Timothy and we're going to go to chapter

one we're going to go start in verse 12 and it says and I thank Christ the Lord

who has enabled me to be that he may for that he counted me faithful this is Paul

talking in verse 13 who was before a blasphemer a persecutor he was insulting

but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief and the grace of

our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus

and this faithful saying is worthy of all acceptance that Christ came into the

world to save sinners of who I am a chief sinner how be it for this cause I

obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth long suffering

for a pattern to them which hereafter believe on him until life everlasting

now unto the King eternal immortal and visible the only wise God be honor and

glory forever and ever amen you know Paul talked about he was the chiefest

among sinners that's how he felt about himself that's how I feel about myself

you know but Christ came in our life and changed us you will become a new

creature in him Christ loves you today and as we listen to this this song I

want you to think about how much he loves you I want you to think about and

consider consider the gift of God which is Jesus Christ the gift that you can

have today if you know him I encourage you to get in the word and know him more

he loves you he has so much for you he has big plans for you and do you know

he knows everything so he knows the way to do something he knows the timing he

knows it all so as I'm gonna catch you on the other side after this song and I

just want you to think about that

Jesus she's come for the tears that made her

she felt such pain some spoke in anger heard folks whisper there's no place

still she came through the shame until the last she never before his feet and

though she spoke no words everything she said was her

don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears and I drive with my hair

when you don't know the cost of the oil in my alabaster

I can't forget the way I was a prisoner to the sin that had me

I spent my days poured my life with the measure into a little treasure box until

the day when Jesus came to me and healed my soul with the wonder of his touch so

now I'm giving back to him all the praise he's worthy of I've been forgiven and

that's why my praise on him like oil from Mary's alabaster box don't be angry if

I wash his feet with my tears and drive him with my hair

you are there the night Jesus found me you did not feel what I felt when he wrapped his loving arms around me and you don't know the cost of the oil

oh you don't know the cost of my praise you don't know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box

wow I want to ask you today what is your alabaster box what can you bring to

Jesus you may say I don't have anything you have your heart you have your life

maybe you gave your life to Christ many years ago and something happened a divorce

a bankruptcy a death of a loved one something that distracted you or maybe

you got mad at God maybe you thought he did something you know he's ready and

waiting to accept you again he's ready for your return you know he's longing

for you he loves you so much maybe you've never accepted Christ this is the

first time you've ever heard that Jesus Christ is a savior of the world and he

died for you and Christ loved you as a sinner he loved me as a sinner and I gave

my heart to many years ago and I'm so thankful I did the blessings just

overwhelm you and even when trouble comes the Bible says be of good cheer I've

overcome the world Christ has overcome the world so I want to give you an

opportunity right now to return to Christ or to accept him it's the greatest

gift you could ever give yourself or Christ gives you and you accept just

receive it today so just pray this prayer with me father God I just come

before you I ask you to wash me and cleanse me of my sin I thank you for

dying on that cross being resurrected from the dead and giving me life I

receive your free gift of salvation today and fill me with your Holy Spirit and

help me to love others and see them as you love them and see them in Jesus name

amen you know this is the greatest gift the gift of salvation if you don't go

to a church you want to find one that's alive that preaches the real word of

God not goes through religious tradition for traditions of man bring the word of

God no effect but you want to find a place that's alive that when you go in

and you when you come out you're changed and open your heart begin to get in the

word if you need a Bible we'd love to send you one you just can connect with

us at champions in Christ 3 at gmail.com that's champions in Christ 3 at gmail.com

if you can't find a good church around you get with some fellow believers

there's plenty of awesome worship on YouTube there's plenty of preachers on

YouTube and on the television find one that makes your baby leap which is what

my husband used to say a lot find one that makes your baby that speaks to you

because God wants to be involved in everything in your life in a positive

way he's he is a blessing from heaven a breath of air and the life of God is

always available for you and for your family share Jesus if you prayed that

prayer you must confess it to someone let someone know you gave your heart to

the Lord or you returned to Christ it's very important baptism that's another

step we follow Jesus and it's an outward showing of what happened on the inward

it's a demarcation to the devil and everyone else that hey I'm a true

believer in Christ it's the most greatest thing you'll ever do for yourself and

it's an adventure that you will love from now till heaven and you'll one day

reside in heaven and not hell heaven is real hell is real and there's no in

between according to the word of God and heaven was not heaven was created for

you the hell was not created for man but created for the devil and his angels but

those who reject the free gift of Christ will spend an eternity there but not you

my friend not you go out and make it a great day know that God loves you we

love you and you are a champion in Christ