Finding Life begins with acknowledging I’m lost
S–Luke 19:17 “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost. “
H–When ever I read the gospels I am convicted in my own life and see the pure sinfulness that is present in the lives of all humanity. In this chapter we see two sides of Jesus. We see a Jesus that approaches a tax collector with absolute compassion and generosity. And we also see a Jesus that approaches those that should get it with statement of Judgment and condemnation. What is the difference? I think it falls in the fact that the tax collector knows he is lost while the others assume they are not. The first step in being found is acknowledging you are lost. Jesus has nothing but compassion that will seek out and find those that know they are lost.
A–For those of us that think we have “life” or that in some way think we have found what “life” really is aside from Jesus I really don’t 
have any words of encouragement for you except to say that until you realize you are lost from true, authentic life you cannot be found. For those of us that know we are lost from true life and that no matter how hard we try to look for authentic life we can’t seem to find it….we just know we are lost. I have good news for you; Jesus desires to meet you where you are, to find you and show you what true, authentic life is. It is my experience that regardless of where I look to find real and authentic life I always come up short. But when I realize I am lost from real, true, authentic life; it is in these moments of realization that Jesus calls out my name and asks to come hang out with me. It are these moments that salvation comes to my house and the place that I become found and introduced to real, true, authentic life. I pray the same for you today….btw, this is the best possible way to live.
P–Jesus, my heart is that you would break every person that will not acknowledge they are lost from true life on their own. My heart is that every person would acknowledge being lost that every person might be found by you and experience truth, authentic, real life. Amen.
E–I’m excited today that though I was lost from true life I have been found by Jesus and invited to experience true, real, authentic, abundant life.
Peace,
Pastor P
www.wedesirmore.com; chadpullins@connect2crossroads.com
Read your message on being lost. If you know you are a follower of Jesus Christ and know he is your salvation, but have not been baptized in the church, are you still considered lost? Salvation comes through knowing Jesus Christ as your savior. I was brought up to believe that you have to baptized to show your commitment to the Lord? Just outloud thinking….Thanks Pastor Chad
thanks kay for the comment. I don’t think not being baptized in the church means your lost but I do believe that being baptized is a part of being found. I mentor of mine once said that if someone is not baptized it doesn’t mean that he or she is not a child of God its just hard for someone to realize this truth until they are baptized. What I think he was saying it what I have found to be true over the years. I’ve yet to speak with someone who has experienced baptism who doubted they belonged to Jesus. At the same time I’ve spoken with numerous folks who were not baptized who had continuous doubts about their belonging to Christ until they were baptized. I’m sure there are exceptions but this has been my experience. In terms of lost, I think that in our culture we think that being found means we have to act like we are found. But perhaps being found is actually coming to the realization that I am lost without Jesus. There are times in my life that I continually feel lost, out of sync, something’s missing (not that I doubt who I belong to but the way I feel at the moment) and it is when I acknowledge my despair that the Holy Spirit meets me in that place. When I try to pretend I’m not lost or going through a time of desperation I continue living in the pit. Hope this helps; reply if you want to continue the conversation. I’m proud of what Jesus is doing in you and your family’s life.