Knowing Whom to Respond to | John Giftah | Christian Sermon

0:01 Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, in Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John Gifta International.

0:42 Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. I'm going to talk to you today about knowing whom to respond to. I want to just quickly share an important passage with you guys, and I want to take this forward because this is an important thing to note when we are dealing with people in our life. You know. I wanted to understand that no matter what, yes, we are called to show love. We are called to be the kind of light in the darkness we are in the world. Were not called to be the islands, but we're supposed to shine our light in the darkness onto people.

1:22 We have to be the city on a hill. We have to show love, because the Bible says by this will all may know you're My disciples when you have love one for another. All of those things are true, but you also have to understand it that important aspect where you discern the kind of people. I want to just start out by sharing an important passage with you, and I want to take this forward, and it is found in Luke twenty three thirty nine to forty three. Yes, this is again talking about Jesus on the Cross, and of course we just finished Resurrection Day, but there are so many lessons we can learn from Jesus on the Cross that we can't just keep it to the time when we speak about that right.

2:01 We can't do everything in one day. So I want to talk to you about an important principle that we can inculcate in our everyday life concerning this, And I'm reading from the New American Standard Bible version and from verse thirty nine, this is what it says. One of the criminals who are hanging there curled abuse at Jesus, saying, are you not Christ? Save yourself and us? But the other responded and rebuked him, saying, do you not even fear God, since you're under the same sentence of condemnation.

2:36 And we indeed are suffering justly for what we have, receiving what we deserve for our crimes. But this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying this, and he looked at Jesus and he said, Jesus, remember me when you get come into your kingdom. And Jesus turns to him and says, truly, I say to you today you will be with me in paradise. You might have heard this million times, and this is a very familiar passage with all of us. But I wanted to just quickly share something I believe it is so important here that we can inculcate in our everyday life.

3:14 You see, two people spoke to Jesus, but Jesus responded only to one man. One man through abusive comments against Jesus. He was saying, are you not the Christ? Are you not the Messiah? Are you not the chosen One? Prove yourself, save yourself and us. He was arrogant, his motives were not right. He was not about, not at all concern about Jesus. He was like, save yourself. And now his focus was on you know, some way gets saved. I don't care about you, but command even on the cross at the point of death, this man had still not changed.

3:56 He had no remorse for the for behavior that led him to where he was today. And this man was so abusive, whereas the other man was just the opposite. It's a difference between light and darkness, day and night. This man was so dark. The man was so bad. This man was so abusive. This man was not at all remorse for but but the other man, on the other hand, was repentful. He was like, hey, listen, don't you fear God. We deserve what we are going through. But this man does not deserve it. He has done nothing wrong.

4:41 And he looks at Jesus and says, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus turns to this man and he says to him, truly, I tell you today, you'll be with me in paradise. You see, Jesus responded to this man, but Jesus did not respond to the other man, which is a principle for us, because you don't have to respond to every critic. You don't have to respond to every single person. You don't have to respond to those who don't have a good attitude, who don't have a good motive. You don't have to You don't have to be treated as a doormat.

5:22 You don't have to be a person who has to prove yourself, prove your word. You don't have to do that. Jesus did not do that. Every time you see through the scriptures, whenever they came and tried to make Jesus prove himself, show himself, or do science and wonders to prove who he was, he never obliged to it. Whereas when you look at the people who were in faith, he did wonders for them. Here you see two people spoke to Jesus, but Jesus only responded to the other. It looks like Jesus was arrogant.

5:59 No, he wasn't. Why would he ignore the other man? Because you see, sometimes society makes us feel like if you ignore somebody, that means you're arrogant, you're rude. But you're not ignoring them because you are rude. You're ignoring them because they are rude. You're not ignoring them because you are arrogant, but you're ignoring them because they are arrogant. You know, I'll tell you. Honestly, a lot of times in my life, in ministry and life at its own, I've seen a lot of people, you know, seeing that okay, this guy's a religious leader, especially in you know, in the secular platforms or places.

6:38 Yo. They come with questions. Okay, now, I'll tell you honestly, some of them, with all their heart, they have genuine questions. But some of them, you know that they're not having any genuine questions. They're just trying to find fault with your just just trying to, you know, come and start an argument with you. They are no matter what you do, no matter where you take the or you know, try to prove your point, they are at dement that they're not going to accept you. Their only goal is to fight with you.

7:07 In such cases, you don't have to go and try to prove yourself to them. You don't have to entertain such people. You know. I'll tell you honestly, sometimes people used to come and say no, no, no, whoever comes, whatever it is, you know, you have to go and give an explanation. I don't have to. Jesus did not give an explanation to the man and say, hey, you know, don't talk like that you know, I have the plan of salvation in mind. I don't want to I will save you. Jesus isn't talking anything nice to this man at all.

7:36 He did not even talk to this man. He did not even pay attention to this man. What I want you, guys to understand your is sometimes if you understand that some people don't have the good interest at heart, if they don't have a good intention, if they don't have a good heart, if they are emotives or not right when you know it, you don't have to pay attention to them. You don't have to ruston to every critic. You don't have to be like the puppy dog that goes to everybody who gives a biscuit. You know, I always give this picture in mind.

8:08 You know, you don't have to be like that, Oh somebody's giving a biscuit. You know, you just run to them, and then the next minute they throw you off, and then you come back, and then they give you a biscuit to hurl you back. And you know, you don't have to be like that. Guys, you don't have to have a level of decency and a level of self respect and understand if somebody doesn't care about you. They don't, you know, have the right intention towards you. You have every right to not respond to them.

8:38 You don't have to prove yourself to them, even if you bring down fire from heaven. They're not going to be convinced such people, so you don't have to waste your time on such people. Focus on the people who will genuinely be transformed. The other man genuinely accepted Jesus, and Jesus said today you will be with me in Paradise. Amen. A beautiful lesson for us in our everyday life as we dable people. Ammen. God bless you. You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you.

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9:49 If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description, and if you'd like to invite John gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www dot John gift dot com. See you on the next episode of The Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA God bless you. If your heart stops beating, now do you know where you're going? If you came face to face with death, now do you know where you're going? And this is not a message of condemnation. This is a message of hope. There is a God who loves you so much he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to come down and pay a heavy price by shedding every drop of his blood on the cross.

10:42 Thank you for dying for my sins. When you believe in Him, you have free gift or salvation for you that it shows us that we will go to heaven when we die instead of suffering in Him forever. I just encourage you today to make the simple step of fate and say Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross. Thank you for giving me this gift of eternal life.