Boyce Mouton
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Letter 580English

Letters From Grandpa #580

Boyce Mouton · 2 pages · 1,052 words

  • LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
  • 580

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will be about believing and obeying Jesus! Shortly before Jesus was crucified He warned His disciples about the destruction of the Jewish temple and the city of Jerusalem. Matthew wrote: “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2)

Because of this, Jesus warned His disciples to “flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16). Luke records the warning of Jesus like this: “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city.” (Luke 21:20-21)

As the Roman army approached Jerusalem the believers had plenty of time to escape. Conventional wisdom, however, would argue for people in the mountains to flee to the walled city of Jerusalem for protection. Jesus advised just the reverse. He told His followers to flee from Jerusalem to the mountains. Jesus, of course, was right! After the city was surrounded and many months of starvation, it was too late to escape. It is said that when the Jews in desperation finally did try to escape the Roman soldiers captured and crucified over 500 every night. Those who remained in Jerusalem when it finally fell in A.D. 70 were shown no mercy! The point is, those who believed and obeyed Jesus were saved, and those who did not believe and obey Jesus were lost. The same, of course, is true today! We cannot call Jesus “Lord” unless we do what He says to do (Matthew 7:21)

  • We must acknowledge, of course, that obeying Jesus requires faith and also an element of risk! If nothing happens that Jesus predicted we run the risk of looking like a fool!
  • The first miracle of Jesus was changing water into wine (John 2:1-11). It happened at a wedding and came after Mary, the mother of Jesus, said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you”. (John 2:5) The fact that Jesus wanted them to drink out of water jars used for purification was contrary to everything a devout Jew would be comfortable doing. Obeying Jesus, however, is never a mistake! Fortunately, the delicious and miraculous wine prevented an embarrassing situation and caused the disciples of Jesus to believe in Him!
  • When Peter and his partners had toiled all night and caught no fish, Jesus (the Carpenter) commanded these fishermen to put their nets down in the deep water. To the watching crowd this seemed ridiculous. At night was the “time” to fish, and the shallow water was the “place” to fish. Further, these fishermen were already washing their nets for storage. When they obeyed Jesus, however, they caught so many fish that their boats were sinking (Luke 5:1-11).
  • When a multitude of 5,000 men (plus women and children) were hungry, Jesus told His disciples to have the people sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties. When they obeyed Jesus He took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed the multitude until everyone was satisfied. In fact, they gathered 12 baskets full of fragments that were left over (Mark 6:30-44). Having the multitude sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties was worth the risk.
  • When Peter needed money to pay taxes Jesus told him to “go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take and give it to them for my taxes and yours.” (Matthew 17:27) Peter obeyed, and against all odds, found the correct coin in the fish’s mouth just as Jesus said he would.
  • When Jesus found a man born blind in Jerusalem He spat on the ground and made some mud with his saliva. After anointing the man’s eyes with this mud He told him: “Go wash in the
  • pool of Siloam.” (John 9:7) While there were several pools in Jerusalem, the blind man somehow found his way to the pool of Siloam as Jesus told him to. When he obeyed Jesus he was immediately able to see. What he believed about Jesus emboldened him to take the risk!
  • Even though Lazarus had been dead four days Jesus came to his tomb and said “take away the stone. When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” (John 11:39-44) His sister, Martha, feared that after four days an embarrassing odor would come from the tomb, but she was wrong! Obeying Jesus is never a mistake!
  • After His resurrection Jesus again appeared to His disciples by the Sea. Again they had fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus said to them “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. And when they did so they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” (John 21:6) In fact, they caught 153 large fish without even tearing their nets! Obeying Jesus is worth the risk and is always the right thing to do!
  • With reference to future judgement Jesus said: “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.” (John 12:48) Please pay careful attention to everything Jesus says to do!
  • Jesus said to His disciples: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16) If you have not believed and been baptized you need to be!
  • IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE JESUS YOU WILL DO WHAT HE COMMANDS YOU TO DO!
  • NOBODY HS EVER REGRETTED OBEYING JESUS!
  • SO DO IT!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Grandpa Boyce