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John 5th Chapter
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Have you ever felt like you were a moving target? Did you ever wonder, “why am I being hazed, beaten up, hunted down, placed under the microscope, or constantly under attack?” This week’s scripture brings insight on why these assaults may be happening to you.
During his ministry, Jesus often showed those around Him their rightful place in the kingdom of God. He often showed them and taught them the lifestyle they should be living. In this one incident, He simply blew the doors right off of religion. He shared with the religious folk who He was: the Son of God. And as the text states, this statement meant that He was equal to God.
Now it’s hard for me to believe that when a person makes such a proclamation that he/she would still have that “blend in the crowd” type of attitude. You see, when you know that you know that you know that you are the son/daughter of the King, things have got to change. You’ve got to start walking a little differently. You’ve got to start talking a little differently. You begin to carry yourself with confidence. You see yourself as royalty and not as refuse. You see yourself as whole and not helpless, prosperous and not poor, happy and not hopeless. However, you must know this: along with your new attitude will come assassins.
As soon as you decide to step into the things that God has for you, beware that there will be people out to “kill” the new you. They may even be bold enough to by-pass the jealousy and ask, “so what’s with this new attitude” or “what’s going on with you?” This type of inquiry is not just limited to the unsaved people you work with or go to school with. It is definitely inclusive of church folk. Remember, from our text, it was the religious people that wanted to kill Jesus. What you must understand is this. Those who are disconnected from God can’t handle the fact that you are connected to Him, and those connected to Him might not be able to handle the way you are connected to Him.
It should not be a surprise that the folk who had a problem with Jesus’ proclamation of His “Sonship” were church folk. He declared that He had rights to the God-style life and God-style manifestations, and then the assassins came out. The two words “jealous” and “Christian” should not go together. We should not be jealous of each other’s blessings because heaven is never empty.
The question is do we know who we are in God to get those blessings, or are we going to operate in jealousy and attempt to assassinate someone who is making an all-out effort to get where God wants him/her to be? The bible tells us that God is not a respecter of persons. What He does for one, He will surely do for another. We have no need for jealousy in our lives because a better relationship with God is always attainable, and the blessings of heaven are always accessible.
