Are We Doing What Jesus Tells Us?

Mary’s last recorded words in scripture were to the servants at the wedding in Cana in Galilee. She told them. “Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.” John 2:5 (NLT) Sometimes, we pray for answers yet we are not willing to do what Jesus tells us. In this case, the wine was running low at the wedding and Jesus told the servants to fill six stone water jars used for ceremonial washing that could hold up to 30 gallons, with water. I’m almost certain that inside they were questioning His command, maybe even His sanity.

When we ask for healing, do we do what God wants us to do?

Namaan had to wash in the muddy Jordan River seven times. When the children of Israel went to defeat Jericho, they had to march around the walls seven times and blow their trumpets for the walls to fall down.

When we ask for forgiveness, are we really willing to do what He commands? Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more.” He didn’t tell her to return to the same life she was living.

We are saved by grace, but grace does not come cheap. Christ paid a heavy price when He died on the Cross. Shouldn’t we be willing to pay the price and try to change our lives?

When you pray, do you listen to what Jesus wants? Are you willing to fill six water jars with water? Are you willing to take a bath in a muddy river? Are you willing to walk seven times around Jericho? Are you willing to go and sin no more? Do we listen and do we heed Mary’s last recorded words, “Do whatever He (Jesus — not Mary, not your best friend, not your peers who are pressuring you) tells you?”

See the books I have written and edited

Let’s Build Barns

In farming communities of old, and even in some places today, neighbors would come together for a barn raising. It may have been for someone in need, who had been burned out by a fire or it may have been for a family whose barn and outbuildings, and perhaps even their home had been destroyed by the ferocious fierceness of a tornado. Sometimes, it was just “being a good neighbor” and helping a friend.Even if you have never driven a nail, or even been in a barn, you can help your neighbors build a barn today. “How?” you may ask. The answer is through social media.

Even if you have never driven a nail, or even been in a barn, you can help your neighbors build a barn today. “How?” you may ask. The answer is through social media.

In the world of social media, your followers on Twitter and those you follow are your neighbors; on Facebook, your friends, and those who like your pages or groups, and those whose pages or groups you like, are your neighbors. If you have a friend who is selling real estate, or you have a friend who is selling a couch or a car, the way you can help them “raise a barn” is by sharing their post so people who may not have seen it.

It is common courtesy for people whose barns you have raised (or whose product you have helped sell) to help you by sharing something you have for sale, or by sharing a blog post you have written, or retweeting a tweet that is important to you. Social media is one giant worldwide community, and we have many neighbors who we can help by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, promoting your favorite band or your own band, selling your art, your crafts, your music, clothes, books, and stories, etc. The world of such sites as Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon are exploding. We can help each other build not only barns, but we can help build careers (LinkedIn is a good example) and worlds, promote blogs on WordPress and Tumblr through other social media sites, using Twitter and Facebook to help a neighbor sell books they have written, and to help small businesses and even corporations get input from customers as well as increasing their social media awareness.

 

Get my book, “Hot Coffee, Gator Holes, and Pretty Girls with Guitars,” along with my other books at my Amazon author page

Right now, I have a number of books available on Amazon, as does my Facebook friend, and area resident, David Butler, and Twitter followers such as Ian Sutherland and those I follow such as Stephen King (and yes, King, probably the most famous author in the world, helps promote other authors as well as TV shows, etc.

 

My friends, Bryant Thigpen and Ethan Brooks, advertise properties for sale on Facebook and real estate sites.

On her personal Facebook page, my friend, Kim Hughes, mentions the business where she works as a manager, Mission BBQ, which is the spirit of community building and “barn raising,” honors and supports our American troops, as well as law enforcement and firefighters.

My fellow Twitter tweeter and FSU alum, Kylah Kerry, has a blogblog that she promotes through social media sites, such as Twitter.

My adorable friend and another FSU alumnus, Tara Burtchaell, promotes television shows she has produced, using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as her platforms.

My fabulously fit friend, Jane Carole, also uses the Facebook and Instagram platforms to promote her endeavors as a bikini competitor.

My friend, Emerald Greene Parsons, and her staffs at Greene Publishing, Inc. and ECB Publishing, Inc. use Facebook to help promote four local newspapers.

The possibilities to use social media to help others is endless. One of the most popular crowdfunding sites to help people in need of funds for such things as healthcare, tuition, mission projects, etc. is gofundme.com. A site to help people with business projects, musical recordings, movies, books, and dozens of other start-up projects is Kickstarter.

Be a good neighbor, help me build my barn by helping me sell my books and I will help you build yours. Let’s help others build their barns, also, without being asked. All we have to do is hit that share button on Facebook, click retweet on Twitter, copy and share that link on Instagram and so many other websites such as Flickr, Tumbler, LinkedIn, Go Fund Me, Kickstarter, and even MySpace.