God Pursues Us!

Esther 9; Esther 10; Luke 19
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Scripture

Luke 19

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Observation

Yesterday Kathy and I had the joy to go to a birthday celebration of a very close friend that had turned “80” years young! This was not just some ordinary somebody; this was Dr. Waylon B. Moore. Pastor Waylon Moore has been for the past 39 years one of the most powerful spiritual influences in my life! You see he was the pastor when I began attending Tampa Baptist Church (then the church was called Spencer Memorial Baptist) at 17 years of age. At 19 I gave my life to Christ and at the age of 23 I sensed God calling me into full time Christian service.

Kathy and I have served as missionaries since 1984 to the countries of Mexico, Morocco, Spain, and Cuba and Waylon Moore has traveled to each of these countries teaching both the nationals and the missionaries in those countries about the importance of “one on one discipleship” or now what is being called “mentoring”.

A lot of what I do each day has been influenced by Dr. Waylon B. Moore, from my daily quiet time to the way I think about ministry, especially the importance of mentoring other men. God pursued me and caught me when I was a teenager and I am so glad that he placed Waylon B. Moore in my life to make sure that I never veered off course.

I am eternally grateful to Dr. Waylon Moore and his beautiful wife Clemmie!

Yesterday Kathy and I celebrated 39 years since our first date! Tomorrow, which is Sunday, October 7th marks the first time I visited Tampa Baptist Church (Spencer Memorial Baptist Church) also when I was 17 years old! God’s pursuit of my life started with a beautiful blonde named Kathy and at a church called Spencer Memorial!

And as most everyone knows, my motivation to attend church was just so I could sit with her. Now 39 years later I have the awesome privilege of being pastor of this church. God is so good!


Application

May I be a mentor like to others like Dr. Moore has been to me! Bring men into my life that I can help grow in their relationship with you.


Prayer

Heavenly Father, I must feel like how the disciples of Paul must have felt when they were around Paul. You know that Bro. Moore is right up there on the same level as the Apostle Paul in my book. Thank you for not leaving me by myself after I gave my life to you. You had this all figured out way before I was even born. You are Wonderful! You do more than I can even imagine or think! You are an Awesome God! You are Worthy…You are Worthy…of Glory…of Honor…of Praise! Amen.



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