Gregory Dickow - A Moment With Jesus
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Well, welcome global family from around the world to the power to change today, and, you know, I'm about to share with you something really special. God notices you no matter what it looks like. He's speaking to you no matter what it sounds like. He's reaching out to touch you no matter what it feels like. I'm going to share a story today about Zacchaeus, he's climbing up into a tree because he couldn't see Jesus. And like you might feel that way right now. "Where's Jesus? I can't see him", but God wants to show himself to you. And he wants to come to your house, and he wants to come right where you're sitting, right where you're watching right now, and he wants to have a beautiful relationship with you. That's what this teaching is all about. Get ready. God's not mad at you. He is mad about you. And I know you need to hear this. Call somebody, tell him they need to hear, this is going to set you free. Check this out and I'll be back to pray for you at the end.
The Christian life is a celebration of this miraculous relationship that we get to have with Jesus. And this relationship that we get to have with Jesus, it's supernaturally, miraculously changes our relationship with everything else in our lives. It leaves such an impact. When you know Jesus the way he's meant to be known, when you understand his beauty, and when you realize how magnificent he is, it changes miraculously your relationships in every facet of life. And we touched on this in Luke, Chapter 19, "Jesus goes into the village. And as he's passing through, there's a man called by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and he was rich".
Regardless of what the tax rate was at this time, the tax collectors would always take more, and they would always threaten people like we're going to take your kids, we're going to make life miserable for you. These were bad people. And yet Jesus was always found, in fact, they got so mad at Jesus because he was fellowshipping or he was dining with tax collectors, who would say he was with tax collectors. These people were not considered normal people. They were considered the worst of the worst. And that's what we need to understand. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Every person on the face of this earth needs a savior. Everybody, no matter how good or bad they are, we've all fallen short of the glory of God.
And we're now we're about to get into some similarities between us and Zacchaeus in a moment here. But I want you to notice, as we go through this story, go back to verse 3, "This man, Zacchaeus, wanted to see who Jesus was". Don't you want to see who Jesus really is? "But because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached that location, he looked up and he said, 'Zacchaeus'", he noticed him, "'Zacchaeus'", he recognized him, "'Zacchaeus'", he spoke to him, "'Zacchaeus'", he desired him, "Come down for today, I must stay at your house. I got to come". Zacchaeus is on Jesus must list, sorry you. "Zacchaeus, hurry, come down. Today".
Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not when it's convenient. Today, Jesus wants you now. Jesus wants you today. Jesus longs for you right now. This moment in Zacchaeus's life changed him forever. It was miraculous and it was dramatic, and it's going to change you. It already has, but you're going to see. So what does it say? The three relationships that this intimate moment with Jesus, they have one conversation and it's really first, it's a one way conversation. "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. Today I got to stay at your house". And he hurried and came down, and received him gladly. One translation says he received him happily. He received him joyfully. He was so happy.
Now, remember, tax collectors were miserable. They were mean. They were nasty. They were bitter. They were angry. They were people that had to collect money from others. That's the hardest thing to do when you have to go and collect money from people. Not only is that hard, but then they would take advantage of people. They were hardened people. Tax collectors were not happy people. They were not joyful people. They were not glad people. When you think of somebody working for the IRS, you're not thinking of somebody that's coming over to put their arm around you and have a beer together. You thinking of somebody that wants something from you, demand something from you, and if you don't give it, they're going to penalize you every day, multiply that times, a hundred times, a thousand.
That's what tax collectors were like back then. This guy had no joy in his life. He had no happiness in his life. There was nothing that he woke up and was happy about. Making so much money by extorting people will make a soul rot. It'll make a person miserable. The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, the Bible says. And this guy had that. This guy was that. If you go back to the verse five, he says, "Hurry, come down. I'm a stay at your house. And Zacchaeus hurried and came down and received him joyfully". This conversation, this encounter with Jesus changed the three primary relationships in Zacchaeus's life. Number one: it changed his relationship with himself. It says in verse six, "Zacchaeus hurried and came down and received him gladly".
This miserable, bitter tax collecting sinner, all the sudden is glad. Why? Because he received Jesus. He accepted Jesus. He has been recognized by Jesus. Jesus sees Zacchaeus, recognizes Zacchaeus, speaks to Zacchaeus, wants Zacchaeus. What every human being wants is attention from the people that matter most. And who are the people that matter most? God is the one who matters most. And Zacchaeus, his life has completely changed in one moment because his relationship with Jesus, as short as it is, it's been one verse since he's had a relationship with Jesus, two or three verses actually, and his relationship with Jesus has changed his relationship with himself. He's actually a happy person now. He receives him gladly. He's got gladness, he's got happiness, he's got joy. He never had this before.
None of us really do have joy before we meet Jesus. None of us really are happy in life before we meet Jesus. And even after we meet him, sometimes we're still unhappy because of what our minds are on. But this guy's mind is completely on Jesus because Jesus mind is completely on him. Jesus is given undistracted devotion, undistracted attention to one man. Zacchaeus, can you get a hold of this? The similarity between me and the kids, you and Zacchaeus is so vivid here that Jesus gives attention to each of us individually and it changes our relationship with our self. In one moment. Zacchaeus says life has gotten better, so much so. That the things that mattered to him. Before this moment, don't matter to him as much anymore because notice what happens next, they said, oh, he's gone to be with a man who's a sinner.
But look at what happens. In verse eight, Zacchaeus stopped and he said, Lord, half of my possessions I'm given to the poor just right off the bat, splitting everything I have down the middle half of everything I have, I'm given to the poor. What is this speak of? First we have this intimacy with Jesus has changed Zacchaeus, his relationship with himself. He's happy now. Secondly, this intimacy with Jesus. One moment, by the way, because think about it, one moment can change you this much.
Think about how two moments, one week, two weeks, three weeks, one year, two years, three years can impact your life in one moment, this intimate moment with Jesus. If I could get you to see how close Jesus wants to walk with you, how valuable you are to him, how obsessed he is with you, he's obsessed with you. He's crazy in love with you. Zacchaeus in one moment with Jesus, it's changed his relationship with himself, he's happy for the first time in his life. It's changed his relationship with his possessions, with his money. He's generous now, he's. A giver now, he's not attached to his possessions anymore. This moment when he really sees Jesus the way he really is, it's changed his relationship with himself, it's changed his relationship with his possessions, with his money. It's made him generous. Changed him from an unhappy man to a happy man. It's changed him from a greedy, selfish, cheating, stealing, tax collecting, self-centered man to a generous man. It's changed him.
Then he says, and if I have defrauded anyone. If I've cheated anyone of anything, it's I will give back four times as much. This shows us that this intimate moment with Jesus has changed his relationship with others. Now he respects the people that he once took from now, he values the people that he once took advantage of. Now he is kind to the people he was unkind to. Do you see this moment of intimacy with Jesus has changed Zacchaeus, his relationship with himself? It's made him a happy man. It's changed his relationship with his possessions, made him a generous man. It's changed his relationship with others. It made him a kind, thoughtful, respectful man. All of this. In one moment.
But understand what happens in that moment, we have to look closer at what is going on in this moment, what could cause what are the moments with Jesus that can cause a change from being unhappy to happy, from being selfish to being generous, from being mean and angry, to being kind and respectful and fair. The only Jesus can fix those things, only having a revelation of who Jesus really is. Can we really find happiness in our lives only through? What Jesus can reveal to us only through capturing a glimpse of what he's really like, how generous he is, how kind he is, how warm he is, how beautiful he is, how sweet he is, how powerful he is, how wise he is, how merciful he is, how forgiving he is, how patient he is.
When you get a glimpse of what he's really like, I mean, when you are touched by his hand. When you are in awe of his love. If it fixes that tilted, broken relationship you had with yourself where you don't like yourself, you're always beating yourself up, you're always finding something wrong with yourself or remembering and reminding yourself of something wrong with yourself. Listening to the accusing thoughts, the devil tries to tell you you're no good. You're less than you're inferior to look. This miracle of relationship with God, intimacy with God, this is everything. This is everything.
I want you to see something in verse 3 of Luke, 19. It says he saw. To see who Jesus was, but it says he wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short. Because he was short. This word short is also used. This is the word short. That is used in. Romans chapter three, verse twenty three, watch this for all have sinned. And falls short of the glory of God for all, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What does this mean? Well, this word short comes from the Greek word, that means inferior to, inferior to. All have sinned and become inferior. Less than. The glory of God, the word glory here, it means to be all that God intended us to be, to be all that God intended us to be.
So let's put this verse together with its original definition of words for all all of us. Have sinned and become inferior. To what God intended us to be, all have sinned and become inferior to less than all that God intended us to be. And the reason I share this verse is because it it reminds me of Zacchaeus and because the key is being short less than he. Saw himself as less than and so what did he do? He climbed up into a tree so that he could see Jesus. And if you'll allow me to kind of paint a picture here, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Zacchaeus is like you and me. He's inferior. He's less than what God intended him to be before we come to Jesus, we're less than what God intended us to be. He's less than what God intended him to be. So he climbs up into a tree and immediately everything changes in his life. This short man, this inferior man, this man who is less than what God intended him to be, you and me, less than what God intended us to be. As soon as he goes into the tree, everything in his life changes. His relationship with himself changes, his relationship with money and possessions, changes his relationship with others, change. Where does all this change?
Whenever an inferior person, whenever somebody who sees themselves as less than who really we are, less than what God intended us to be, the thing that changes us is when we get into the tree, as soon as we get into the tree, the tree changed everything for this man, this tree change everything is from this tree. He finally saw Jesus what he was really like. He couldn't see him through the crowd, but from the trees he could see clearly from the tree. He saw Jesus and from the tree Jesus saw him from the tree. He spoke to Jesus and from the tree. Jesus spoke to him from the tree. He became something that he never was before. And through the tree, Jesus made him something that he never was before. Through the tree, Jesus saw his potential and the kind of man he could have been through the tree.
Zacchaeus finally saw himself the way God intended him to see himself. And I want to say I'm here to tell you this tree is not here by accident. This tree represents the cross. This tree represents what Jesus did for us. This tree is the only way that any of us could ever see ourselves. The way God sees us. It's the only way that we could ever experience life the way God intended us to experience life. We're not meant to look at ourselves the way we are on the earth without the tree. But when we get in the tree, we see all things clearly through the cross. We see that we're redeemed through the cross. We see that God loves us through the cross. We see that God's force through the cross. We see ourselves in a light and in a different way than we could have ever thought of ourselves before.
Through the tree, through the cross, through this moment in time when this man who's inferior goes into this tree, Jesus notices him, Jesus speaks to him, Jesus desires him. Jesus changes this man's life. Everything changes when you get into a vision of your life through the tree. From this moment forward, don't see yourself the way you used to be. See yourself from the point of view of the tree, what Jesus did at that moment. He redeemed this man. He delivered this man. He rescued this man. He showed this man love everybody in life wants to happen to them, what happened to this man, Zacchaeus.