Matthew 11:25-30

Some believe that God’s main business in this world is to heal or mend hurting people. That is true. But there’s more to that. He wants to make Himself known to all mankind.

Yet we may wonder and ask, “Is God helpless that He could not force His subjects to acknowledge Him?” He is not and never will be. He has not lost strength and will not gain any. His strength is complete. He does not need any help to fulfill His purposes. On the contrary, it is man’s free will that hinders God’s aim to be closer to His creation.

Adam and Eve, the first man and woman that God had created and placed in the Garden of Eden, were convinced by the serpent to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 3:1-7, 22). They chose to know what is good and evil than to have intimate relationship with God.

God’s union with man was cut off when they broke His command. Sin ended it. So Adam and Eve and the people born after them bore that sinful nature. And they were given to strange gods. Since then, the story of God reaching out to His creation continues.

His attempt to form Israel as His nation and people was an example. He did not just gather the multitudes of Israelites and deliver them from 400-year old slavery in Egypt. He wanted to make them a people to whom He could reveal Himself. He wanted them to proclaim in the midst of a pagan world that He is God and there is no other.

Egypt was focused on idolatry, with scores of gods such as the Nile River, locusts, frogs, flies, snakes, dung beetles and among others. All these they held up as objects of idol worship.

So God judged the Egyptians by sending them 10 plagues [Exodus 12:12] – that they might know know His power and glory, that there is no other god besides Him.

God said to Moses. “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them, that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.’” (Exodus 10:1-2)

Such display of God’s awesome power was not meant to impress the Israelites at all. It was meant to draw them nigh to Him, to make them realize that He rules over everything, to make Himself known to them, that He is just and faithful.

So God delivered them from the Egyptians. Then He set up His laws over the budding nation of Israel. He set up His laws through Moses to establish relationship with the people He had chosen for Himself. But He knew that the law lacks the power to draw them near to Him. Centuries had passed and it proved that the law was weak in that it made nothing perfect. (Hebrews 7:19)

The New Testament explained that the law was put in charge to lead men to Christ that they might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

God knows that sin disabled men to draw near to Him. That is why He sent His Son Jesus at a time appointed to do for us what the law could not do. He broke down the walls between the sinful men and the holy God through His death. He paid the price so we can draw near to God.

God is not in hiding. There is no secret formula to know Him. He desires that we know Him. But we need to cross the bridge Christ had built to turn us back to God.

Ask Him now who said, “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord.” (Jeremiah 24:7a)

Reflection:

1. How long have you known God? How would you describe your relationship with Him? What can you say about what Paul said in Philippians 3:10?

2. To get to know God through His Word, make a plan that will enable you to read the Bible in a year. Jot down on this space the details on how you are going to do this.

A lifetime is not enough for us to know God.

John 16:17-33

The reason why the world is in turmoil is because it does not know the true peace. Any effort to get it is meaningless if people will not get it from whom it comes.

To have peace means more than to stop chaos and war. It means more than to solve problems of all sorts.

To have real peace means to surrender our will to God. It means to let go of the feeling of fear, anxiety and hatred. It means to quit from doing all actions that go against the will of Him who must rule our being.

The Bible reveals to us the One who can give us real peace. Prophet Isaiah said of Him, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The Bible scholars noted that the fivefold names or attributes of the Messiah to reign forever refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful and Counselor are likely one name that tells about His role as a political guide and leader. He is the God made flesh also ascribed as the Mighty God. It means He is the all-powerful and great hero of His people. It means He is the divine warrior who has triumphed over sin and death. Everlasting Father states that Christ cares for the people just as a father cares for his children. That name is not in conflict with that of the First Person of the Trinity. As Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

He is also named as the Prince of Peace. It tells us that His reign will be marked by peace. And this He obtained by shedding His own blood for sinners. Thus it was a triumph over Satan who brought chaos on earth.

Apostle Paul wrote about it this way. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15)

The author of Hebrews also said it well. “…That through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14)

Jesus traded His life that we might have peace with God. “For He Himself is our peace…having abolished in His flesh the enmity…that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:14-18)

Finally Jesus gave His own peace to settle in our hearts. He said, “Peace I leave with you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Why are Christ’s death and His kingdom related to peace?

It was Christ’s death that triumphed over sin and death. His death nullified Satan’s right to have a hold on people’s lives. It completed what God required of men to be redeemed from their sin. It offered peace between the holy God and sinful man. If a person accepts this truth, he will have the peace he is searching for.

Let Jesus the Prince of Peace enter our hearts. It is the only way to let real peace reign in us. If we did, it means we allow Him to rule the way we think, speak, decide and act. It is the way of saying, “Let His kingdom come!”

Reflection:

1. “Not as the world gives…” What do you think is the kind of peace that Jesus was referring to in this phrase?

2. “He Himself is our peace.” What does it mean to you?

Jesus gave us peace at His own risk

Romans 8:32 | Galatians 3:26-29

It was an old custom in Rome where the father brings his son in court to acknowledge that he is his son. When done with it, his son will be entitled to all rights and privileges due to him. He becomes an heir to the wealth his father would leave behind when he dies.

But what if a parent does not acknowledge his or her child? What if a man does not marry the woman with whom he had a love child? What if parents just go away and leave their children in orphanage? What if children’s parents die when they are still young? We cannot imagine how hard life would be for them.

Life is hard when no one would provide for your needs. It is hard when no one would choose to be responsible over you. It is hard when you do not have the same rights and privileges bestowed to a legitimate child. It is also hard when your parents did not or could not leave you an inheritance should they die. And how harder it is when he that was supposed to give you a name did not. Indeed life would not be easy for those who did not have the chance to live a normal family life.

God knew these could happen. It is not impossible in a world that has fallen into sin. That is why it is not new to see children without parents to be there for them. So God put up the plan of adoption. It was not man’s mere idea. It was God’s. In fact He is the helper of the fatherless. (Psalm 10:14). He relieves and defends them. (Psalm 146:9; 10:18)

But do we know that all men are orphans spiritually? We cannot be called God’s children unless we go through what He requires.

On earth, the one who adopts takes the child as his own through legal means. Spiritual adoption is done in reverse. He would not take us as His children unless we let Jesus His only begotten Son in our lives. (John 3:16). Then we can become His children. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

To receive Jesus makes us enter into a relationship with God. He makes us His sons and daughters. And He becomes our Father. (Romans 8:15). And because we are His children, He leads us by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14). Above all, He makes us joint heirs with Christ. That whatever Christ has, He also gives us. (Romans 8:17). We become heirs of His kingdom! (James 2:5)

Our life in this world, with evil as constant companion, is hard. On the other hand, how glorious it would be if God is with us as our Father. But before we could take hold of it, we must have Jesus in our hearts.

Receive Him now so that God the Father can adopt you. You will not regret becoming His child

Reflection:

1. If you are a parent, what are the things that you want your children to have? How are you going to make sure that they will have those?

2. If there is a thing that you long to receive from your father, what is it and why?

There is no other Father like God.

Exodus 16

They saw Jesus doing miracles. They saw how the diseased became well. So they went to follow Him. They tread on towards the mountain where He was and His disciples were. From there He saw them coming to Him.

They were about five thousand men. The Passover was already near so He let them eat. They were amazed to see how He fed them through five barley loaves and two small fishes only. So they said He might be the Prophet who is to come into the world. (Deuteronomy 18:18)

They thought He might be the Messiah who will establish a perfect world on earth. Or He might be the answer to the continuing food crisis in the world. Hence they were determined to take Him by force to make Him their King. But that has nothing to do with His mission.

They sought Him the next day and found Him at Capernaum. But He knew what was on their mind. They sought Him not because they saw the sign but because they ate of the loaves and were filled. (John 6:26)

He told them they should not work for the food that perishes. They should work for the food that endures to everlasting life. What then they must do to do the works of God? He told them to believe in whom God has sent, referring to Himself.

They challenged His claim. What sign can He perform so they would believe Him? God poured out bread to feed their fathers in the desert for forty years. Can He do better?

Jesus told them, “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (vv. 32-33)

But they did not catch what He meant. “Lord, give us this bread always,” was all they had to say.

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst…I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world…Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” (vv. 35, 51, 53-56)

They were sickened to hear Him. It was a hard saying that they could not accept. So they went, not believing what He said. He might have sounded absurd to them.

We will not take in what Jesus said if we would just figure it out with our minds. But His Spirit can make us grasp what He meant.

The Jews were fond of giving credit on their works for God. Likewise it was easy for them to believe God through signs or miracles He does. Yet they would not believe Jesus and His claims about Himself.

Jesus did not make cannibals out of men. So where is the wisdom to command these people to eat His flesh and drink His blood? Jesus rather told them a deeper truth, which they hardly understood. He spoke of His death, which will give hope to all men. He wanted them to trust that the life He would

give up on the cross would make them alive in the spirit. That is why He said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

All men have died because of sin. What have died in them is their spirit, the component that is made to commune and have fellowship with God. To make their spirits alive, Jesus needed first to conquer sin and the curses it brought upon their lives. And that He did through His death on the cross. But the freedom it offers will be ours only when we begin to trust Him. This is the greatest miracle that God would ever do in people’s lives. It is more than receiving our daily bread.

But Jesus also wants that we keep in our mind what He did. So He gave us the ordinance of the Holy Communion. Through this, we remember how He traded in His life for us – that we might live. (Matthew 26:26-29)

Reflection:

1. What does flesh and blood of Jesus imply? How did you react on what He said the first time you heard it? “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

2. What makes it hard for many people to entrust their lives to God?

Jesus knows how poor in the spirit the people are and how much they need Him.

Psalms 147

All over the world are wounded souls. They look happy but inside they cry out. They wear smile on their faces yet deep within are wounds that have never been healed.

No one could truly be free from pain because its main root is sin. Sin brings out the worst in people and it always puts them in strife. Thus it wounds our soul.

But we do not need to languish in pain. Because God wants to make us whole. He desires to heal our wounds in the soul no matter how deep they are.

Luke had seized words that offer hope from the Lord’s mouth. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18)

The Spirit of the Lord had empowered Jesus when He was in the flesh. He held that power to restore the people and to meet them at the point of their need. But such mission came in full force only when He died and rose again. For God’s law required blood to be shed for it. (Hebrews 9:22; Matthew 20:28)

Jesus’ death and resurrection gave power to His work of restoration among the people. Today, He goes on with His mission to rebuild shattered lives.

Man will find inner healing only through Christ. He who chooses to surrender to His lordship will find it. Thus we must admit our need of Him before we could be healed of deep hurts.

We can do that by listening to and believing in His Word.

This is the reason why Jesus said He was sent to “preach the gospel to the poor.”

He came to preach the Good News to them that are spiritually bankrupt. He came to our rescue. Because He knew that we could not on our own recover from the ruin of sin, which made our spirits gloomy and poor.

To believe the gospel, which tells us how God redeemed our soul, is the first step to wholeness. It will reward us soundness of spirit. It will also give us an access to the kingdom of God and eternal life. (John 3:3, 16)

Yet we must understand that to believe the gospel will not promise us a life free from pain. We can never be totally free from life’s struggles because man is still in his fallen state. (Romans 3:23)

The wicked spirits are also in the high places ruled by Satan to continue to bring destruction in the world. (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

That is why Jesus came “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” It tells us we have the Lord to lean on whenever we go through painful circumstances.

God cannot make a person whole in just one night. It is a lifetime process and has its practical side. Every man needs to make steps to be totally healed and restored. He needs to submit to God the attitudes that worsen his condition. Whether they are anger, hatred, bitterness, self-pity, revenge, resentment and such like, he needs to let go of these. For the process of healing to begin in his life, he must own these up. And as God has promised, He will make him whole and a brand new person. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Reflection:

1. About what was the instance that you were totally in pain? What did you do then to overcome it?

2. Is there a struggle in your past that keeps on troubling you? Take time to pray and turn it over to God. Let Him handle it and set you free from it. Jot down how He healed you from it.

Jesus came to earth to touch us with His healing grace.

5

Matthew 27:62-66 | Matthew 28:1-15

Jesus rose from the dead. But many doubted if He did. They asked how could a person who died rise again? They bullied those who believed He did rise again. So Paul challenged those who said that He did not.

“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He did not raise up – in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; and you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor. 15:12-17)

Any belief will not stand if those who advance it are not strong. In the same way, Christian faith would not mean anything if its founder is weak. It would not make any impact at all. It will serve no purpose. It will die a natural death.

But Jesus, the founder of Christian faith, died and rose again. For what purpose? He was delivered over to death because of our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom. 4:25)

It was through His death that He could pay our sins. And it was through His resurrection that He could justify us before God. That is why He died and rose again after three days. (1 Cor. 15:4)

Those who caused Jesus’ death did not know that He would rise again. His disciples could not grasp how He would. Peter even dared say that he would keep Him from dying. The devil just laughed at the thought of Jesus coming back to life. Nobody saw it in God’s point of view. They were utterly ignorant of what God was about to do. They did not know there’s the Holy Spirit to raise Jesus from the dead. (Acts 2:24; Rom. 8:11)

Why did He need to rise again? To complete His mission to redeem us. To ensure that we are saved. To strengthen our faith. To make it valid. To give us power to rise above sin and its works. To give power to our preaching. To make us a strong witness of His love. To give our lives real meaning.

What else? To raise up from the dead those who believed on Him but had already died. He will do that at the appointed time and will give them a new body. And those who are caught up alive when He comes He will also give a glorious body. (1 Thess. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:35-49)

Our life on earth is not meant to be forever. It is not even secured. That is why Paul said to those who placed their faith in Christ, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” (1 Cor. 15:19)

Our life with Him is meant to be spent with Him. And that will happen completely where He is. He will bring us there at the right time and give us the eternal life He promised. (John 3:16)

He who died for us is alive and will never die again. It is never futile to trust Him. For He did not only have the power to lay down His life for us. He did also have the power to take it again. (John10:17). And He promised that we shall live like Him when He returns.

Now who said that He did not rise again?

Reflection:

1. Why is it hard to believe that a person came back to life?

2. What does Jesus’ resurrection have to do with your life?

Jesus defeated death when He rose from the dead.

4

John 15:13

When Jesus died on the cross, He died once and for all. He completed the redemptive work for which the Father sent Him. The writer to the Hebrews or Jews explained it. He quoted Psalm 40:6-8, a prophecy which is known to the Jews.

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire. But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come – in the volume of the book it is written of Me – to do Your will, O God.’” (Heb. 10:9-10)

The passage tells of the heart-to-heart talk between God the Father and God the Son. Jesus volunteered to die for men. This time, He would fulfill what the law says on how people could be absolved from their sin. That is through His blood.

The death of Jesus Christ can be illustrated in five ways.

He took our place. He was the substitute for us. We ought to die. But it was He who died in our stead. His death became our life. (Rom 6:23)

He made amends, as for sin. He atoned for our sins. He paid them in full through His sinless blood. He knew that it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Heb. 10:4)

In the old covenant, a priest would atone for a person who sinned. Imagine how many people would sin in a day and for how many times. He would kill before the Lord a young bull and sprinkle some of its blood in front of the veil of the sanctuary as a sin offering to God. (Leviticus 4:1-7). This ceremony was done to serve as a covering for sin. It would cover the guilt of him who broke the law before the eyes of God.

Christ made a better covenant out of His death. Through Him, God will not condemn us. For if we sin and earnestly ask His forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Christ, He will answer. He will do it. The forgiveness we can receive from God is complete. He would not inflict guilt on us because of Him who atoned for our sins. (1 John 1:9)

He appeased God. God’s wrath on us had been driven away. He was the propitiation for our sins. (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10)

He reconciled us back to God. Sin had set us apart from God. But because He died for us, we can now have fellowship with Him again. We are no longer His enemies. We have become His sons. (Rom 5:10; Col 1:20-21)

He was made a ransom for us. Sin snatched us away from God’s hands. For Him to get us back again, He should pay for it, as the law requires. Jesus on His own will offered Himself. He was made the sacrifice for us. He bought us with His blood. (Matt. 20:28; Heb. 9:22)

What Christ did is complete. We cannot add some more to it. Neither shall we need to suffer that we may be saved. He did it for us already. And He gave us the choice of faith. So that if we would believe Him, we shall be saved.

Reflection:

1. What would you feel if you know that someone had died for you? What will you do to repay that sacrifice?

2. Is it possible for a person to die for his enemy? Why or why not?

Jesus died for our soul with all readiness.

3

Isaiah 55:8-13

God promised to give the land of Canaan to the Israelites. But for them to have it, they have to conquer all of its cities. The walled city of Jericho was the first city they need to take over. God gave it to them in a marvelous way.

God charged Joshua to lead Israel’s men of war to march around the city of Jericho. He said they should do it once in a day. And they should do it silently for six days. On the seventh day, they should march around it for seven times. Then the priests should blow the trumpet as a signal to make a long and loud cry.

When they did it, and after those great shouts were heard, the walls of the city fell down flat. (Joshua 6)

Jericho looked so strong because of its walls. No one thought it would fall. If there were people who were watching them as they marched around, they might think of them as fools. But they are bound to be proven wrong.

The fortified walls of Jericho fell down flat by the power of God. Hence it tells us that He fulfills His promises to His people in His own way.

We may be thinking of ways that will lead to God’s answer to our requests. But He may choose to answer in a way that we do not expect.

Often, He leaves us in great awe. We wonder how did He do it. And there are times that we do not notice that He already had answered our prayers. That is because we hold on to the mode we thought God would use to answer our prayers. Funny yet it’s true, we delay our response. We do not notice at once that He already had answered.

Take this for instance. When Herod had Peter arrested and bound in prison, the believers prayed for him to be freed. The Bible said, “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (Acts 12:5)

Those prayers led to Peter’s escape. An angel came to prison and woke him up. His chains fell off his hands. He went out and followed the angel. But he thought he was just seeing a vision. The iron gate that leads to the city opened to them. And when they went down one street, immediately the angel departed from him. Then Peter understood that it was an angel that helped him.

So he came to a house where many were gathered together. And there they were still praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a girl came to answer. She recognized that it was Peter’s voice that she heard. Because she was too excited, she ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. She forgot to open the door for him!

“But they said to her, ‘You are beside yourself!’ Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, ‘It is his angel.’

“Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.” (vv. 15-16)

Isn’t it funny that God places in front of us the very answer to our prayers but we still fail to take notice?

One thing is sure. No matter how God answers our prayers, it should put us in awe. And we must have an eye for it. So that our joy may be complete.

Reflection:

1. God is not in a box. Explain this thought.

2. Why do you at times fail to notice God’s answers to your prayers? What happens if you did fail?

God moves in a way we find hard to imagine.

2

Matthew 9:9-13

A commotion was going on. To push and hit could not be avoided either. All wanted to get the best position to see Jesus. They heard He has the power to cast out demons, make blind men see and raise the dead to life. No wonder. Everybody wants to see Him with his or her own eyes.

The power that drew them to Jesus was tremendous. They could not tell if it was just their human nature to sleuth. They could not understand His charm that pulls them to gather around Him.

Amidst the noise, the chief tax collector could not see anything. His small height made all his efforts to see Jesus futile. But he really wanted to see Him. He knew he just had to. And the unruly crowd, heat, or his height would not stop him. Then he saw a sycamore tree!

“So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.

“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’” (Luke 19:4-5)

Could it be real? His heart was pounding very fast! Why did He single him out and call him by name? How come He knew him? How come He knew where he was? How come He wanted to dine with him in his house? Why him?

“So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.” (v. 6)

He could hear the murmurings of the crowd. They seem to be asking, “Why did He go with him? He’s a sinner!”

The Bible did not tell what happened in the house of Zacchaeus. But it went on to say that Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he is also a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’” (vv. 8-10)

Today, salvation can also come into your house! We need to be like Zacchaeus if we want to be saved.

Let us desire to see Him who possesses the power to give us life. (John 3:16; John 14:6; 1John 5:12)

Let us not allow the negative circumstances to block us from seeking Him. Let us come to Him even if we abound in sin. In spite of who we are. For He is able to change us. Remember that those who seek Him and desire to welcome Him into their hearts find Him.

Let us make haste to respond when we hear Him call us. Come down from where we are. Let us humble before Him. Admit that we are nothing without Him. (John 15:5b). And let us receive Him joyfully into the “house” of our heart.

Let us correct the wrong thing that we did. Restore what we have taken in bad faith. For it is futile to say that we are saved when we do not manifest its power.

This is the power of a changed life – making amends, making right the wrong, and doing what will please our Lord and Savior. This is the evidence of a life that God has touched.

Make sure you will not let go of this day without salvation coming into your own “house!”

Reflection:

1. Will all people be saved? Why or why not?

2. What did Jesus see in Zacchaeus that He chose to come to his house? What do you think Jesus saw in you when He first came to your heart?

Only Christ can make us good people.