--JESUS CHRIST, THE SAME YESTERAY AND TODAY AND FOREVER ~~


---AN UNEXPECTED GUEST ~~

---[Jesus said], "Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today." --[LUKE 19:5] -- angelwing

---ZACH was a lonely guy. When he walked down the city streets, he could feel the hostile glares. But then his life took a turn. Clement of Alexandria, one of the church fathers, says that Zach became a very prominent Christian leader and a pastor of the church in Caesarea. Yes, we're talking about Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to see see Jesus (Luke 19:1-10)..

What prompted him to climb the tree? Tax collectors were perceived as traitors because they heavily taxed their own people to serve the Roman Empire. Yet Jesus had a reputation for accepting them. Zacchaeus might have wondered if Jesus would accept him too. Being short in stature, however, he couldn't see over the crowd (v. 3). Perhaps he climbed a tree to seek Him out.

And Jesus was seeking Zacchaus too. When Christ reached the tree where he was perched, He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today" (v. 5). Jesus, considered it absolutely necessary that He be a guest in this outcast's home, imagine that! The Savior of the world wanting to spend time with a social reject.

Whether it's our hearts, relationships, or lives that need mending, like Zacchaeus we can have hope. Jesus will never reject us when we turn to Him. He can restore what's been lost and broken and give our lives new meaning and purpose. ~~

--"Lord Jesus, thank You for seeking me when I was lost in sin and for redeeming my messed up life. I praise and bless your holy Name, Yahweh. ~ YHWH."

---"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." --[Hebrews 13:8]
--"Same God" // Hannah Kerr // <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etiaQLzAI3o>
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]