April 14
" Jesus was misunderstood by His brothers because He was not like them. His standard was not their standard. In looking to men they had turned away from God, and they had not His power in their lives. The forms of religion which they observed could not transform the character. They paid "tithe of mint and anise and cummin," but omitted "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith." Matt. 23:23. The example of Jesus was to them a continual irritation. He hated but one thing in the world, and that was sin. He could not witness a wrong act without pain which it was impossible to disguise. Between the formalists, whose sanctity of appearance concealed the love of sin, and a character in which zeal for God's glory was always paramount, the contrast was unmistakable. Because the life of Jesus condemned evil, He was opposed, both at home and abroad. His unselfishness and integrity were commented on with a sneer. His forbearance and kindness were termed cowardice."
Desire of Ages, page 89 from the chapter, 'Days of Conflict'
We saw yesterday that eventually at least one of Jesus’ brothers had a renewed mind. James became a Christian. 
How on earth are you going to cope at work? There is the man who sits in the corner, you know he is a Christian because you have been witnessed to by him. You were a little concerned the first time because the teaching was right but that was all there was. There was a touch of a judgemental attitude. The tone was all about, “doing the right thing”. Sad to say the man didn’t really mention Jesus. You would have agreed that the man would surely tithe mint, anise and cumin but might have struggled with a correct view of, “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.”
The advice could well be to do as Jesus did. Jesus kept on being a continual irritation. What that means is that like Jesus we should continue to be unselfish and show a great deal of integrity. We should be kind and forebearing. All of that implies a long term relationship, the quick-hit kind of witnessing doesn’t work. Jesus spent years helping his brothers. You might need to do the same with one of the people you are praying for.
Bryn has chosen 'The power of your love' for our song today. Please click on the picture of the flower to listen to the song.
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Housekeeping details for you
The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.
A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here
