What Do You See?

Acts 9

Tekton = means many things. A great translation is “”.

When carpenters “” wood they do so by “”.

Important Truths:

• Jesus loves us without .
• Jesus us – knots, cracks, and all.
• Jesus with us as we are.

However – Jesus to cut away parts that interfere with His plan for us.

The only way happens is by cutting.

Carpentry differs from other crafts:

      fabric         blacksmith

leather         silversmith     

If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.  Matthew 18:8-9 NASB

Harmful Excess

Jesus only from our lives what belong.

Principle: “Sometimes is more.”

Whatever Jesus away makes us .

Paul Is A Great Example.

Needed Cuts:

/ / / hatred / pride

Paul gave all these up in order to be shaped to the of Christ.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.  Philippians 3:7-9 NASB

Principle: The more we ourselves to Christ, the more we .

Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.  Mark 10:28-30 NASB

We are made in the image of God. Jesus the Carpenter cuts from you and me anything that look like God.

Do you see or Jesus? It’s all in what you .

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!  Matthew 6:22-23 NASB