Pursued by the Almighty

We love because Jesus loved us first 🩵 

🌱 Luke 15:4

"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

- 💭  Jesus tells this to the Pharisees(1) and scribes who were complaining that He was hanging out and eating with "sinners." Jesus uses the story to show God's heart for rescuing the lost. 

📖 - (1) Think of the Pharisees as the strict religious leaders and legal experts of Jesus’s time.

They weren't priests who worked in the main Temple; instead, they were local teachers who taught in the neighborhood synagogues (local churches).

🌱 Matthew 18:12

 "How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?"

-💭Jesus is speaking directly to His disciples, using the parable to explain how precious his children (believers) are to God.

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Luke 15:2

"And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them."

Luke 15:7

"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."