Your 7 Final Words - 2. You will be with Me...

Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.
– Luke 23:43

Jesus was hanging between two men that He created, on a cross made from a tree that He created. The men were convicted thieves and both men spoke to Him, but each in a totally different manner. One thief, knowing his guilt but being unrepentant, jeered at the Lord to get them all out of their predicament. To him Jesus was a way out. The other thief however, recognized Jesus’ innocence and saw the power of His words of forgiveness. He knew he was wrong and deserved death. He desired a way in, so he asked that Jesus remember him when He went into His Kingdom. To this request Jesus responded, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

These two thieves typify the two kinds of people you will meet in your walk with the Lord. There are those who will see you as a channel for a quick fix out of whatever problem they are facing. They may be willing to share their difficulties with you, but stop short of taking ownership for their own actions. They want you to do the work for them so that they can get on with their lives in the same condition that they are in now.

But then there are those who will recognize the Christ in you, and will sincerely seek to follow you, not just for what you have but for who and Whose you are.

Jesus’ mandate to us before He left the earth was that we should make disciples. Many have taken this directive to heart, and have employed various methods to reach this objective. Why then, is it that there aren’t more people coming to the Lord in droves? Is it that our methods are ineffective?

We have been taught that it is necessary to work at getting people to come into the Kingdom of God and follow Christ. The problem is that it often requires that the psuche life (your mind, will, intellect and emotions) make plans and projects to accomplish this. The soul life is very natural and earthy, and cannot understand or execute the things of the Spirit. So any plans forged from a soulish level will have limited results at best.

In telling the dying thief that he would be with Him in Paradise, Jesus was patterning for you the kind of sweatless victory you can often achieve in leading souls into the Kingdom. It happens when you give up the plans and purposes that your limited mind constructs, and you simply allow your own life to be the living testimony of who Christ is in you. This alternative truly is simple, but it certainly demands more of you personally than does handing out a tract! It requires that you become the walking Word 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days each year because you never know when the Holy Spirit will usher a “thief” into your presence.

Jesus Himself was the power that brought the repentant thief into the Kingdom of God. He lay on that cross, denying Himself the right to call on myriads of angels to rescue Him. He submitted to the persecution and gave His life over completely to the Father. In doing so, He won over not only the thief next to Him, but many others who witnessed His selfless sacrifice, down to the very last second.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus was crucified with two thieves? God is a Master Strategist, and nothing that happens is by chance. It was certainly not coincidental that these two men embodied the spirit of the enemy that Jesus had described during His earthly ministry.

'Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.' (John 10: 7 – 10)

Jesus mentioned thieves and robbers, both taking what isn’t rightfully theirs, but in different ways. According to Strong’s Concordance, thieves are false teachers who abuse the confidence of men and women for their own gain. They stealthily and underhandedly give false hope to a captive audience – an audience trapped by empty promises. Thieves manipulate the Word of God to their own advantage, yet are unable to demonstrate the true power of the Word. It is these, I believe, whom Jesus referred to when He said that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Robbers, according to Strong’s Concordance, steal openly. Could it be because they don’t know any better, having been raised in a certain kind of environment, in a certain culture, with a certain belief system? Could it be that they actually believe that what they take – spiritually, emotionally, financially – is rightfully theirs? Could it even be that they rob openly because they want to get caught, knowing that their lifestyle is wrong, but not knowing how to change?

To me the thieves represent those who have heard the true Word of God, but who have chosen to prostitute the Word for their own advantage, caring more about their own comforts than the true message of the gospel of the Kingdom. I see robbers as those who have not yet been introduced to the powerful truth of the Gospel, and so they themselves are trapped.

Is it possible that the unrepentant criminal typified the thieves that Jesus spoke about – still looking out for his own gain – while the repentant one who reached out to Jesus typified a robber – finally meeting The One who is The Truth? If that is so, then you can see how arguments, gimmicks and persuasive speech will not cause either of these types to be drawn into the Kingdom. It is only the overwhelming power of the Holy Spirit that will bring transformation. It is when they come face to face with the only Jesus they may ever see – the Christ in you.

When you and I live our lives with such transparent sacrifice, others are able to see the manifested power of God happening now, in real time, and not just read it as a historical event. It is then that this wonderful gospel of the Kingdom of God will have its appeal, as the Holy Spirit draws attention to your life, wooing others to experience the freedom in Christ that you demonstrate.

Are you willing to not only take up your cross, but allow yourself to be nailed to it? Are you willing to be one of those whom Jesus talked about – who would be persecuted for righteousness sake? It doesn’t mean necessarily that people will spit in your face, or that you will have to face physical martyrdom. But when you choose not to go according to the tenets of this world system – even the world system that has infiltrated the church – you automatically open yourself up to persecution. You will face two kinds of “thieves” – those who will jeer and criticize you and those who will be drawn to the Christ in you.

When you ignore the criticisms you deny your soul the opportunity to revert back to its old ways of arguments and imaginations. At the same time you give the Holy Spirit a powerful weapon that will draw men unto Christ – the weapon of your sacrificed life that says to seekers, “You too, will be with me in the Kingdom of God.”