Free and Real Like Jesus

Jesus was persecuted by religious people because He was a friend of sinners. Sinners were attracted to him and they came to spend time with Him. He loved them.

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:1-2
JESUS DIDN'T ONLY PREACH TO SINNERS. HE HAD FELLOWSHIP WITH THEM.

• Do you enjoy life? Do other people find you interesting?

Is your life holy in such a way that unholy people feel that you love them and they want to be with you? THIS IS THE KIND OF CHRISTIAN LIFE GOD WANTS TO SEE ON EARTH, BELIEVERS LIKE JESUS.
Jesus attracted prostitutes and corrupt tax collectors and He loved them. He healed hopeless cases with miracles in unpredictable ways that frequently violated religious rules. He healed a blind man by spitting in dirt and making a muddy paste to anoint the man’s eyes. The Bible believing people of His time had made a rule against this exact practice and Jesus broke the rule on purpose.
Most Bible teachers remind you that the religious persecutors of Jesus were Jews. In this way, they avoid the issue that religious legalism is just as strong and negative amongst many Bible believing Christians today as it was with the Jews 2000 years ago.
Jesus was fully human, a man, not an angel. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and we can be too. The Holy Spirit is a PERSON, just like Jesus. God is never boring or predictable but frequently does dramatic and wonderful things in quite unexpected ways. If we are living in the Holy Spirit, we will frequently have wonderful and exciting experiences which will make life interesting for ourselves and others around us, as it was with Jesus on earth.
One evening I was driving near the city when I saw a young woman on a bus stop. She was not dressed modestly. I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop and give her a lift. I asked God, “Is that really you?” I really felt it was God, so I turned back and picked her up. It turned out this was a prostitute but not really a woman. I had a very down to earth conversation about male prostitution, heroin addiction, the love of Jesus and his childhood as a Jehovah’s Witness. I later visited his daytime workplace in a hairdressing salon and gave him a Bible. He was so deeply moved that he wanted to kiss me, which I found very embarrassing.
When you are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, amazing things happen.
Jesus was constantly criticised by the committed Bible believing people. They had reduced the Bible to a set of doctrines and rules. Many Bible believing Christians are like that today.  If you enjoy a supernatural life with the unpredictable Holy Spirit, strange things will happen and serious Christians will reject you. Don’t take them too seriously. They take themselves too seriously already.
Spirits of control are the same dark spirits, whether in churches, political parties, governments, schools, or business organisations. Jesus did not teach chaos and selfish individualism but He taught FREEDOM and brotherhood and teamwork, leadership without ownership, guidance without authoritarianism, obedience without losing your identity. Your true identity comes from the God who created you to be UNIQUE.
    THE ESSENCE OF CONTROLLING RELIGION IS NOT CHURCH BUILDINGS BUT RATHER IT IS WHEN THE MAN WITH THE MICROPHONE ROBS YOU OF WHO YOU ARE. When God gives YOU a vision for HIS purpose for you, that can NEVER be cancelled out or overridden by the vision of the leader of the church you join. LAST TIME I READ MY BIBLE it said THE LORD is my Shepherd. Jesus ranks higher than any human preacher.
But often preachers are also victims of religious control.
A pastor of a big active church desperately desired to go out and reach unchurched people, to be an evangelist. But his church kept him so busy preaching, teaching, counselling and organising Christians, that he had no time. He pleaded with his people to release him but they refused. They said they needed him to look after them. Eventually he resigned as pastor and left the church altogether. He became a successful evangelist.
He obeyed God. What about you?

Finding God Personally

There is a difference between believing in God and FINDING God. Great explorers believed in the lands they were looking for but when they actually landed on the shores of distant countries, that was an entirely different matter.
Many people know about Mother Theresa but how many people MET her face to face or actually WORKED with her?

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. John 1:6-7 (NKJV)
John the Baptist was a supernatural baby. His mother was a childless old woman. One day an angel from Heaven visited her aged husband and promised he and his wife would be like Abraham and Sarah, who became parents when they were over 90 years old.
When God supernaturally creates new life, it is not a one off event but a launching pad for a process of supernatural transmission of life, the multiplication of the reality of Heaven from one person to many others.  
Some people believe in God for years before they MEET HIM and are transformed into sons or daughters of the Heavenly Father. In other cases, God can ambush an atheist or idol worshipper in a dream or vision or even a direct visitation.
I know a young Hindu woman who visited a Christian church and then began reading the New Testament. One night Jesus walked into her bedroom and told her to write down a message. She wrote the words as Jesus dictated them and she became a follower of Jesus and a daughter of the One True God.
These are the words that Jesus gave her to write.
King of kings
Priest of priests
My lord you are the only way,
Through which I can attain eternal life
You are the light of my life
With you in my life
Darkness shall never reside
You are my devotion
You are my salvation;
Lord your mercifulness and greatness,
Shall never be forgotten
Lord you have laid your life for us,
You have accepted to be crucified
So that the holiness of your
Blood shall wash our sin
Jesus, king of Jerusalem

When you FIND God, MEET God, and come to KNOW God, you can expect HIM to speak to you. You read the Bible and a phrase leaps out at you. You know Jesus is speaking to YOU. The Bible becomes to you the living Word of God, His message to you.
You talk to God and sometimes you sense He is talking to you. You sort of KNOW certain things and THINK certain things and PERCEIVE certain realities which you could not know by yourself.
Even before you come to KNOW Jesus and follow Him as His disciple, God can speak to you in mysterious ways. Why? Because He created you. He planned your life and loved you before the foundation of the world. He wants you to know HIM and to be with HIM forever.
And when you encounter Jesus and you KNOW God personally, that is just the beginning of a journey of discovery. As you listen to the still small voice of God and follow His plans for your life, you discover why you were put on this earth, to make a unique contribution to the lives of others, to reveal the supernatural reality of God to people in despair and confusion.
THERE IS A MAN SENT FROM GOD AND HIS NAME IS BILL DERHAM.
THERE IS A WOMAN SENT FROM GOD AND HER NAME IS ANA, MY WIFE.
Put your own name in that sentence and it is true. God has a unique purpose and a plan for your life and He is waiting for you to receive His calling. He wants to send YOU to reach this world for him.
You may have been a Christian for years but  you are discouraged by your own weaknesses and failures. START AGAIN.
Perhaps you have been basing your Christian life on the expectations and teachings of other Christians, even church leaders but this has not made you a world changer. Do something different. Search for a personal encounter with God and do what He tells you.