All believers are foreigners following a foreigner for Jesus Christ Himself was a foreigner, an immigrant and a refugee. Immigration is an important and relevant topic in our society, not for a political topic but for those who hold Jesus Christ as the center in their heart. Jesus was in the beginning with God and when the time came, He immigrated to earth to live with human beings, a foreigner surrounded by all of these different people. His visitation should have been held with joy and celebration yet, as seen...
All believers are foreigners following a foreigner for Jesus Christ Himself was a foreigner, an immigrant and a refugee. Immigration is an important and relevant topic in our society, not for a political topic but for those who hold Jesus Christ as the center in their heart. Jesus was in the beginning with God and when the time came, He immigrated to earth to live with human beings, a foreigner surrounded by all of these different people. His visitation should have been held with joy and celebration yet, as seen in John 1:10-11, Jesus suffered the rejection of those who were like Him.
He also knew how it was to live as an immigrant. As a child, He had to leave His home and run away to Egypt with His family. They had to escape to a foreign country, leaving behind everyone and everything they ever knew and cared for. Why? Because Jesus was a refugee as well. When Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, the wise men asked King Herod where they may find the newborn King of the Jews so they may come and worship Him. King Herod wanted Jesus dead and asked that the wise men tell him where Jesus was when they find Him, lying that he wished to show worship to Him as well. It was only due to God’s warning that the wise men did not return to King Herod and, in his rage, King Herod ordered his soldiers to kill all boys age 2 and below. Jesus and His family escaped the king’s rage, warned by an angel who appeared in Joseph’s dream to take his family and escape to Egypt. There in a foreign country with no possession but the measly things they could gather before they hastily left before King Herod’s soldiers could catch them and without any friend or family to lean to, Jesus and His family had to stay until the angel came into Joseph’s dream once more to tell them it was safe to return to Israel.
Even though they had returned, Joseph grew afraid of the new leader who had replaced King Herod and, once more, was warned to go to Galilee instead. He couldn’t even grow up in Bethlehem where He was born, instead growing up in Nazareth and being known as a Nazarene.
As you can see, the Bible has made it clear that Jesus was a foreigner, an immigrant and a refugee. He understood what it was like to be all three and how to be a stranger in a foreign land, surrounded by people who do not know Him. Even his family heritage shows he is a refugee, including in the genealogy foreigners in Israel and women as well. He wasn’t just a refugee, He was the ultimate refugee. It is because He was a refugee himself that our Lord has a personal invested interest in the plight of the refugees, to anyone who has been displaced or had to leave their homeland, to those who have lost everything and those who had to leave everything behind.
Jesus Christ reminds us that all that we do to others, we do to Him. For every hurtful word we say, for all the mistreatment we have done or even for all the time we have ignored them, we have also hurt and ignored our Lord. It is when we have blessed, shown kindness, take care of the immigrants, the refugees, the foreigners and the strangers living among us that we show our love and devotion to Jesus, that we have done our service to our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower The Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.
Living the Dream Podcast: The Living the Dream podcast is where Church staff and volunteers get comfortable and aligned with the reality that God is moving millions of foreign-born internationals into our communities. We focus on this incredible opportunity God is giving us to change the world! We know how this story ends! Rev 7:9-12 shows us a Church filled with EVERY nation, tribe, & tongue gathered together worshipping Jesus. Welcome to Living the Dream podcast where we help The Church be on earth as it is in heaven. More about Living the Dream Podcast.
Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Living the Dream Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.
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