Rejected Like Jesus<\\/h2>\\n Lately, I\\u2019ve been feeling very lonely. Yes, I have a loving wife, but I still feel alone. I moved from New York to Florida almost two years ago and have zero friends here.\\u00a0 I at least thought my friends from back home would call once in a while and not kick me to the curb.<\\/p>\\n I also took for granted my family in New York. My mom and my two brothers are my best friends, but I can\\u2019t regularly see them. My dad passed in 2021 and that too has contributed to my feelings of solitude.<\\/p>\\n Jesus was rejected by people he held close to him as well. My friends from the Northeast have almost all dropped out of my life for one reason or another. I always tried to help them by offering my love in their times of despair. But as the saying goes \\u201cout of sight, out of mind.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n What Does Out of Sight Out of Mind Mean? (thewordcounter.com)<\\/a><\\/p>\\n My older and wiser brother always said I expected too much from people. Maybe he\\u2019s correct. I should be helping others alleviate their pain just because it\\u2019s the Christian thing to do, not out of an expectation they will return the favor.<\\/p>\\n It\\u2019s been mentioned in my column before, but most of my Jewish friends are puzzled by my decision to worship Jesus. Maybe I\\u2019m reading into it, but it looks like they view it as a stab in the back.<\\/p>\\n

{"id":212,"date":"2024-04-21T04:21:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T08:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/behavinglikejesus\/?p=212"},"modified":"2024-04-23T20:14:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T00:14:25","slug":"abandoned-for-being-a-jewish-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/behavinglikejesus\/2024\/04\/abandoned-for-being-a-jewish-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"Abandoned For Being A Jewish Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

"Jesus

Image by David Yonatan Gonz\u00e1lez Aburto from Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rejected Like Jesus<\/h2>\n Lately, I\u2019ve been feeling very lonely. Yes, I have a loving wife, but I still feel alone. I moved from New York to Florida almost two years ago and have zero friends here.\u00a0 I at least thought my friends from back home would call once in a while and not kick me to the curb.<\/p>\n I also took for granted my family in New York. My mom and my two brothers are my best friends, but I can\u2019t regularly see them. My dad passed in 2021 and that too has contributed to my feelings of solitude.<\/p>\n Jesus was rejected by people he held close to him as well. My friends from the Northeast have almost all dropped out of my life for one reason or another. I always tried to help them by offering my love in their times of despair. But as the saying goes \u201cout of sight, out of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n What Does Out of Sight Out of Mind Mean? (thewordcounter.com)<\/a><\/p>\n My older and wiser brother always said I expected too much from people. Maybe he\u2019s correct. I should be helping others alleviate their pain just because it\u2019s the Christian thing to do, not out of an expectation they will return the favor.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been mentioned in my column before, but most of my Jewish friends are puzzled by my decision to worship Jesus. Maybe I\u2019m reading into it, but it looks like they view it as a stab in the back.<\/p>\n

Jesus is with Me<\/strong><\/h2>\n \ I\u2019ve even had close friends lecture me on how my views make no sense and I should return to the synagogue. Whatever it may be, I feel hurt and abandoned.\u00a0 Being a follower of Christ is tougher than I ever imagined.\u00a0 This is despite my knowledge that Jesus is with me.<\/p>\n I\u2019m no Jesus, but he too felt despair at crucial times. His cry on the cross still sends chills down my back. \u201cMy God, my god, why have you forsaken me.\u201d Mathew 27:46 NIV \u2013 About three in the afternoon Jesus \u2013 Bible Gateway<\/a><\/p>\n Jesus was facing death, unlike myself. But I believe the answers to this problem are in the bible.<\/p>\n Before I explain further, I want to share one of my favorite passages.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised and we held him in low esteem.\u201dIsaiah 53:3 NIV \u2013 He was despised and rejected by \u2013 Bible Gateway<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A Return to Helping Others<\/strong><\/h2>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I tried to kick myself out of my blues yesterday by remembering to count my blessings. I have a wonderful wife and I still have my family, even if they are miles away.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always said love is the answer. With that in mind, I have been praying to Jesus for help with my issue. And the main thing that has been coming into my head repeatedly after prayer is to be grateful. Count my blessings and help others.<\/p>\n So, I changed my prayer up a bit last night by asking him to put me in situations where I could help others less fortunate. Then, some new ideas popped into my head.<\/p>\n First, I decided to donate to my favorite charity Feeding America. You can do the same at U.S. Hunger Relief Organization | Feeding America<\/a>. <\/span>They provide healthy meals for those in need.<\/p>\n Then, I decided to send a few emails to old friends I\u2019ve lost touch with who I thought may need a helping hand. I\u2019m still waiting to hear from them, and perhaps like other times in the past, I won\u2019t. But that\u2019s not going to slow me down.<\/p>\n I want to help as many people as possible. I can hope for a response but should not do anything out of an expectation of one. Perhaps Jesus is letting me know that he has been with me always. He wants me to stop feeling sorry for myself even if I was rejected by my own people. For Jesus understands this completely as pointed out in John 1:11.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him\u201d John 1:11 NIV \u2013 He came to that which was his own, but \u2013 Bible Gateway<\/a><\/p>\n I am no Jesus, but I am moving full force ahead in trying to help people. There\u2019s no expectations, only love. And no, I don\u2019t feel lonely now.<\/p>\n Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on this page.\u00a0 Have you been abandoned too due to your beliefs? Next week, I will tackle exactly why Reform Judaism turned me off.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rejected Like Jesus Lately, I\u2019ve been feeling very lonely. Yes, I have a loving wife, but I still feel alone. I moved from New York to Florida almost two years ago and have zero friends here.\u00a0 I at least thought my friends from back home would call once in a while and not kick me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5525,"featured_media":215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAbandoned For Being A Jewish Christian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you been abandoned for being a follower of Christ? 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