I have been thinking about the significance of the words ‘Just One’. I’ve come up with some different concepts around that short phrase – I wonder if you can come up with more? I would love to hear your ‘Just One’ thoughts’. *
First up, I will visit the phrase biblically, secondly psychologically and finally-, how these impact you and I today.
The ‘Just One’ phrase in Acts 7:52 & 22:14, describes an attributional name of God. ‘Just One’ or Jesus, describes a God who is just. What a blessing for us who depend on that, right? In this blog; however, I will mainly examine ‘Just One’ in a more literal sense with the word ‘just’ meaning only. Here is one to kick start my take on this phrase:
You and I have ‘Just One’ life. Yep. One! I want to make the most of it. How about you?
Scripture tells us there is ‘Just One’ God and we are to have no other gods but Him – 1 Corinthians 8:6
‘ yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.’ NKJV
We also know there is‘Just One’ way to Heaven.
‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ John 14:6 NKJV
Only the one.
Consider Christianity down the ages and some of the ‘Just One’ individuals that significantly impacted their world in their day.
In the Old Testament, Abraham was called by God to visit a new land and founded a new nation. One man. ‘Just One!’Another ‘Just One’ was Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land and received the 10 Commandments from God. One man. ‘Just One!’ Let’s not forget the women: Esther was ‘Just One’ woman, who bravely and strategically saved the Jewish nation from annihilation. Yay for the girls! It takes ‘Just One’.
In the New Testament: I think of Paul, Peter, Luke, John, Priscilla, Lois, Eunice – all the ‘Just Ones,’doing the will of God, according to their unique gifts and strengths; influencing countless generations.
Further down the ages, after the time of Jesus, Constantine, the Roman Emperor in the 4th Century, made Christianity the main religion. Jerome, produced the first Latin translation of the Bible, which was used for centuries. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, brought to attention the Bible as the main authority. More ‘Just Ones’making a contribution.
Then there is the ‘Just One’ contemporaries like the evangelist Billy Graham, who led millions to the Lord; or Martin Luther King Junior, a Baptist minister, speaking out for racial equality; James Dobson, who began Focus On The Family and Australia’s Brian Houston, who brought song and worship to the world. Doing their thing, the ‘Just One’ way!
Allow me to meander a little now to the secular world of psychological science.:‘Just One’ reformers, who changed the way society thought about mental health. One well known psychologist was Freud, who theorised that people acted from their subconscious in unconscious ways which changed thinking about the mentally ill being insane as late as the 19thcentury. The next significant psychological ‘Just One’ reformer was Carl Rodgers 1902–1987 known for Person-Centred Therapy – a therapy that gave patients, now called clients, an equal footing with their therapist, with an understanding that each person has knowledge about their own wellness. Finally, I mention Martin Seligman, one of my favourite ‘Just One’ psychologists who came up with Positive Psychology at the end of the 20th century, achieving ground breaking research in what works, rather than from fixing what is wrong in mental health.
These highlight just some ‘Just One’ individuals making enormous contributions to society. Are you thinking: well, that I’m not one of those spectacular ‘Just Ones?’ Okay, perhaps you don’t have a big name or profile but you can make a difference in your world. In Just One moment of time, you can be present, listening to the sorrow of a neighbour or the desperation of a needy friend. Or to the lost friend or acquaintance, your ‘Just One’ question can change their eternity. A question like ‘Do you want to know ‘Just One’ man that I know, who has changed my life?
Perhaps, you are such a ‘Just One’ world-changer too!
*Would love you to reply below on the CONTACT US tab, with your 'Just One' thoughts.
Blessings
Peta
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