“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46 NASB
"Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2
Has the message been received? Have you seen the connection? From Jesus Himself we read of the intended role of people in life and what is important.
We also read of those who did being blessed of His Father. What we see in 1 Corinthians 13 is a continuation of yesterday's post of the need to be doers of the Word.
Too many so-called people want to go to a Church to hear, be soothed, be reassured, then leave to go live life as they see fit. Without regard to the mission of the Church being a priority.
We come to Christ, as the parable yesterday mentioned, to do something with what we were given after coming to Christ. Not sit on the gifts and do do nothing.
We who are in Christ, as our first priority after Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit, is to love our neighbor as yourself. To go and make disciples. We have people to meet, people to show and share the Gospel with.
Life isn't about us getting our fondest wishes to come true.
Life isn't about our ease and comfort in this world.
Life isn’t about what we can get out of life.
Life in Christ is about serving and doing the work and Will of our Father in Heaven.
Are you seeing things differently now?
We will indeed see that passage Jesus spoke of played out one day. It's coming.
Good intentions won't even be considered.
The doers of the Word will be recognized as accomplishers. The ones who tried to say they were saved but had no fruit of it...you see where they go.
It's extremely important to know that you know that you know you are saved in Christ Jesus.
It's equally important to be found obedient to what God's plan for you is. You indeed will be sent out into your world as a representative of God. You will indeed have a purpose under Heaven from your Father in Heaven. Will you do it?
That's the important part.
Remember the parable from yesterday.
We can't be trusted with the truth and yet keep it to ourselves. Our direction in life may go completely different than we think we want to live with. God may be wanting us to move to where we do HIM the most good, not necessarily US.
Our part in the Father’s business may take us to places unexpected. Doing things we didn't know how to do before. To reach people who before our obedience were unreachable.
Are you doing something with what you were given by the Spirit of God? Don't invent something to do. Too many will also be claimed to have done things in Jesus's name and He will tell them to depart from Him for He never knew them. There was no relationship with Jesus.
Be sure you are in Christ.
Be sure of your priorities, that they are the God given and intended priorities for you.
Be sure of being saved. Make sure of your salvation in Christ Jesus. Know the moment in time when you received it. Know why you received it.
We see that there is no court room scene before Jesus. There's no witnesses for the prosecution or the defense. We are separated to His right and left based on what He already knows.
You may not make up your own cross to carry. Jesus has the one for you. Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We are to be in intimate partnership with Jesus, in what He is doing.
We are to be living transformed lives. Lives that are different on purpose. Lives that show the intense love of God to go to whatever lengths He needs to in order to prove He will save all who come to Him.
Is your life about you after you give a few moments to God? Is your life reflecting you or God? Is your life with Christ at all?
You need to be sure of your salvation in Christ and the evidence is in your obedience to the Word of God. The evidence is in being a doer. It does not say that saving people is the responsibility of the Pastor or the people who work at the Church. Jesus says that all are sent into the fields to work that which the Father prepared.
So my friend, you indeed need to set aside your intentions for living in this day and pray about what they should be in Christ.
Jesus will have words to say to you.
They will either be Welcome Home or they will be Depart from Me. Welcome home will mean Heaven, the other will be eternal punishment in Hell, then shortly later the Lake of Fire.
We pretty much all have heard the phrase "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.".
We can't live a life that doesn't show our obedience to Jesus if indeed we are saved.
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever." 1 John 2:15-17
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