To Live is Christ...

To live is Christ, and to die is gain. The point the scripture brings us to is that there is an advantage regardless. If we are here on this earth, God has a reason! To live is Christ!!! How are we living? Are we recognizing our need for God as our Savior? Are we seeking out God's Will for our lives?

Paul, in verse 22, writes that while he is here living and breathing, it was an opportunity. It is an opportunity to know Christ, share His love with others, share what Christ has done in our lives, help others, encourage others, building up God's Kingdom… It is what he calls fruitful labor. Building up God's Kingdom. We have the chance to be co-workers in God's work, working to build up the Kingdom of God. We are not a mistake. We are His special creation! He has meant us for sooo much more!!

God has a reason for us being here!

God has a reason for me, just as He does for you!

He has a purpose for us even when we fail to see it.

To live---there is one qualification required: breathing. As long as you are breathing, you are alive. Your quality of life may be far from what you wish it was, but you are ALIVE!! To live is Christ.... Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary states: "to live is Christ—whatever life, time, and strength, I have, is Christ's; Christ is the sole object for which I live (Gal 2:20)."

The question is: Are you living for Christ? Am I living for Christ? We will each give an account to God, so we better give Him our best. He deserves our best! We need to examine ourselves. Scripture says that we need to examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Are you showing evidence of spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-23)? Are you seeking Christ daily? Or, have you taken a step back? Are you walking in total obedience to God, the One who created you? (we each probably need to take time, stop, and repent for our disobedience...) What is quiet time like? Is it quality time between you and the Lord, or are there distractions?

Just some questions to help us think about our walk with the Lord, and where He has purposely placed us. We are here for a reason!!

A lot of us that have an intimate relationship with Christ, we long to leave this world and be with Christ in Heaven. The most important thing to realize is that God wants us to use us. He has here for a reason! Will we be obedient to Him? Will we trust Him? Paul recognized that though he wanted to go to Heaven, God had a reason for him continuing to live. God had a ministry he wanted Paul to be involved in. God wanted to use Paul greatly to help many to come to know Jesus Christ!

How can we encourage others?
How can we encourage other believers to continue in the faith and keep seeking Christ?

How can we witness~ and showing others the love of Christ?

Protection from Hardships

Today, my prayer has been for God to show me what I am doing right. Also, to show me what I am doing wrong in my life. No areas is to be excluded. I want to know how I challenge myself to do better... be better.

I was able to begin checking out a new devotional book I received by Dr. Charles Stanley. It has an "ask" section where Stanley answered a believer's question about the hardship he was facing as a result of sharing the Gospel with a co-worker. As I read and thought about what we are called to as believers, I am reminded that it does mean hardships. It means a different life--one with eternal blessings, but also temporary sufferings.

King David, in Psalm 7, wrote of the hardship he was facing--where someone was pursuing him. Often in life, there are others that desire to hurt us and be our "pursuers". There are many who would love to destroy us. There are many who would love to bring cruel words to "tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces". I know the great hope I have: the Lord is my shield and deliverer. I am not one who has to fight my own battles; The Lord fights my battles. I can boldly come to Him--trusting and knowing he doesn't leave me or forsake me.

When opposition comes, it is gut-wretching. It brings on great fears, and changes the way I think or go about my day. But, what about the hidden benefits of them?

In Matthew 5, it says:

"They are blessed who are persecuted for ·doing good [doing what’s right;the sake of righteousness], for the kingdom of heaven ·belongs to them [is theirs]. ¹¹ “·You are blessed [Blessed are you; or God will bless you] when people ·insult [mock; abuse; revile] you and ·hurt [persecute] you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things ·about [against] you because ·you follow [of] me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. ·People did the same evil things to [They likewise persecuted] the prophets who lived before you." (10-12)

We will experience hardships, but it grows us and helps us to be reminded of this great treasure we hold inside. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead, because of God's great love for us. He came to bring us salvation and new life. We can rejoice and be glad, because we know that we have the greatest kind of rewards in Heaven. We know we will have ALL we need! He is our provider. He will continue to walk with me no matter what fiery trial I will face.

We notice these hardships when they come.
But, do we notice how often we are protected from possible hardships?
Do we recognize how much we are protected by the Father from hardships or others' words?

I think it is really easy to focus on what we don't have. That is when we feel like we are lacking, whether it is friends, significant other, or family. It is really easy to notice those things especially around the holidays. Those are the things we notice. We seem to be better trained to notice ways we stand out from others in this world, rather than taking time to notice the great blessings we have been giving. I know he uses these times to teach me, but also protect me.

May we take the time to recognize the blessings and protection from the Father we have been given, but often overlook.

Enemy of God or Child of God?

Enemy of God or Child of God?
Slave to religion or Friend of Jesus?

Turning to other gods or Focused on Christ?
Focused on doing or our Relationship with Christ?

Every day, we make choices. Our choices become habits. Our habits define us. We choose who we will follow. We choose to model our lives after the world, our friends, co-workers, the media, or choose to follow Jesus Christ. Each decision we make is influenced by something or someone.

We will either be a child of God or His enemy. Period. There is no in-between. It is only when we completely turn to Christ that we find freedom, peace, and are no longer separated from God. It is in this place where we choose Him instead of sin...when we choose to follow Him instead of other things. Friend of God or Enemy of God? We determine where we end up...Jesus is the only way to God and to Heaven!

What would it look like to live as a friend of Christ?

Trusting in Jesus:

Trusting in Him. It is realizing we are sinners. We are---we mess things up. We have gone down the wrong road and made mistakes that caused us to be separated from God. It is turning to other things and trying to live our own way instead of turning to God. Still while we were refusing to follow Him and obey Him, He sent his son Jesus to come and die on the cross for our sins, taking our punishment, and giving us His freedom! It is not because of anything that is in us that brought Christ to take our sins. It is because of God's goodness and His overflowing love for us! Trusting in Him means accepting His free gift.

Realizing the amazing love the Lord has for us! Choosing Him. Choosing to give our lives to Him as we reflect on the great sacrifice He has made on our behalf.

10 "We hope in the living God, the Savior of all people. In particular, he is the Savior of all those who believe in him." (1 Timothy 4:10)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Spending time with Him:

Reading His Word.
Spending time in Prayer
Listening to Him speak to us through music and friends as we place ourselves in relationships with other Christ-followers.
This is the best place to be.
How do we have a friend if we never spend time with them?
What kind of quality is that relationship? He is deserves our ALL!

"She [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said....Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:39;42)

Obeying Him:

What we do reveals the condition of our heart. It shows the love we have. When we have a friend that we deeply love and they are sick, we desire to take action of some form. We choose to take care of them and be there for them however we can. In relationships, love is spending time with others and recognizing how valuable those relationships are in our lives... We show our love for them. We too need to show our love to Christ by obeying Him and His Word—giving Him our full attention. Giving Him every part of our lives!

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." (John 14:21-24)

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:9-12)

Light of the World (Part 2)

Matthew 5:14-16

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

How are we able to share our testimony and shine for Him if we are hiding?

This becomes the issue. It isn't so much about the mask, but the reason behind the mask. We have to know the reason before we can begin to take off our mask or even change the position of the mask. As we begin to think of those reasons, we really need to take time to sit before the Lord and talk with Him about these things. He will begin to show us how to approach these things that make us want to put on the mask. It is at this point of being real with ourselves and others that we can really shine for the Lord.

There are different things that will have influenced us hiding ourselves and situations.In order to begin to let our light shine, we have to discover why we are in hiding. Is it fear? Uncomfortable to be real at times? Is it to escape judgment? Why are we in hiding in the first place?

Comfort should not stop how we allow God to use us. If it was about comfort, I wouldn't have mentioned my own mask in the last blog. I'd share about the mask of someone else and how they have chosen to hide themselves from the world, which limited their testimony. It is definitely not about comfort.

Will others judge us when we openly share our testimony? Yes at times, they will. Some will be judged more than others. I am reminded of what Matthew 5:10 says: "God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." (NLT) Doing right will bring persecution. Doing right also brings something much stronger:: God's blessings! God will continue to bless us as we take off the mask and let our light shine! Alot of times, we stop speaking when others come after us or speak ill about our vulnerability to share. We need to keep speaking, even when it's difficult. God will keep on strengthening us and giving us the words to speak. He will also show us how to be a light in how we live.

If a mask is put on to protect ourselves from fear, we owe it to ourselves and God to see what we fear? Fear does not come from the Lord, but peace does. Often times if I am fearful to do something, I know that means I need to do it. Fear may be something to derail us when others need to hear our story and know how God is working in our lives.

Also some put on their mask, because it is easier than being their true selves, It may be "easier", because we will blend in. We will be conforming to the world, but we are not to conform. We need to be a bright light shining for the world to see. We need to stand out and offer ourselves fully to God--even when it means sharing our lives when it is anything but easy. Some may think it is easier, because there is less judgment or the fear won the fight. It may be easier, because we give into the urge to not show our testimony and how God is working in our lives. It is easier to give into feeling rather than the truth that we need to be real and let our light brightly shine. A lot of us want to hide who we are. Others may not understand. Others may leave us. Others may judge us. Others may... do lots of things. We owe it to ourselves to be real, and show our true selves. We owe to God to brightly shine for Him--showing His great love through how He has worked in our lives.

Many things can keep us in the place of hiding ourselves, but we have been given a testimony. Our testimony is nothing to hide. God is working in our lives, which is worthy of sharing for all to hear. It doesn't matter what particular way He is working. We need to proclaim it that God is working in our lives! How we could open up and be real looks different for each person. This is why it is so important to take time to go before Him and seek the reasons for the masks and hiding. Take time in prayer to talk with God about the reasons of the mask. Talk to Him about the struggle you feel. He is ready and able to help and strengthen you!

We need to take the time and see how God is using us to be a light to the world? We need to be willing to be real and share with others how God is working in our lives. We need to be willing to share who we really are without fear or anything else preventing us from speaking.

Light to the World (Part 1)

Matthew 5:14-16

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

So often we hide.
We hide our true selves.
We hide our circumstances.
We hide how we feel.
Sometimes, we hide due to fears.
Other times, we hide to escape judgment.
Sometimes people tell us to hide in some ways, by their words about what we may share.
Past situations can make us want to hide.

Whatever our reasons may be, we often hide. We could all fess up to hiding in one way or another, when we could have been a brighter light to the world around us. The person hiding could be the person who appears to have it all together at church on Sunday morning, and their life is actually a mess. It could be our neighbor, friend, or someone else. Nobody is exempted from the possibly of hiding themselves (or parts of themselves) even the ones who seem to have it all together. It is something that probably everyone has faced at one time or another. It is easy to put on a mask of who we want (or need) to be to others, and for a while--it works. However who we are will still remain, and our testimonies will not shine as bright. We are in costume and not letting ourselves be used by God to help others. In 2 Corinthians, we are told that we are to comfort others in difficult times just as we have been comforted. We have to be willing to share, in order to experience comfort from our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to share to give comfort.

I wrote about hiding, because God is showing me today that it can make our light less bright to the world. We may think "it doesn't matter or even affect my relationship with Christ", but God wants to use our whole testimony without us hiding parts of it, by not sharing how He is working in us. Hiding parts of us or our lives affects our walk with Christ. It affects our relationships. It affects us as individuals. We can lie and say we are okay, but it affects us still the same whether we admit it or not. I know all too well how easy it is to stay in hiding and ignore the brighter testimony I could be sharing.

Let me explain a little bit about my own mask: I have two noticible ones that I can see right on the spot. The first is how God is freeing me from the sin of gluttony. Gluttony is a sin that isn't talked about much in the Church. It is a vital testimony that is worthy of sharing, even if others do not see it as such. 

The second one is this: I have two facebook accounts to "hide" part of my life on one facebook. In some ways, it is to hide parts of my life. IE) Find another outlet to help me as I deal with chronic illnesses. The second facebook has really become an outlet. However, I risk putting on a mask by not talking about those things out of fear, anxiety, and judgments. In a lot of ways, it is easier and safer to talk about certain things like this on one particular account. It is this process that is showing me I need to find a way to balance my life. How can I be real on both? So in a sense, my problem is learning how to let that brighter light shine wherever I go. It is a matter of balancing who I am and how I approach the world. It doesn't matter how we "cope" with our mask. A mask is still a mask. Our light could be brighter. In some ways, having two accounts has freed me in sharing my testimony in a brighter way for one, but has dimmed it for the other. I am learning how to blend those two aspects of my life into one. It is a matter of giving everything over to the Lord and allowing my light to shine brighter as I come out of hiding. The question to be asked is: What hinders us from shining brighter for Christ?

We need to evaluate ourselves and see how we are living and sharing our testimony. Are we hiding our light? Is God doing something in our lives that we are unwilling to boldly share? Sharing our testimony allows God to use us to teach, encourage, and minister to others. He also teaches and ministers to us. It is when we know the reason of why we hide that we can begin to open ourselves up to begin to be a brighter light to the world with our whole testimony showing.

Part two::How are we able to share our testimony and shine for Him if we are hiding?

Victory in the Battle

Psalm 144:1-2

 1 Praise the LORD! He is my Rock. He prepares me for war. He trains me for battle.

2 He loves me and protects me. He is my safe place high on the mountain. He rescues me. He is my shield. I trust in him. He helps me rule my people.

No matter where we are in life, God is preparing us. God is preparing for a battle of some kind. Sometimes part of the training for battle is a smaller battle. God is preparing and guiding us to fight the good fight. (1 Timothy 6:12) 

This Christian walk is not an easy one. We are constantly in one kind of battle or another. The battle may be a physical affliction (just as Paul was in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) , a conflict with someone, or overcoming our past. Whatever our battle, God loves us and prepares us. Because He loves us, He does not leave us nor forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) Even when we rejected God's own son (Jesus Christ), He did not leave us. It was for our own sake that God does not leave us. (Leviticus 26:44-45) Instead of leaving us, God loves us greatly and prepares us for the battle. 

The battle may seem like it is all downhill and we are failures, but we must remember that as long as we are fighting--we are winning. We are winning as long as we have Jesus Christ by our side giving us the strength to fight. Even when we do not have the strength left to fight, we still have all we need. We have Jesus Christ. When we are weak, He is then made strong (2 Corinthians 12:10) ! He is our strength when we have nothing left. 

God is the reason I can keep on fighting. There are many days of a rough battle when I feel like I have lost the battle. I am reminded that God is my strength, my song, my victory, (Exodus 15:2) my everything!

In this particular Psalm, the Psalmist (David) reflects with thankfulness that God has prepared him to fight the battle. God has given him the ability to fight the battle. I think this battle goes beyond fighting with a bronze bow (2 Samuel 22:35). God gives us the shield of victory (2 Samuel 22:36). It may be preparing us for the battle of a conflicting decision we must face, an illness that makes us feel defeated, or living in a world of busyness that makes us lack peace. Whatever situation we may find ourselves in, we know who brings the victory. 

God sent his son Jesus to give us the victory! We were once sinner and enemies of God, and God give us victory in the biggest way we can imagine. God won the biggest battle of them all. God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus was sinless, but paid the price that we could not pay. Many of us face debt every day. We know how demanding and how much it brings hopelessness into our lives, and these are trivial things in comparison of the debt that would leave us without eternal life. God sent his son to pay the great price for our disobedience!

We face battles every day, and if God took care of the biggest battle of all---why wouldn't he take care of the earthly battles we face daily and even hourly? God is preparing us for the battles that we are in right now. Whatever they may be: illness, finances, relationships, dilemmas of all sorts. God is capable of handling them all. We have victory, because of God's redeeming love for us when we are incapable of deserving his great love..

When we choose to follow him and trust in Jesus Christ, we win. We have the victory, because of Him!

My own battle is not all smiles, but at least I know who wins in the end.. It makes it worth the difficulties that must be overcome. I am a child of God. It doesn't mean that life is without battles or pain, but it means that God will continue to prepare me for everything that I must face. The battles still hurt. Suffering still takes place, but it is a different kind of suffering---it is a different kind of battle. God gets all the glory. Even when the battle is rough and I feel inadequate to handle it, I can rely on God to carry me through it. It is about the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8: 18) as we are prepared for and overcome the battles of this world!

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:4

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

Examining Ourselves

The Bible speaks about the significant importance of examining ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul says: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?" We need to examine ourselves to make sure we are still in the faith. Examining ourselves affirms if we are truly His, by the fruit of the Spirit we are showing. It also shows us where we have slipped up, so we can get back on track---leaning on His everlasting arms and amazing grace to help us to continue to live for Him alone!

In the Bible, there is one place of great significance about examining ourselves. We are instructed to examine ourselves before we take the Lord's Supper. In 1 Corinthians 11:28, it says: "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup." This is done, because taking the Lord's Supper is pure joy, but also a very serious thing. We do not want to go through the Lord's Supper with our hearts not right. We do not want to abuse the Lord's Supper. We do not want to eat and drink judgment as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:29. Paul continues to say that this is why so many have fallen asleep and are weak. Taking the Lord's Supper wrongly, but also not examining ourselves. Examining ourselves is essential to our walk with God! We must continue to examine ourselves. Christ dying on the cross for our sins is something that should cause us to seriously reflect our lives. "Is what we are living for worth Christ dying for?"

Also, Lamentations teaches that we need to examine ourselves. Why examine ourselves? We are able to see where we are in our walk with God, and return to where we once were if we have strayed. We can also be bold to continue in our walk with God, and deepen our walk with God when we are aware of where we are spiritually. In Lamentations 3:40, it says: "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD."

Finally, Romans teaches that we should think of ourselves with sober judgment. This can only come from examining ourselves. Romans 12:3 says: "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."

This is a weekly evaluation worksheet found in "Becoming a Vessel God Can Use" by Donna Partow, and gives us a format to examine ourselves on a weekly basis.

1. Am I listening for and hearing God's voice? What is He saying to me?

2. Am I increasingly manifesting the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? What areas look encouraging? What needs prayer? 

3. What did God teach me in my quiet times? 

4. Which priorities did I live by? 

5. Which priorities did I neglect? 

6. What new thing did I learn--about life, God, my family, and the people around me? 

7. What are my specific priorities (where is God directing me) for the coming week?

Final Judgment: It's a Lifestyle.

What did Jesus mean when he said we needed to visit the sick? In Matthew 25 when speaking on the last judgment, Jesus said that His people were the ones who visited the sick, clothed those in need of clothes, visited those in prison. 

What does Jesus say about those he calls to eternal life? What does Jesus say his followers will do? What will they be about? In this particular section of Matthew, Jesus is seperating the goats from the sheep. He is separating the true followers of Christ from the rest--including those that may profess to be Christians, but are not following Jesus. This is the final judgment. THIS IS IT!

Let me go ahead and explain just a bit about what that means. What does it mean Jesus separates the true Christians from the rest? How can I be sure of my salvation?

As Christians, we are told to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) We should constantly be checking and ensuring where we are in our walk with the Lord. We should constantly be growing in our faith. We can only be growing in our faith if we are praying (and listening to God's voice). We need to be reading His Word (the Bible) on a daily basis! We need to be A. Growing in our knowledge of the Lord. (Reading God's Word, Fellowshiping with other believers who are walking the Christian walk) B. Bearing fruit. In John 15, we are told that we are to be bearing fruit. Jesus is our vine. He is our power source. We need to be growing in different areas of our lives. We need to seeking to live a more obedient life to Christ. We need to be pursuing a relationship with Him. Some of fruits are things like: patience, self-control, gentleness, love, and faithfulness. There are others as well.

Most important is the Holy Spirit. We should know that the Holy Spirit is living and working inside of us. We will feel convicted when we are committing sins. Also the more we grow in the Lord, our faith in Him is going to come out through our actions. We are not saved by doing good works, but our faith will come out as we continue to grow in our Lord Jesus!

James 2:17-19 says:

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Maybe, you are reading this and are not feeling confident in your salvation. Stop all the distractions right now, and pray. Read and pray. This is a good website to go to if you are still feeling unsure and stuck with questions.

1. First, we must admit to God that we are sinners. We must realize that our sins have definite consequences. My sins have consequences. Your sins have consequences. Each one of us will have to answer for all that we have said and done. Our sins will result in a physical and spiritual death without Christ. We need to recognize this! Our sins have separated us from God, and stopped us from receiving the blessings that He has given us. One of those blessings is Heaven.
2. Second, we must believe that God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus paid the price, so that we would not have to be separated from God.
3. Third, we must confess Christ as our Lord! Jesus died on the cross for our sins! We should honor him with our lives, and choose to have a daily relationship with Jesus!

These are the steps of becoming a Christian. As we learn and grow in Christ, we will live differently. We will seek to live obediently. Philippians 2:12 can also be said this way: "Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear."

Are we seeking to obey God with deep reverence and Godly fear?

Today's scripture is on the Final Judgement. We will either have inheritance of God's Kingdom from the obedience of following Jesus, or reap the punishment from not following God. God sent his son to pay for our sins. It is about seeking justice. God is all about justice. Does that mean we will always be obedient? We all fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. God seeks our heart. God knows our hearts. He knows our motives. God is not going to let us slide by if He has called us to do more. God is not like a human who will not know if we are giving our all or not. God is our Creator! He knows us better than we know ourselves, as Psalms 139 teaches us.

Matthew 25:31-40 says: 

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

What is happening?

Jesus is on the throne.

There are angels with Him.

All the nations will be there! Meaning, the entire world will be there!

Followers of Jesus on the right; Everyone else on the left.

Jesus, the King, will tell his followers to "COME!"

They have inherited the Kingdom!

It is not just going to church.

It is more than that!

It is a lifestyle of literally "denying ourselves and taking up our cross to follow Jesus". (Luke 9:23)

It is feeding the hungry.

It is giving a drink to the thirsty.

It is clothing the poor.

It is visiting the sick.

It is visiting those in prison.

It is welcoming a stranger.

In Jesus' exact words, whatever we do to the least of these--we are doing to Jesus Christ the King of the world!

What happens if we don't? What if we choose to (A) Not follow Jesus (B) Not give Him our life. Ultimately, they both have the same consequence.

Let's look further in the passage.

Here is Matthew 25:41-46: 

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We will be told to depart from Jesus!

Put in eternal fire with the devil and his angels.

The punishment is an eternal one.

While the righteous inherit eternal life because of Jesus' sacrifice, those who choose not to follow Jesus with their lives will face eternal punishment. I know why I follow Jesus. I follow Jesus, because He is my friend, my companion, my husband. Jesus gives me strength to carry on through the days! According to Jesus, it is about more than going to church on Sunday mornings. It is about more than giving our tithes. Jesus wants our lives! 

What does Jesus say?

It is feeding the hungry.

It is giving a drink to the thirsty.

It is clothing the poor.

It is visiting the sick.

It is visiting those in prison.

It is welcoming a stranger.

It is a lifestyle!

Following Jesus COSTS.

Many people have given up their lives and died to follow Jesus!

We must count the COST that comes with following Jesus Christ.

It is about living beyond ourselves. It is about more than our feelings or our "wants". It is about choosing to recklessly abandoning our self-contained world, and FOLLOW the One who gave us life! God gave us life, and a way out of the mess we created with our sin! Jesus is the Word. Jesus is God in flesh. He became our sin offering. He paid the price we could NOT pay!

Choosing to follow Jesus means choosing to not follow the world. It means to give up your self interest for your desires to pursue God's desires. This is the easiest way to describe these verses. I know I fail at fulfilling Jesus' commands for my own life, but I am praying that God will continue to refine me and grow me in Him. I want to be more like Jesus and less like Stacey. I want to imitate more of Jesus, and become less like this world.

This world is all about "me, me, and me", while we should not be so self-center--it seems to be the worldly characteristics rubbing off on us. This world teaches us to worry, agonize over money, and do only what we want to do. This is not God's ways, no it is the world's ways.

In God's kingdom, things are much different. We are told to LOVE others. Jesus has shortened the ten commandments and given us two. We are to LOVE God and LOVE our neighbor. God does wants ALL of us! If you had someone who was your passion and desire, would you settle for less? What if they would only give you a hour once a year? Would you settle for this? Or, would you want more? We were SEPARATED from God, because of our sins! And, God gave us sooo much more! But, what did it cost? It cost Him his only son! His sinless son!

So yeah, God wants all your heart, mind, body, and soul! Does He not deserve it? The One who has GIVEN you life. Not only has He given you life, He has rebirthed you and given you aspiritual life!

We are told to give away everything to follow Jesus. Jesus knows the cost. God knows the cost. We too need to realize the cost, and then recklessly abandon ourselves, religion, and society. We need to just fall deeper in LOVE with Jesus, because it is a L-O-V-E relationship!

In visiting the sick, it is not so much the action--it is the heart behind the action. Are you doing it because it is required of you? Or, are you doing it because of your love for God and a compassion to be there and encourage others? Are you giving clothes to others, because you feel it is required of you? Or, are you doing it out of a love for others? Each of these things should be done out of LOVE for God. A kind of love that Jesus has CLEARLY demonstrated for us!

God wants our very best. He wants us to work as though we are serving Him, not our bosses, our teachers, our family members.. Same with how we can love others. Are we doing it with the same kind of motivation as though we were serving Christ?

It is about feeding the hungry.

It is about giving a drink to the thirsty.

It is about clothing the poor.

It is about visiting the sick.

It is about visiting those in prison.

It is about welcoming a stranger.

Jesus was about ALL of these things as He wanted the earth, and lived among us.

We are called to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1). How can we do better at living this kind of life with the right motivations this week? How can we love others with humility?

Lent

It is that time of year: lent. If you are like me, you have no idea what lent is, or it's significance. Maybe, you have never heard the four letter word before. Maybe, you have seen posts about it on facebook. Maybe, you have heard about it from elsewhere. I am here to basically share my own thoughts on the subject. I am not an expert on lent, but I definitely believe it can be a time of blessings where our relationship with the Lord can be strengthened if our heart and motives are in the right place.

Lent is viewed as a chance to give up certain luxuries and begin to practice some form of self-disciplined. It originally started as a very traditional and religious practice. It is practiced by a variety of Christians. It may mainly be practiced by Catholics. I personally am not a catholic, but I am thankful to be able to enjoy fasting alongside friends. For some, it may be a religious thing. For others like myself, it is the chance to give up something and get closer to the Lord.

There are things that distract each and every one of us, which make our lives a constant battle to maintain self-control in our lives. The practice of lent is a new chance for me to join others and grow in my walk with the Lord and be better disciplined in a particular habit. Like many others, there are numerous things that I could focus my attention on, but I am choosing to stick to one thing that I want to exercise discipline over.

I love what it stands for, as it is a discipline of fasting. It is choosing to give up something, for the One who gave up everything for us. God loves us so much that He sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. He became our Passover. He became our sin offering. He paid our debt for our sin, when we could not. We were once enemies of God, and have now been reconciled to God! We must accept His free gift of salvation. Not one of us is righteous or deserves to be in a right relationship with God, but we are--- We are in a right relationship, because of God's great love for us! Through Christ, we can come to know Him and have eternal life! Not only do we have eternal life, but we get the joy of living with God forever. We get to enjoy the promise that: God will never leave us nor forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5) We will never be alone or left to our own invisibly! Jesus is our comforter, savior, friend, shepherd, messiah, and our everlasting hope that never leaves us despaired.

The Bible may not talk directly about lent, but it talks greatly about fasting greatly. It is not a religious regulation, but it should be something that gives us great joy as we grow more in our relationship with God during times of fasting and praying. Praying should always accompany fasting, if we want results... if we want this time to grow us and bear us fruit (John 15:16) in our walk with God.

Before we look at examples of what we could give up for lent, it is important to remember what the Bible has to say about fasting:

Mark 2:18-20- Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while the groom is with them. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. (NLT)

The disciples of Jesus had no reason to fast, for Jesus was still with them. As the Church, we are waiting for the second coming of Christ. While we wait, we should fast. Different denominations hold to different values on fasting, but according to Jesus--His disciples will fast. Whatever your views, fasting is about drawing closer to Him as we await His second coming. It is about choosing to draw nearer to Him during these times we find ourselves in.

Matthew 6:16-18- “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (NLT)

Remember, it is all about the heart. It is not about others, people pleasing, or even the attention we may receive from others. It is about us and the Lord. We need to envision that it is just us and God, because God weighs the motives of our heart. It is should not be about anyone or anything. It should only be about us wanting to grow closer to the Lord. He will see our motivation and our resulting actions, and give us the reward we deserve.

Mark 9:28-29- And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could not we cast him out?" And He said unto them, "This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting." (NKJV 21st century)

For the disciples, they were questioning why they could not cast out a demon. The reason was for the lack of prayer and fasting. Fasting draws us closer to God. It gives us the opportunity to do things that we may not ordinarily have the ability to do. It gives us a much deeper connection with God.

Isaiah 58:3-8- They say, “We fast to show honor to you. Why don’t you see us? We starve our bodies to show honor to you. Why don’t you notice us?” But God says, “You do things to please yourselves on those special days of fasting. And you punish your servants, not your own bodies. You are hungry, but not for food. You are hungry for arguing and fighting, not for bread. You are hungry to hit people with your evil hands. This is not the way to fast if you want your prayers to be heard in heaven! Do you think I want to see people punish their bodies on those days of fasting? Do you think I want people to look sad and bow their heads like dead plants? Do you think I want people to wear mourning clothes and sit in ashes to show their sadness? That is what you do on your days of fasting. Do you think that is what the LORD wants?

This is the kind of fasting we do not want to do. It is dishonoring to our Lord where our actions do not match the place in our heart. Instead of observing lent because it may be expected or because others are doing it, we need to check our heart and see where our motives are. God is after our heart, not just our actions. If we fast, but our heart is not in it... what is the point?

Continuing on in verse 6-8.. “I will tell you the kind of day I want—a day to set people free. I want a day that you take the burdens off others. I want a day when you set troubled people free and you take the burdens from their shoulders. I want you to share your food with the hungry. I want you to find the poor who don’t have homes and bring them into your own homes. When you see people who have no clothes, give them your clothes! Don’t hide from your relatives when they need help.” If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. Then your wounds will heal. Your “Goodness” will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the LORD will come following behind you. (Isaiah 58~NIV)

What kind of actions can we do that honors both where our hearts are at, and honors God? What kind of practice can we choose to do for the next 40 days that honors God? Maybe, it is not giving something up.. Maybe, it means giving something. It can be choosing to pray for someone daily, choosing to call and check on a friend each day of the week, dedicating ourselves to reading God's Word and let Him transform our lives during this time.

There are many other examples, but here are just a few ways to let our lives be impacted as we expectantly prepare for the celebration of Easter.

Some things we can give up: 

A specific meal (time used to pray and read His Word)

Certain foods

Soda

Texting

Using cell phone for purposes that are not a necessity

Games

Television

Movies

Music

Secular reading

Some things we could add into our lives:

Devoted time to spend in His Word

Time of prayer and listening to His voice

Make it a practice to help others (Volunteer at a shelter or food bank)

Praying for others daily

Instead of indulging in some of our regular habits and behaviors, we can choose to make a deliberate effort to be in God's Word more. If we are seeking to rid ourselves of a bad habit or behavior, we need to replace the bad habit with good habits. We need our time in God's Word. It does not matter who you are or what time of year it is. We each need to be spending time in God's Word. None of us spend enough time in God's Word. It is through this time in His presence through praying, listening, and reading His Word that God can speak volumes into our lives. In addition to being in the Word, each of us as God's children need to learn to serve others. Jesus said that the greatest in the Kingdom is the one who is a servant. (Mark 9:35) We need to spur one another toward love and good works! (Hebrews 10:24) Who can we help? How can we become more others-centered (Philippians 2: 4) this season? 

Pray and see where the Lord leads you this season!