STOP JUDGING OTHERS

Luke 6:37  “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged.  Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you.  If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.”  NLT

       If there is any one verse of Scripture that we mess up the most, it is probably this one.  No matter how hard we try, we just can't seem to stop it.  We judge and criticize others a lot.  We seem to take delight in looking down on others for what they do wrong.  Some of us are a lot better at it than others, but we all find ourselves doing it.  We always want to make ourselves look better than others are, and judging and criticizing are the easiest ways to do it.

       Jesus warns us that when we do it, it all will come back to us.  In other words, we will always find ourselves on someone else's agenda to down.  Others can find fault with us just as easily as we can with them.  It's a vicious circle we get ourselves into.  Jesus tells us a much better way to deal with each other.

      We must learn to exercise grace towards each other when we mess up.  Instead of getting on their case, we need to forgive them and move on.  We know we all mess up; just accept the fact and don't make a big deal out of it.  When we take the high road and forgive one another, God then exercises grace towards us and forgives us.  Instead of strife, we now have peace.

       Really, there is no other way to have peace with God and one another.  We need to learn how to forgive and be forgiven.  And the only way to really learn how to be forgiving towards others is to just do it.  Don't make a big production over others' mess ups.  Back off, let it go, forgive and move on.  With practice, you actually can become pretty good at it.

LORD OF YOUR SABBATH

Luke 6:5  And Jesus added, “I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath.”  NLT

      Who is Lord of our Sabbath?  Think about it for a moment.  Take a look at what you do on the Lord's Day on a regular basis.  What you do says a lot about who is Lord of your Sabbath Day.  Do you spend most of your time rejuvenating your soul or do you spend it exhausting your soul? 

       The Lord instituted a day of rest for us in our week because He knows how exhausting life can be and our tendency to fill our days up with exhausting activities.  He knows that we are prone to focus more on our activities than we are our souls.  He knows that left to ourselves, we would not be spiritually refreshed enough to survive spiritually. 

       So much of our spiritual struggles stem from our lack of proper attention to our souls on the Lord's Day.  In order to get the most from the Lord's Day, we need to stop doing all the things we do the other days of the week.  We need to refuse to use the day to "catch up" on all the things we do not find time for the rest of the week.  We need to make a real effort at letting the Lord be our focus and purify our souls before Him.

        If Jesus is not the Lord of your Sabbath Day, you are missing out on the best of what the Lord has for you.  You are depriving your soul of essential time with the Lord that you need for spiritual growth.  You are depriving others of seeing you at your best instead of your worst.  You are settling for far from the best of what the Lord wants to do in your life.

THE OLD SELF HAS TO GO

Luke 5:37-38  "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would burst the old wineskin, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be put into new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. 'The old is better,' they say."  NLT

       Two interesting observations come to my mind as I think about these verses. I have never really thought about it much before, but I think I can understand a little bit better what the Lord wants us to know by his using this illustration.

      You don't put your new self into your old self and expect it to survive. Our sinful nature will soon take over and cause our godly nature to be ruined. The two cannot co-exist. We cannot expect to live lives pleasing to the Lord and still live in sin. It simply will not work. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we take on His nature. We allow Him to remove from us our sinful attitudes and desires. We pursue a life of godliness and get rid of the old life as quickly as we can.

      You by nature like the old self better than the new self. Let's be honest. Sin is very pleasurable, for a season. There is an immediate rush in sin. We like the feelings that sin often brings to us. We don't want to give up those things that once brought us immediate pleasure. We are blinded by the moment and fail to grasp how not sinning can bring us greater joy and pleasure. It takes effort and determination to stay the course of faithful living. We are easily prone to wander away from it. We resist the changes the Lord wants to make in our lives.

       In order for us to keep our faith fresh and new, we must put on the new self. We must get rid of the old so that the new can flourish and grow. The new will be smothered and die if we don't.

WHO JESUS CAN HELP

Luke 5:31-32  Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor---sick people do.  I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough.”  NLT

      Jesus did not come to help those who think they don't need any help; He came to those who knew they needed help.  There are so many people in our churches today who do not think they need any help with their faith walk.  They see themselves as being just fine and they will not listen to anyone who would suggest otherwise.  They hear the Gospel preached and taught and it goes in one ear and out the other.  They play the part of a Christian life well, but have closed their minds to the possibility that they have more growing up to do.  The Lord cannot help those who won't admit or recognize the fact that they are not perfect and still need to learn much and grow more in their faith and understanding.

      It is only when we see ourselves in need that we are able to be helped by the Lord.  We must guard our minds and souls carefully in this area.  We must always understand our need for God's help.  We must be honest about our sinful shortcomings.  We must be honest and humbled when we know we have sinned.  We must be willing to admit that we are far from perfect.  We must want to do better, to be better, in our walk with the Lord.

       Jesus won't waste time hanging around with those who do not see themselves in need of Him.  Spiritual pride and self-righteousness are soul killers.  If our hearts are right with God we will know that we are works in progress and never finished products. 

      Our need for more of the Lord's holiness will never go away.  We will never get to the point where we no longer are susceptible to sinning.  We will never become so holy that Satan will give up on us and quit trying to lead us into sin.  Until we get to heaven, we will always be in need of the Lord.  We will always have to deal with our spiritual weaknesses.  We will always need to be students of the Word and prayer.  We will always have to be humbled in spirit before the Lord.  We will always need more and more of Jesus in our lives.

BECAUSE YOU SAY SO

Luke 5:5  "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing.  But if you say so, we'll try again."  NLT

       Sometimes hard work does not pay off. We can put all of our energy into a task and still not be rewarded for our efforts. Simon and his fellow fishermen had just spent the night fishing and didn't catch a thing. I have never fished for a living, but I have done a lot of fishing over the years. Sometimes, the fish won't bite, regardless of how long you fish or how hard you try.

       Jesus told Simon to try one more time. Even though the fishermen were tired and frustrated at their lack of success, they obeyed the Lord. We must never give up doing what the Lord gives us to do. We may not get the results we desire, but we must remain faithful. We never know when the reward for our labors will come. We may see it in our lifetime and we might not. It is not up to us to determine the results or when it will happen. The Lord will reward our faithfulness in His perfect timing and way. If we give up too soon, we may hinder the work the Lord seeks to accomplish through us. Someone else may be rewarded instead of us. Our lack of obedience will not keep the Lord's will from being done, but it will keep us from being rewarded for the accomplishment of the task.

       Simon did what Jesus told him to do, even though he may have thought there was no use to do it. When he did obey, the catch was so great that the fishermen could barely haul the catch into shore. Never doubt what the Lord can do through you if you are faithful to the end. Never quit doing what the Lord has given you to do. Great is your reward in heaven and perhaps even on earth.

MINISTRY AT HOME

Luke 4:24  "But the truth is, no prophet is accepted in his own home town." NLT

      How true it is!  I have been in the ministry for over 40 years of my life and I can testify to the fact that it is much easier to minister amongst a people who don't know you really well as it is to those who do.  It's not too hard to understand why.  Public figures have a certain image they portray.  It is not usually the same image they have in their personal lives.  When out of the public eye, we often act and speak differently.  We aren't as careful in how we come across.  Those who are a part of our personal lives see us as we are, warts and all.  They judge us by how we live amongst them.  They see us through different lenses than do those who follow us publicly.  Therefore, it is harder for those closest to us to value our public ministry for what it is.

       The best way to win over those who know us best is to strive to live consistent lives before them as much as possible.  We must always strive to be the godly character we portray ourselves to be in public.  We must strive to keep our motives pure so that whatever we do in public will be for the glory of Christ and not our personal gain.  We must always stay in a right relationship with the Lord so that we can be the godly people He wants us to be, whether we are in the public eye or not.  It is not an easy thing to do, but it is the thing the Lord wants us to do.  It is the thing we must do if we are going to please Him.

       In reality, there should be no such thing as putting on our Sunday best.  If we strive to be righteous on Sunday and are not so careful the rest of the week, we are not right with God.  If those who know us outside of church can't see the faith that those inside the church see, we are not right with God.  We do not showcase righteousness; we live it every moment of our lives. 

DO NOT TEST GOD

Luke 4:12  Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not test the Lord your God.'"  NLT

        I suspect that we do a lot of testing of the Lord.  It seems to me that instead of yielding to Him and putting into practice what He has taught us, we do our own thing much of the time.  We plow ahead and expect the Lord to put His stamp of approval on what we do.  We carelessly go through life without giving serious thought to growing into spiritually mature and productive servants.  We spend so much of our time involved in the things that don't matter and little time on the things that do.  It is a good thing the Lord is patient and merciful.

       We sometimes test the Lord when we see how close to sin we can get without taking the plunge.  We sometimes let down our spiritual guard and come face-to-face with tempting situations without turning to the Lord first before we act.  When was the last time that you actually prayed for the Lord to keep your mind pure before you turned on the TV set, went to the movies, or whatever else you do for entertainment?  When was the last time you asked the Lord beforehand to keep you pure when you went out socially with someone?  I suspect that probably most of us have to plead guilty of testing the Lord.

       If you find yourself testing the patience of the Lord, isn't it about time you changed your ways?  Take it to the Lord and first ask for His forgiveness.  Thank Him for His patience with you and loving you anyways.  Ask Him to give you a plan on how to better live for Him and serve Him and then resolve to put your plan into action.  You will never live in victory until you do.

ONLY THE LORD

Luke 4:8  Jesus replied, "The Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.'"  NLT

       Do you believe the Scriptures or not?  Do we worship the Lord our God and serve Him only?  We worship that which we give our devotion and energy to.  We worship that which captivates us and drives our passions in life.  We can worship our jobs, possessions, sports, people and ourselves. 

      Are we captivated and driven by our love and devotion to the Lord?  Is He the reason we look forward to living?  Is He the reason why we do what we do in life?  Do we really live for the Lord or is He more of an afterthought in our living?

      Do we serve the Lord?  If so, do we serve Him primarily or as an afterthought?  Do we fit Him into our schedules, or does He drive our schedules?  Do we give Him our time and energy when it's convenient for us to do so, or do we seek to honor Him in all we do in life?  Do we allocate time for Him, or is all of our time His? 

      The Scriptures give us no slack here.  It says we MUST worship the Lord our God and serve ONLY Him.  If we fail to obey the Scriptures, it is sin.  How are you doing?  Do you need to get your priorities straight?  The longer you put it off, the less likely you are to do it.

MORE THAN BREAD

Luke 4:4  But Jesus told him, "No!  The Scriptures say, 'People need more than bread for their life.’”  NLT

       We act as if bread was enough.  We spend our entire lives working for bread to sustain us.  We make careers out of it.  Everything we live for flows from our need for bread.  We become so engrossed in our pursuit of that which sustains our lives that we confuse our need with our wants.  We act as if nothing else matters.

       However, Jesus reminds us that life is more than the pursuit of earthly things.  Life is not just what we can provide for ourselves.  Life is more than our temporary existence on earth.  Life is eternal.  From the moment of our conception onward, we have eternal life.  The part of us that thinks, feels, and moves us into action, will never die.  Whether we like it or not doesn't matter.  We are souls in human flesh.  Life is determined by the choices we make.  Each decision we make regarding our souls is an investment in eternity.  We choose whom we serve, where we will spend eternity, and how we will spend eternity.

      He who squanders the opportunities Christ gives him to repent will suffer the most when he rejects Christ.  And, He who serves Christ in love and humility will be rewarded the most.  We need much more than what we can find in the world for life; we need Christ.

      Yes, we need bread for our physical lives.  We need to take care of our basic needs for life.  But, do not neglect your most important need, a right relationship with Christ.  If you are able to take care of everything you need for this life and lose your soul, you have lost everything.  The most basic need of life is our relationship with God.

TRUST GOD

Luke 1:38,45 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” And then the angel left her.    “You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”  NLT

       Mary was a young teenage girl engaged to be married.  She was a very devout young woman and the Lord was very pleased with her.  He sent Gabriel to her to inform her that she was going to be carrying Christ in her womb.  She was taken aback with this news at first, but then yielded to what the angel had said.  She was willing to be the vessel in which God would become man.

       I am sure that Mary did not fully understand all that this would mean for her.  She wasn't yet married and there surely would be gossipers to deal with.  She didn't know how Joseph or her parents would act.  She didn't know what she would have to do differently to raise the Christ-child.  She didn't know if she would have to make drastic changes in her life as the child grew; after all, He would be God in the flesh.

      Yet, Mary knew that whatever was going to happen, everything would work out because this was of God and He was in control.  She believed the message and trusted God in what He was about to do.  As a result, she was blessed by God.  I am sure that in spite of all the uncertainties that lied ahead, she had an overwhelming peace in her soul.  She put it all in the Lord's hands.

       Just like Mary, we need to just put the uncertainties ahead of us in the Lord's hands.  We have to believe and trust in what the Lord leads us to do.  We will never face the future alone when we rest in Him.  God will bless you with peace and joy as you learn to lean on Jesus every moment of every day.

UP TO THE TASK?

Luke 1:38, 45 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” And then the angel left her. “You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”  NLT

       Mary, the vessel the Lord chose to be His earthly mother, had a tender heart for God.  When God came to her and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus, she humbly yielded to the will of God.  I am sure that a lot of questions would come to mind.  “Why me?  Am I up to the task?  In what ways would raising Jesus be different than raising other children?  What will His life be like?  How can I nurture Jesus in God’s ways and not be an unhealthy influence on His life?”

      Mary probably thought about such things, but her immediate response was, “Okay.”  She did not cower away at the task God gave her to do.  She trusted God and knew that it would be okay, that He would help her and show her how to be the mother of Jesus.  Mary simply submitted to the will of God, even though she had every reason not to rise up to the task.

      How about you?  Are you living submissively to the Lord, trusting Him to help you do what you cannot do alone?  Do you have enough confidence in the Lord to just simply say, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He wants?” 

      The Lord never gives us a task to do that is beyond our ability to do through Him.   Trust Him completely and see what great things He will do through you

OBEDIENCE, NO MATTER WHAT

Luke 1:6-7  Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.  They had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and now they were very old.  NLT

       It wasn't easy for a couple to live life in Jesus' day without children.  There was a social stigma associated with a childless couple.  It was thought to be an indication that God was not pleased with them.  Children were looked upon as being a sign of God's favor.  It was therefore a very confusing time for Zechariah and Elizabeth.  They both were able to trace their heritage back to Aaron.  Zechariah was a Jewish priest, serving faithfully in the Temple.  Yet, they were not blessed with children.  Why?

      Zechariah and Elizabeth were deemed to be righteous in God's eyes.  They were known to be a couple who carefully obeyed all of the Lord's commandments and regulations.  If you know anything at all about the law of God, you know that it was very demanding and very difficult to keep.  This couple did not take the easy road and live in disobedience.  They willingly did what God told them to do and thus, they were found to be righteous before both God and man.

        I wonder how many of us take obedience to God as seriously as what they did.  They did not have the day-to-day help of the Holy Spirit like we do.  They did not know what it was like to live in Christ like we do.  Yet, their hearts were right with God because they knew enough about God to fear Him, love Him, and serve Him.  They did not let their circumstance in life keep them from obeying God. 

       As we learn from reading on in our text, the Lord honored their faith and obedience and touched Elizabeth's womb so that they did have a son, even though they were old and past the age when a couple would normally have children.  Their son was John the Baptist, the one who rose up to prepare the way for Christ's public ministry.

       Never stop trusting the Lord and obeying Him.  He moves in mysterious ways and blesses His children in ways that no can imagine or expect.  God honors those who honor Him. 

      Blessed are those who submit to the Lord and obey Him no matter what the circumstances of life may be.  They are the true unsung heroes of the faith.

DISCIPLE MAKERS

Matt. 28:19-20  “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  NLT

     The last instructions that Jesus gave His disciples before He went back to heaven was to go into the world, make disciples of whomever they could, baptize them into the faith family, and teach them to obey God in all things.  His promise was that if they did these things, He would be with them all always, even until the end of time.

      What Jesus told His disciples, He tells us today.  We are not to be pew sitters.  We are to actively serve the Lord.  We are to go where people are at and take the Gospel to them.  The most effective witness for Christ is done outside the walls of the Church.  The world is not going to make a mad rush to get inside the Church.  Most people in the Church already have faith and are there to learn and grow in it.  The primary function of the Church ought to be to equip and inspire people to go into the world and make disciples.

      No one is born a disciple, it is not something you inherit from your parents.  Disciples are made.  They need to be come under the tutelage of God’s Word.  They need to be taught to  read the Word and pray consistently.  They need to be put to work in the Church to help exercise their faith.  They need to be baptized into the family of God as a public declaration of their allegiance to Christ and the church.  They need to be equipped and prepared to reproduce and make other disciples.

     Sadly, most people in the Church need to be spoon fed.  They are not growing and fall far short of being a disciple of Christ.  They avoid getting out of their comfort zone and are spoiled rotten.  For far too many, the only time their faith is made known is within the four walls of the church.

     The world desperately needs disciples of Christ roaming about in it.  Are you letting your faith be known in the world?  Are you sharing your faith with others?  Are you trying to help others become disciples of Christ?  If not, why not?

THOUSANDS OF ANGELS

Matt. 26:52-54 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him.  “Those who use the sword will be killed by the sword.  Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?  But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describes what must happen now?” NLT

Jesus was being arrested to be sentenced to death.  Judas had led a group of Roman soldiers and religious leaders to where Jesus was at.  His disciples were caught up in the moment.  They only knew one thing, to fight back.  They loved the Lord and were willing to fight for Him.  They only had two swords amongst them and Peter had one.  He took a swing at a servant named Malcus and cut off his ear.  Jesus reprimanded the disciples and told them to not resist.  He then bent over and touched Malcus’ ear and healed it.

Jesus made it very clear to everyone present that He had the power and authority to stop the whole procedure anytime He wanted to.  He could have called for angel support and God would have instantly sent thousands of them to set Jesus free.  But, Jesus would not do that because He knew that He must allow himself to be arrested and crucified so that He could provide salvation for all who would receive it.

Why was Jesus so determined to make a way for us to be saved?  He loves us.  Everything God ever did for us was because of His love for us.  God is love and He has shown His love for us over and over again.  He knows what we need all the time and always acts in a loving way towards us.  God’s greatest act of love is letting Jesus come to earth to become our Savior.  Jesus is the full expression of God’s love.  It wasn’t the spikes driven into His hands and feet that held Him to the cross, it was His love for us.  There is no greater love than to be willing to give up your life for others.

Do you know Jesus loves you?  Are you experiencing His love daily?  Are you aware of just how much He loves you?  Why not tell Him about it.  Thank the Lord today and every day for His unconditional and sacrificial love for you.

YOUR WILL BE DONE

Matt. 26: 42  Again he left them and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, your will be done.”  NLT

     We don’t often think about it, but Jesus had a real spiritual battle to win before He went to the cross.  We know He knew what awaited Him and He was determined to go through with it, but when it came down to crunch time, He had to work through His will to get it aligned up with God’s will.  Jesus went to Gethsemane knowing that He had to spend some intense time alone with God.  He was about to endure the most excruciating time of pain and suffering ever known before.  As a human being, He was not eager to jump into it and do it.

      In the Garden He prayed for a long time.  We don’t know how long it was, but Scripture tells us that He had at least three sessions of it with God.  Twice He went to Peter, James and John for support, but they were just too tired and could not stay awake.  The third time He prayed, He got where He needed to be.  He was totally yielded and committed to doing God’s will and go through whatever suffering it entailed.

      The physical suffering was known by man.  Crucifixion was a common form of punishment for criminals.  It was not something anyone wanted to endure.  As bad as it was, Jesus knew the spiritual suffering was going to be worse.  He, God in the flesh, had never tasted sin in any form.  He had always been perfectly holy and now He was going to take on himself the full weight of sin’s punishment for all people of all time.

     We, too, must spend whatever time we need to, to be willing to submit to God’s will for us.  We sometimes butt heads with God because we don’t want to do what He wants us to do.  In order to be at peace with God and where we need to be in our relationship with Him, we must pray as well, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” 

     We, too, must spend whatever time we need to in prayer, to be willing to submit to God’s will for us.  We sometimes butt heads with God because we don’t want to do what He wants us to do.  In order to be at peace with God and where we need to be in our relationship with Him, we must pray as well, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”  Whatever time it takes, take it and pray it through.  You will be glad you did.

"I NEVER WILL"

Matt. 26: 33-35  Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.”  “Peter,” Jesus replied, “the truth is, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” “No!” Peter insisted. “Not even if I have to die with you!”  And all the other disciples vowed the same.  NLT

     You’ve done it too, haven’t you?  You have gotten caught up in the moment and declared your unwavering allegiance to Christ and you really meant it.  But then, life happens.  As we get busy with the mundane routines of life, we tend to lose our sense of enthusiasm.  We may continue to make faith a real and necessary part of our lives, but it no longer is the main thing that drives us.  We no longer feel like we can lay down our lives for the Lord.

     Enthusiasm is good and necessary, but it is not enough to make faith work in our lives.  There has to be depth to our faith.  We must develop substance to hold us up and keep us steady in the face of threats to our faith.  If we are not growing in our faith, the glow will fade and the willingness to go will go.  In order to avoid getting in a place where our faith can fail us when things get rough, we must do our part at building it up.

     We must be consistently in God’s Word with open hearts and minds.  We must spend time digging the meat out to chew on.  We must do more than just get by.  We must become students of the Word in order to become who we need to be and a people whom God approves of.  We need more than a short devotional to jump start our day.  A jump start is good, but there must be more.  We must learn to think Biblically about things by hiding the Word in our hearts and minds.  Devotionals are good, I have written a lot of them, but they are just appetizers, we need to feed our souls a full meal as well.

     Also, we must spend quality time alone with our Lord.  Our faith is strengthened and grows through our alone time with the Lord.  We desperately need to be in fellowship with Him on a consistent basis.  Peter failed the test of his faith because he failed to stay awake and pray alongside of Jesus is the Garden before His arrest.

    We must also exercise our faith on a regular basis to keep it strong and healthy.  A faith that is seldom exercised grows soft and flabby; it will never hold us up in the stormy, trying times of our lives.

BETRAYAL

Matt. 26:14-16  Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?”  And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.  From that time on, Judas began looking for the right time and place to betray Jesus.  NLT

     We sit back and chide Judas for doing such a thing as betraying Christ.  We give him all kinds of grief and declare that we would never do such a thing.  Yet, are we as righteous as we think we are?  Do we ever turn away from Christ and betray Him?  Let us think about it for a few moments.

     Have you ever been in a situation where your faith was challenged and you backed off?  Have you ever been silent about the Lord when you should have spoken out for Him?  Have you ever done things that you know are not consistent with God’s standards because to do so would have put you in an uncomfortable position?  Have you ever looked the other way when someone was in need of help and you were able to help them because you didn’t want to get involved?  Have you ever denied that you are a Christian because of peer pressure?  Have you ever purposely lied because it was to your advantage to do so? 

     You get the picture.  It’s easy to talk the talk of faith but it’s not so easy to walk the walk.  We often let our personal comfort or goals overrule our faith in God.  It is not uncommon for us to sell out, to betray the trust God puts on us as His children.

     If you have ever betrayed the Lord in some way, you owe Him a very deep apology and you need to repent of your sin.  If you do so, you will be restored to a right relationship with Him.  If you don’t, you may end up like Judas who was so distraught over what he had done that he went out and killed himself.  He not only lost out on the joys of living here on earth, he lost out on the joys of living with the Lord for all of eternity.

HE DIED FOR ME

Matt. 26:1-2 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover celebration begins in two days, and I, the Son of Man, will be betrayed and crucified.”  NLT

       What strikes me as I think about these verses is Jesus’ knowledge of what was going to happen to Him and His willingness to be a part of it.  I think about Isaiah’s prophecy concerning how Jesus was going to be treated and die (Isaiah 53) and I shudder.  Jesus knew exactly what was in store for Him.  He had told Isaiah about it 700 years before it ever happened. 

     We can only speculate about what must have been going through His mind and heart.  It was just two days away from the horror of His sufferings, two days away from being betrayed by one of His disciples and being deserted by the rest.  In just two short days He would be enduring a physical pain very few people could ever understand.  And if that were not enough, in two days He would be suffering in a way that only He could, as a sacrificial lamb for our sins.  It was His purpose for coming to earth, to take upon himself our guilt, shame and punishment for our sins.  He would become for the first and only time, burdened down with sin.  He who knew no sin, endured the agony of sin upon himself so that we could be set free from sin’s condemnation.

     Jesus knew exactly what He was going to go through for us, and yet, He would not back down.  He purposely made the journey to the cross.  He could have called it all off and gone back to heaven without the cross, but He would not.  Why?  Because He loves you and me and longed to make it possible for us to have a personal, loving relationship with God for both now and forever.

     Thank you, Lord, for loving me and going to the cross so I didn’t have to.  Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul.  Thank You.

COMPASSION FOR OTHERS

Matt. 25:40,45-46  “And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me’….And he will answer, ‘I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.  And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.’” NLT

Jesus was teaching the disciples about what real compassion for others was like.  He talked about the downtrodden, those on the outskirts of society, those down on their luck, and even those in prison.  He made it clear that those who had compassion for those who most would look down on and did what they could to help them or encourage them would be doing what God wanted them to do.

Jesus also made it clear that those who ignored those who were suffering and acted like they didn’t exist, would be rejected by God.  It doesn’t matter what we may profess to believe or have, if it doesn’t result in reaching out to others in compassion, we are not going to be accepted by God.

It is a sobering lesson, isn’t it?  We must ask ourselves whether we are compassionate towards others or not.  It’s easy to profess love for those who are our friends and live similar lifestyles that we do, but what about those less fortunate than we are?  Does our hearts reach out to those on the lower edges of society?  Do we do anything at all to try and relieve some of the sufferings of others?  What about those who barely have food to survive on day by day, or those in prison whom everyone forgets about unless they make the news?  

It is one thing to proclaim love for others, it’s a totally another thing to put feet to our love and try to do something about it.  How can we claim to love God when we don’t show love for those whom He loves?

FAITHFUL SERVICE

Matt. 25:28-30  “…Take the money from that servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold.  To those who do well with what they given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.  But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.  Now throw this useless servant into utter darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus had used this parable to drive home a very important truth, we will be held accountable for what we do for our Lord on earth.  In this parable a king had gone away for a spell and had given to three of his servants varied amounts of money to see what they would do with it.
     One of the things we notice about these servants is that had been given equal opportunity to do good with what they had been given.  The king knew each one well enough to know what they were capable of and had given them an amount of money appropriate to their abilities.
     Two of the three servants proved to be faithful with what they had been given and doubled what they had been given for their master.  The third servant had done nothing with what he had been given.  He squandered his opportunity to do good and had nothing to give back to his master but what had been at first given to him.
The Lord gives us eternal life and entrusts us with gifts so that we may bear fruit for Him.  We are not saved to sit idle and wait for death or His coming.  We are to use our gifts and talents, whatever they may be, and do much good for the glory of God.  We are to impact souls for our Lord.  We are to help others any way we can to help them come to a saving knowledge of Him and surrendered lives to Him.
      When we are faithful in our service to Him, the Lord richly rewards us.  Our rewards are reserved for us in heaven.  We may or may not be blessed with earthly goods, but we do know that God will honor our faithfulness to Him in heaven.  To those who do nothing with what they have been given and are unfaithful, God will judge them and hold them accountable.  Our text suggests that they will miss out on heaven altogether.
     The message seems to be clear, those who are genuinely children of God will produce godly fruit in their lives.  If there is nothing that shows evidence that a person is saved, they are not, no matter how much they may proclaim it.
Are you faithfully serving the Lord?  Are you doing what you can with what you have been given to bring honor and glory to Christ?  Do you love Him enough to want to do good for Him?  There is no room in heaven for spiritual deadbeats.

GIFTED TO SERVE

Matt. 25:15  “He gave five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, and one bag of gold to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities—and then left on his trip.”  NLT

      The key point here for me is that we are given gifts and responsibilities based on our abilities to handle them and use them wisely.  God does not give us more than we can handle well.  Each of us is uniquely gifted and is able to do unique things with our gifts.  No one else can be you or do what you can do.  Regardless of whether you are largely gifted or gifted just a little bit, you are able to do what it is God has given you to do.

      The more gifted a person is the more responsibility he has and the more expectations there are of him.  We are to use what we have been given for the honor of Christ.  We are to seek to bless Him through our usage of our gifts.  We are to not hoard what we have been given or use it for ourselves. 

      The Lord entrusts us with our gifts and tasks and then leaves it up to us to be good stewards of them.  He is always there to help us if we need it, but for the most part it’s up to us to put into use our talents and gifts.

      Whatever you can do well, do it all for the glory and honor of the Lord and you will be blest.  Serve the Lord well and when He calls you home you will hear Him say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter now into the Kingdom of thy Lord.”

ARE YOU READY?

Matt. 24:42  “So be prepared, because you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.”  NLT

       Are you ready for the Lord to come back?  If He were to come today, do you know that you would be among those who would go to heaven with Him?  Is there any doubt whatsoever in your mind about your readiness?  If there is, you need to get things settled with God right now.  You know whether or not there is unconfessed sin in your heart or mind.  You know whether or not you have given the Lord the best of your heart or the leftovers.  You know whether or not you have obeyed His Word to the best of your ability or not.  You know whether or not Jesus is your first love and what you have done to show your love for Him.  You know what you are doing to stay prepared for His coming.  Are you ready?

        Part of being ready is serving.  The Lord commands us to live to serve.  We are to invest our lives into others to help whomever we can to be ready, too.  Are you doing that?  Are you growing in Christ by spending daily time in His Word and fellowship?  Would you welcome His coming with great joy if it were to be today?  It could be today.  No one has a guarantee of another day on earth.  Jesus may come for you today.  If you are ready, the mere thought that it could be today should excite you.  It should be what you are living and hoping for.  If you hope He doesn’t come today because you know that you might not go with Him to heaven, then today is the day you must get things right with Him.  Tomorrow might not ever come for you.  Do it now while you can.

      Don’t let the Lord’s coming catch you off guard.  Stay alert and stay ready at all times.

MAKE ME A SERVANT

Matt. 23:11  “The greatest among you must be a servant.”  NLT

       We normally measure greatness all wrong.  We consider great those who are the achievers, those who set themselves apart from others by what they accomplish in life.  We look up to them and give them our attention and adoration as long as they continue to be great in our eyes.  Normally these people are hard workers and disciplined.  We recognize their dedication to their craft and put them on pedestals.  Some of them have their names embedded in record books so they will not be soon forgotten.

      The Lord looks at greatness totally differently.  He considers greatness to be measured by servanthood.  He is saying it’s not so much what is accomplished that is important as it is what we do with our abilities.  Most achievers draw attention to themselves; servants do what they do without concern for personal attention.  Servants humbly go about their business without the need for attention.  They know what needs to be done and just do it.

       Servants are generally people who are motivated by humility and sometimes love.  They do not consider what they do to be of any significance.  They do not care about what others may think of them; they just live out their lives to honor their master.  As believers, we serve the Lord with humility

      Jesus said that the truly great people among you are those who serve others.  As we consider our own lives, we must look inward and discern our motives for what we do.  If we seek recognition for what we do, then we need to change our attitude.  Everyone needs to be appreciated for what they do, but great are those who continue to do what they do whether they are appreciated or not.  If we do all that we do to honor and please the Lord, it doesn’t matter whether or not anyone else notices what we do.  It is God’s opinion of us that really matters and He says that great are those who have servant hearts.

MORE LOVE TO THEE

Matt. 22:36-37  “Teacher, which is the most important commandments in the law of Moses?”  Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important.  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."  NLT

      We read and meditate on this statement from Christ and more than likely shake our heads.  We know that we fall so far short of doing this.  We know it's possible; otherwise God would not have given it for us to do.  We have to hang our heads in shame, because we just are not able to do it as a way of life.

      To love God with all of our heart, soul and mind means that He is the sole purpose for why we live.  It means that everything in our lives flow from our devotion to God.  He overshadows our work, relationships, recreation, etc.  He is on our mind from the beginning of our day to its end.  All that we do is to first honor and glory Him.  We may have moments when we can do it, but as a way of life?  I doubt that any of us can honestly say we do it. 

      And then, to love others as we love ourselves?  How many of us can honestly say we do that?  I do know some people who I really believe do, but most of the people I know don't.  We usually look out for ourselves better than we do others.  We are more apt to sacrifice for ourselves than we are for others.  We do seem to be better at this commandment than we are the first one.

      The thing of it is: God is love and when we love Him first and most of all, we are then able to love others as we should.  Our priority should always be to love the Lord.  We should always stay in touch with Him through His Word, prayer, and the fellowship of other believers.  We should always remain open to Him and let Him have His way with us.  We should always strive to know Him better and seek to show our love and respect for Him in how we live and talk.  It should be our passion to know Him better and live for Him better.  If we love Him, we will want to please Him in all we do and say.

       When we learn how to love the Lord and live in His love, we will then naturally love others and ourselves as we should.