God's Love
Our Lord has been doing a work in Mary's and my hearts. He has been taking us on the carpet about a few things. This is what happens to Christians when we seek to be only in the will of he Lord. We truly have no idea as young Christians what the Lord wants of our lives. We do not know the direction He has set for us. We must seek His will and grow closer to Him until He reveals His plan. As we grow closer we begin to see more and more of God's big picture. But the one thing that we should realize immediately is the love that God has for all His creatures, especially His special creation Mankind.
Even as baby Christians we should be aware of the great love of the Lord for us and the desire of His that we reflect that love to all mankind. Just think of the kind of world we would live in if every Christian showed forth God's love to everyone? This is one thing that the Lord has been working on with me lately. He has shown me that I still do not love the unlovely like he does and how can we as Christians reach the world if we do not love all of Gods creations as much as He does. Lets look at Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31 on. 31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Now lets just take an inventory of what Jesus said, "For I was hungered and you gave me meat". This seems simple enough, if we see someone on the street that cannot afford a meal do we take him or her food and feed them? Jesus did not say that you set them up in a home and provided for them the rest of their lives. He said you fed them. Ask yourself this question, "how many times have you seen someone hungry and just gone on by?" The second item on Jesus' list was you saw me thirsty and gave me a drink. Have you ever come across a worker in the hot sun, sweating and thirsty and just offered them a drink in Jesus name? Now on to the third, a stranger and you took me in. Here in Pinedale it gets very cold in the wintertime. If you are homeless you will die on the streets without shelter. A few years ago there was a homeless man in Rock Springs, Wyoming that many people had seen around town, yet no one would help him. Finally the local police ran him out of town. A few days later they found him frozen to death under a bridge. Not one of the churches in town would "take him in". Have you ever come across someone who just needed a little love and help to get back on their feet? Did you reach out or just go by. Time for the fourth on Jesus' list, I was naked and you clothed me. In today's world it is hard to keep a firm count of the number of homeless on the streets. A few years ago it was only the "dredges" of society that were living on the streets. Today many people on the streets are just like you and I, except for some event in their lives they could not recover from. Do you have an extra coat, shirt, pants, or dress hanging in your closet? Could that item clothe someone less fortunate? We are the most blessed Christians in history. There should not be one person on the streets of this country without a warm coat and a full stomach. The Fifth item on the list is " I was sick and you visited me." This is one of my pet peeves. A couple of years ago we worked with a church 110 miles away from Pinedale. One of the parishioners became sick and was unable to go to church for a year until her death. Out of a membership of over 100 members only 3 or 4 visited her in that year. Do you know a shut in? Do you know a member of your church that can no longer come to church? Have you visited them? Is there someone who is in the hospital, a friend, co-worker, neighbor? Have you visited them? Finally Jesus says I was in prison and you visited me. This is where we so often let Him down. When men and woman are in prison they are so hungry for outside contact that their hearts are tender enough to accept God's love. We have one lady pastor that travels 30+ miles every Friday to do a jail ministry here in Pinedale. Her reward will be great. She has honored me on several occasions to let me conduct the jail ministry in her absence.
Now lets take a quick look. 35For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Six small items of love that are not that hard to do. Jesus did not demand we become great preachers, great prophets, or great martyrs. He simply asked that we love our fellow man with the love He showed us. Think of what a better world it would be if each person that used the name of Christian could do just these six small things. Now I must point out that these are not six suggestions. These are things that Jesus requires of us. Look at verses 45 and 46 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. These are not voluntary but requirements of our Christian walk. We need to take an inventory of our walk and ask ourselves are we doing what Christ wanted.
Finally lets take a look at what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 starting in verse 4
Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud.
Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others.
Love does not count up wrongs that have been done.
Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth.
Love patiently accepts all things.
It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong.
This sums up how you and I should react to other Christians and the world around us. If we look at each one of these we can see God's love shining through each one. If our Lord was not patient and kind to me I would have been cast straight into hell a long time ago. But He was patient and kind and waited until I came to Him. Where would you be without His patient and kind love? If my Lord got jealous every time I have taken my eyes off Him over the years I would have been zapped by lighting years ago. Have you ever taken your eyes off Jesus? Has the Lord or the Holy Spirit been rude or openly upset with you? I know if the Lord had been rude to me like I have been rude to people in the past I would be in big trouble. Now here is the big one for me. What would we do if after we became Christians the Lord counted up the mistakes we made and continually pushed them back in our faces? Have you ever been there where someone makes a mistake and hurts you and you just cannot let it go? You have to remind them at the most opportune time. Love does not hold a grudge. Can you imagine what our lives as Christians would be like if our Lord held a grudge against us? Remember you and I are just as responsible for Jesus hanging on the cross as the Jews of Jesus' time were. Are we always happy when the truth comes out? As an old pastor friend used to tell me "You never mind the truth when you have nothing to hide." Love is patient. Boy that was a hard one for me in my early Christian life. But when you truly have God's love in your heart you have no time schedule. Just as an example, how long did the Lord have to be patient with you before you came to Him and accepted Him as your Savior? I guess the way I like to put it is just how much time is one soul worth, a day, a month, a year, or years? Can we ever put a time limit on how long we will continue to reach out to a soul in hopes that they will be saved?
I will leave you with this example. We have one beautiful Christian pastor and his wife that have been trying to reach Sublette County for the last 19 years. They have not and do not plan on giving up. I have seen the depth of this pastor's heart as he wept over the fact that in 19 years they have not seen the fruit of the seed they have sown. I then saw the resolve in his eyes and words saying they were not going to give up though.
Please take a hard look a Mathew 25: 31 on and I Corinthians chapter 13 and take an inventory of your love for others. I know when I do I still have a lot of growing to do. I have a long way to go before I am totally Christ like to all of Gods creations. But I am willing to be open and learn how to be totally Christ like to the world. I just praise our Lord for His love and patience with me as I grow more like him. One final thing to remember my friends, that there is no place in the Word of God where it says we are to love people into the Kingdom and then not teach them the truth. It is just as much a requirement of us as kings kids to share the whole truth of God including the parts they may not like. What am I talking about? The Bibles requirements that on top of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we must then repent and turn from our sinful life then live a changed life of holiness and righteousness. If we fail to share these truths then we have failed in the Great commission. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." I added the emphasis! It does no one any good to be "loved" into the kingdom of God if we fail to save their soul from Hell by teaching them the truths of God's word.
God Bless
Pastor A. J.
