Slave or Friend?

Thursday's Devotion (2-23-06)

"Then 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: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And 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." Matthew 25:34-40 (KJV)

These scriptures here are self-explanatory. Whatever you do for other people, you are doing it for Jesus! That's the message here. The people that are on the Lord's left hand, needless to say they don't make it into God's Kingdom... Because they didn't do all these things that the people on the right hand did. Does this mean that our salvation is based off our own works? No! Not at all. It might sound that way, but you have to look at it for what it is: If a starving person comes to your door, you have to look at that person like they're Jesus for a moment. You turn them away, then you're turning Jesus away. If you turn Jesus away, then you don't love Jesus with all your heart. Not only that, but if you say, "If I give to you, then I won't have enough money to survive..." then you're not putting your faith in Christ. God knows that we're all guilty of that one. We have to have faith. With our faith in Christ, and with our love for Christ... The works will follow.

Some of you are still doing works that you don't want to do. You think that you HAVE to do these things, but what you need to realize is that if you don't want to do these things, then your works are dead... Because your faith is dead, thus everything you have done is in vain! It's worthless! Here's an example: My sister recently helped me out a lot with my music, she helped me with the funding. She did it with no problem, because she has faith in my music. If I would've had to beat the money out of her, if I would've had to beg for the money, or if she felt obligated to give the money... It wouldn't of meant nothing to me. It wouldn't of meant nothing because she wouldn't of being doing it out of faith and love. When I ask someone to do something for me, and if they act like they don't want to... I just say, "Never mind." Not only that, but I get my feelings hurt. Jesus looks at your heart, not at your actions... But it certainly helps a lot if your actions are the reflection of your heart. If you're stuck in a spot where you feel like you, "have" to do works, then I suggest that you drop all your current works. Just stop doing them, and start studying God's Word, and start praying more, and get closer to Jesus. Once you're closer to Jesus, then the works will come on their own! Don't put yourself under the law of works. Don't do anything for Jesus because you think you have to. He doesn't need your charity. He wants your love and devotion, He wants your friendship, He doesn't want a slave. Are you being a slave, or a friend? One more thing. What you need to realize is that if salvation was based off our works, then none of us would make it into God's Kingdom! Not one! There is no way we could cover our numerous sins with works. It's impossible, our sins are covered by grace!

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message, and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins, and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us to trust in you, and to love you with all of our heart. Draw us closer, and don't let us base our salvation off our own works, but may those works come with the love we have for you. In Jesus name. A-men!

God bless!

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