Are You A Sheep Or Are You A Goat?

In this passage, Jesus talks about the final judgement. He describes the behaviors of those who serve and love Him, verses the attitudes of those that don’t. The passage goes on to describe the behaviors that lead to life and the ones that lead to death. The takeaway from this passage couldn’t be more clear: it’s not so much about whether we recognize those in need and do something about it, because there will be times we don’t act on what we know we should do, the major point is are you a sheep or are you a goat?

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.33 He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His 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 creation of the world.35 For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home.36 I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me.’37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink?38 Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing?39 When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?’40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!’41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed Me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give Me a drink.43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite Me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give Me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit Me.’44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help You?’45 “And He will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me.’46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

God’s Presence….

The greatest joy we will ever experience is God’s presence. We have the opportunity to experience it every single day. Don’t miss out.

6 You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of Your presence. Psalms 21:6

There Is No Substitute For Being Connected With…

How many churches in America have strayed from God? How many have left the adherence to what scripture teaches? How many have bought into the liberal agenda? I don’t mean to be offensive but the answer is more than we think. Without a connection to God, man will worship whatever is available. In the Israelites case, it was the golden calf. Moses was on the mountain for a long time, so without strong, godly leadership, the people rebelled. And worse yet, Aaron caved in to their demands, by making a golden calf and altar. Nothing good comes from a church or group of so-called followers, when they abandon God’s truth. Many churches today promote being pro-choice, allow same-sex marriage, believe in transgender ideology, practice hypocrisy, and so on. There is no substitute for being connected with the Living God, but yet many people try to substitute other things with worship because they lack the connection with the real One. Never allow yourself to worship, or give your heart’s greatest desire over to, anything but Jesus. He’s the only One worthy of our deepest affection.

1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” Exodus 32:1-8

People May Work Really Hard…

People may work really hard on fine tuning their skills and talents, but it’s God Who gives us these gifts. Never forget this.

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. 4 He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. 5 He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!6 “And I have personally appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make: Exodus 31:1-6

Doing Nothing Is Doing Something….

In the parable of the 3 servants, Jesus tells us about how we view God determines how we behave. It’s not the major point of this parable but it is important. The first servant is given 5 bags of silver. He takes it and turns it into 10 bags of silver. The second servant turns 2 bags of silver into 4 bags. The third servant was fearful of losing the money so he did nothing (buried the bag of silver). Looking at this from a worldly perspective we can see two of the servants used what they were given to produce more, while the third servant did nothing because he allowed himself to be paralyzed with fear. Some people would say, “that’s not selfish, he couldn’t help it”. But that’s what happens when we allow our feelings to dictate our behavior. When we know what’s right, we have to set aside our feelings and do it. Is it selfish to squander your talent? According to this parable it is selfish to not use the talents God has given us. It all starts with how we view God. If we see Him as a Father Who gives good gifts, we see a need to not waste those gifts in honor of the Giver. If we see God as an authoritarian, one who takes without asking, and does as He pleases with no regard for our well-being, then our motivation to use our talents for His glory will not exist. Why would anyone want to please a self-centered, egotistical person? We wouldn’t. Here’s the point I want to make, doing nothing is doing something. Not making a decision is making a decision. Wasting our talents by either being selfish about it, or doing nothing, isn’t what God wants from us. To honor the Giver of the gift (talent), we respond by using those gifts (talents) in a way that will honor God Himself, help others, and of course benefit ourselves (in that order). Doing nothing is doing something. You may call it laziness, but I would call it selfishness. Don’t waste the talents that God has given you. Put them to work. The reward will be greater than you could ever expect. The key is how you see God, as to whether your talents will be multiplied or wasted. How many people do you know have wasted the talents they’ve been given? Don’t be one of them. Honor God by the way you live, and you will see fruit produced throughout your life. And most importantly, you will hear the most important words a human being can hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last–dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:14-30

They “Missed The Boat”….

One of the most effective methods Satan uses to pull Christians away from God is by distracting them. Busyness, social media, entertainment, gossip, and comparison, are all things that help make being distracted to the important things of life easy to forget. Think about it, in Noah’s day, he warned the people. Did they listen? Nope. He built an ark (boat) as a reminder of the judgement to come. Every time people saw the construction site of the boat, it should’ve been a reminder of the coming judgement. Unfortunately for them, they “missed the boat”, even though it was right in front of their eyes. How often are you distracted? How often are you too busy to care? How often do you miss a “divine moment” because you’re distracted or busy being caught up in your daily activities? Or do you ever justify yourself when your actions are questionable? All of these are Satan’s way of distracting us away from what’s important. Think, “have I ever missed out on a much needed conversation with a hurting soul because I was too into myself”? I know I have. Being “present”, giving others our 100% undivided attention is exactly what Jesus did, 100% of the time. He set aside His agenda and gave people the His attention. Better yet, the people were His agenda. The woman at the well, the little children, the woman caught in adultery, feeding the 5,000, plus when He was grieving John the Baptist’s death, the rich young ruler, and on and on.... The most important moments to Him were in the moment with people, usually seen as unimportant or unworthy of His attention. If we are to be sanctified, to be more like Jesus, we have to recognize these distractions, or our priority on less important things, and learn to be present, like Jesus did. If we do, we will recognize that our presence, our 100%, undivided attention is the best present we can give another human being. And the reward is what we receive back in return. Don’t allow distractions to cause you to miss the boat. Lord, help me see what’s important today, what my purpose is, and help keep the distractions to a minimum.

37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat.39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. Matthew 24:37-39

The Proper View Of Ourselves….

Adding to yesterday’s post about nature declaring God’s existence, there’s more. Nature acknowledges God’s existence, leaving us without excuse for not trying to know Him. But it’s His word that reveals to us He wants a relationship with Him. The rewards of that relationship are priceless. It revives our soul. Makes us wise. Brings joy to the heart. Gives us insight for living. Fulfills our inclination to worship. Makes our understanding of justice fair. It satisfies our longing for purpose and significance. And lastly, it teaches us things about ourselves that need attention, and gives us the power to change. In essence, it gives us the proper view of ourselves, and lays the foundation of the path in which we were designed to take.

reviving the soul.The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,making wise the simple.8 The commandments of the Lord are right,bringing joy to the heart.The commands of the Lord are clear,giving insight for living.9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,lasting forever.The laws of the Lord are true;each one is fair.10 They are more desirable than gold,even the finest gold.They are sweeter than honey,even honey dripping from the comb.11 They are a warning to Your servant,a great reward for those who obey them. 12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?Cleanse me from these hidden faults.13 Keep Your servant from deliberate sins!Don’t let them control me.Then I will be free of guiltand innocent of great sin. 14 May the words of my mouthand the meditation of my heartbe pleasing to You,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalms 19:7c-14