Easter is on it's way

Christmas and Easter have so much in common. I think in toady's society the one thing they have in common is that is when people come to church. On these two occasions you could plan a family reunion after church. Easter is this coming weekend and there will be churches filled with people that are in church for the first time this year. You know what? I think that is ok! A lot of times we get discouraged when people only come on Easter and Christmas, but most churches on Easter will present the Gospel. Those people that aren't in church on a regular basis will hear the Gospel and one or more of them might get saved!!! That would be awesome, regardless of how often they come to church.

So remember this year that the Gospel needs to be presented and pray for the lost to come to know Jesus and follow Him on a daily basis. We shouldn't be discouraged, but be encouraged and let God do a work. All we can do is point them to Jesus.

I never thought the day would come, but it has.

I have always kind of looked over this passage of scripture.

Matthew 10:21-23 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death, All men will hate you because of me, but he who stand firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

I have never looked deeply into that scriputre until now. I never thought my own family would persecute me for being a Christian. I have heard that I am a hypocrite, that my church is a cult, that I am not a man. Jesus says in this scripture that when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I never thought I would have to flee from my family, but I have to follow Jesus and not a man or woman on this world. I'm not perfect, but I am forgiven.

I don't know who all reads this other than my family but whatever the world throws at you, stay true to Jesus, follow Him and read His Word. He will put you where He wants you, if you let Him. He has stayed faithful to us, so please to all of those who follow Jesus, stay faithful to Him.

The Sheep and the Goats

Have you ever considered yourself to be a sheep or a goat? Well, I haven't either, until I read Matthew Chapter 25 verses 31-46. Jesus is using sheep and goats in this parable as He is talking to the Disciples. He says when the Son of Man comes back He will be coming back with all of the angels and the nations will be set in front of Him. He will separate them just like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. So Jesus will separate everyone, the people on His right will be the blessed ones. He says He will tell them that when He was hungry they gave Him something to eat, He was thirsty and they gave Him something to drink, He was a stranger and they let Him in, He needed clothes and they clothed Him, He was sick and they looked after Him, He was in prison and they came to visit Him. Then Jesus says the righteous, the ones on the right side of Him, will ask "When did we see You like that Lord?" Jesus says that what they did for the least of these they did for Him. Well, then he turns to the ones on his left and told them that they didn't do any of those things. They didn't clothe Him, feed Him, give Him a drink, invite Him in, visit Him in prison, or take care of Him when He was sick. Then they will answer "Lord when did we see You like this?" He told them that whatever they did not do for one of the least of these , they did not do for Him. So the ones on the left will go away to eternal punishment and the ones on the right will enter into eternal life.

That is a powerful section of scripture that can teach us a lot. The Bible tells us in James that we should not show favoritism. We tend to treat people that appear to have money a lot different than those that don't. We sin when we show favoritism. We should treat all people the same because Jesus died for all for us. James 2 also tells us that our faith without works is useless. If we see someone in need and we tell them we will pray for them and not do anything to help them then our faith is useless. We should love others like we love ourselves. That means that when we see someone in need we should put our faith into action and do what we can to help. Just think about Compassion International and other organizations that have children that need to be sponsored. It costs normally 20 to 30 bucks to sponsor a child a month , but we would rather hold on to that money so we can go eat at Outback, after we have already eaten out 10 times that month. We could not go to Starbucks everyday, or McDonald's everyday and use just 20 bucks to help a child get food and clothing, because they need a lot more than we do. We are selfish human beings but what if we started treating others like we treat ourselves. I believe that we would see a revolution take place. Kids would eat, the homeless would be warm or have a home, people would have shoes, etc... and Jesus would be lifted up. So lets all be sheep and be on the right side of Jesus. Remember what we do for the least of these we have also done for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.