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Are you receiving anything from the Good News?
Comments from the Blessed & Highly favored:
- "Will do a blast later today - have you thought about doing a Facebook page as well and blasting to all of your friends?
This prayer is so appropriate in my life right now."
-"OMG..bless our Father who is the one and only wise God. The prayer on family is so ON POINT. I am so glad that I am a child of the KING and he uses people to confirm, convict, redirect and everything else so that we stay on TRACK."
-"Hey Girl, I am going to add the blog spot address in this weeks email to my life groups email. I love love love that you do this!"
*thank you all who have responded and/or acted already.
If you are receiving from the Good News, please be faithful in sharing it- www.thegoodnews4yourlife.blogspot.com
If anyone would like to receive in email format, please have them email me with subject line "JOIN THE GOOD NEWS".
Thank you!
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Prayer: LORD, help me to celebrate family today! I've read, "what I celebrate will increase." Well, let us celebrate forgiveness, appreciation, encouragement, achieving dreams in my family. Let us celebrate our mutual and agreed servitude towards You! Yes, we celebrate Your presence in our lives. Even those who may reject You or not make You a priority now- because of those of us who are celebrating You, You are part of their lives too, and continuing to knock on their hearts in the name of Jesus- to put Your desires and priorities above any and all things that we could ever ask for. Surrounding us with Your love in spite of our sin. Let us celebrate standing together and influencing one another and this world with Your Glory. Let us celebrate, good communication; joining together consistently as we celebrate Your joy, love, compassion, long life, and happiness that You have appointed for us to share. LORD, thank You for Your loud cry over family, immediate and extended. Pour Your Spirit over us, so that the light can shine in each one of us and the darkness-anything contrary to Your Word- can have absolutely no place. Thank You LORD, instruct the parents and adults to discipline, instruct, teach, love and influence the children in order to affect our future generations with a blessed inheritance and not foolery. Open the hearts and minds of those children. Whether blood related, in-law, or friends that have become family-show us how to celebrate one another and love each other with the love of God in order to bring great increase to our families. Apart from You, we have no good thing. In Jesus' name. Amen.
www.biblegateway.com
Matthew 25
The Sheep and the Goats v 31- 46 - part 2
Emphasis on verses: 31-40,46
Jesus continues to speak to His disciples about the final judgment:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'...
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Sheep and goats often graze together but were separated when it came time to shear the sheep. Jesus used sheep and goats to picture the division between believers (obedient followers) and pretenders/unbelievers.
Let's talk about the believers first. Believers are the sheep to their Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. The real evidence of our belief is the way we act. To treat all persons we encounter as if they were Jesus is no easy task. People are difficult. People will reject you, lie about you, disrespect you, embarrass you, hurt you... even kill you. But the fact is, they did all of this to Jesus, but wait! The real trip is that He knew it was all coming, and He still treated everyone He encountered with love, Truth, compassion and with the authority only God can give. This is what we should remember when we don't want to deal with someone.
This parable describes the acts of mercy we all can do every day. What we do for others demonstrates what we really think about Jesus' words to us: Feed the hungry (not only with food, the Word is bread as well), give the homeless a place to stay (this isn't always the bum on the street- it can be your mean sister in-law), look after the sick (sick isn't always deadly sick-common colds and mental sickness apply). These acts do not depend on wealth, ability, or intelligence; they are simple acts freely given and freely received. We have no excuse to neglect those who have deep needs, and we cannot hand over this responsibility to the church or government. Jesus demands our personal involvement in caring for others' needs (Isaiah 58:7).
I'm an offender of saying "that's not my ministry." And as soon as I said it I was convicted. If it's to provide service where it is needed then, as a child of God- it's your ministry. The focus of this parable is that we should love every person and serve anyone we can. Such love for others glorifies God by reflecting our love for Him.
We're not here to do it all, but we're also not here to ignore what we can do.
HOW WELL DO YOUR ACTIONS SEPARATE YOU FROM PRETENDERS AND UNBELIEVERS?
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach the Good News to the poor." Isaiah 61:1
Notes from Life Application Study Bible & NIV Women's Devotional Bible-Classic Edition. Prayer from the Word of God.
www.thegoodnews4yourlife.blogspot.com
"Providing you with what you already have access to in the most convenient way. And remember we're all still growing." LT
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