Joshua 1:9
King James Version (KJV)
“… Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest”
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Religion and Spirituality
Are you the sheep among goats?
English: An image showing Ovis aries in field with goats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The parable of the sheep and the goats that Jesus told in Matthew 25:31-46 seems to convey a simple message. And why not. Jesus was and is known to make things simple. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus used this parable to clear up any ambiguity in an earlier point that He made: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
As you read through the parable (the sheep and the goats), you will notice that as Christians and as a society in general, we are charge with the responsibility to care for the less fortunate. Further, according to the parable, every crying voice for help that we ignore will be held against us when we stand before the righteous Judge.
Matthew 25:31-46
New International Version (NIV)
The Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, He will sit on his glorious throne. 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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
If you died today, where would you go?
Every reasonable human being will admit that we are living in perilous times. And those of us who strive to walk in Jesus’ footsteps can sense that the end is near. Still the Bible tells us: “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).
That we do not know when the end comes should motivate us to be ready like the five wise virgins were, unfortunately, that is not the case. Many Christians continue live their lives as they did on the other side of the Jordan.
Brothers and sisters, now is the time for those of us who have lagged behind in our Christian life to step up the pace. We should do this, whether we think the end is near or not. It is the right thing to do. There is no telling what tomorrow brings. Proverbs 27:1 states: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day brings”.
Life is a Marathon, and you do not know how long you will be able to run it. ” Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).
Life is short, and many people do not realize how short it is until it is too late. Just as a runner trains and prepares for a race, so must every human being prepares for eternity.
What if you die today?: Where would I go? Heaven or hell?
Friends, according to Matthew 7:13-14, you have two choices. You can choose the narrow gate which leads to heaven or the choose the wide gate with all its glitz and glamour and end up in Hell.
I urge you to, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”.
Jesus said in John 14:6, ““I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
What do you do when you are tempted to sin?
Temptation is something we all face as Christians, no matter how long we have been following Christ. There are a few practical things, however, that we can do to grow stronger and smarter in our struggle against sin. We can learn how to avoid temptation by practicing these five steps.
Here’s How:
Recognize your tendency toward sin.
James 1:14 explains that we are tempted when we become enticed by our own natural desires. The first step toward avoiding temptation is recognize our human tendency to be tempted by our own fleshly desires. Temptation is a given. Do not be surprised by it. Rather, expect to be tempted. Be prepared for it.
Run away from the temptation.
I love the New Living Translation of 1 Corinthians 10:13. It says, “But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.”
Whenever you are faced with temptation, look for the way out that God has promised and then run as fast as you can.
Resist with the Word of truth.
Hebrews 4:12 says God’s Word is living and active. Did you know you can carry a weapon that will make your thoughts obey Jesus Christ? If you don’t believe me, read 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 One of these weapons is the Word of God.
Though it can be helpful to read God’s Word when you’re being tempted, sometimes that’s not practical. Even better is to practice reading the Word daily, so that eventually you have so much of it inside, you are ready whenever temptation comes. If you are reading through the Bible regularly, you will have the full counsel of God at your disposal.
Refocus with praise.
How often have you been tempted to sin when your heart and mind were fully concentrated on worship to the Lord? Praising God takes your focus off of self and puts it on God. You may not be strong enough to resist temptation on your own, but as you focus on God, He will inhabit your praise. He will give you the strength to resist and walk away from the temptation. May I suggest Psalm 147 as a good place to start?
Repent quickly when you fail.
In several places, the Bible tells us the best way to resist temptation is to flee from it (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). Yet still we all fail from time to time. We fail to flee. Notice I didn’t say, repent quickly if you fail. Having a more realistic view—knowing that, at times, you will fail—should help you to repent quickly when you do. It is not the end of the world when you fail, but it is very dangerous to persist in your sin. Going back to James 1, verse 15 explains that sin “when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
This article was originally published on http://www.onewaystreetministries.org
Do you run the Christian race to win?
Do you run to win?
Recently the Town of East Hartford sent me a memo to remind me of the annual Hartford marathon. The event is schedule for October, 12, 2013, and as usual all side streets along the marathon route will be close to vehicular traffic.
I am not a participant in the Hartford marathon, but the memo reminds me that I am an active participant in another event.. It is called the Christian race; which in itself is a marathon.
Not everyone who competes in the Hartford marathon or any other marathon runs to win. The competition is very stiff, and there is usually only one grand prize for one winner.
Unlike an athletic marathon, everyone who participates in the Christian race is a potential a winner. Nevertheless, the haunting question is: Do you run to win? Like the athletic marathon, many people who jump in the Christian race do not run to win. These are people who seek short-term results, such as notoriety, enhance credibility and sometimes a mate.
The Christian race is a lifelong activity. There are no short-term results. Over the course of your journey, you will encounter many bumps, sharp turns and steep climbs, trials, and tribulation. But if you run the race with patience and endure to the end as the beloved apostle advised you to, you will receive the greatest grand prize–life.
The writer of the Hebrews sums it up this way: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
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