Doing God's Will

Mathew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
There are many people that call themselves Christians and many even believe that they are, but unless we heed God's word and do his will, we will be among those cast aside into outer darkness.  I believe it is our duty to help those in need.  I am not talking about public assistance, but I am speaking of each individual standing up and helping his fellowman.  In the early church many brought all that they had to the apostles and a big part of it was used to care for the widows and orphans.  Even if we pay tithes today, it doesn't go to the needy.  It goes to build bigger churches and much of it goes straight into some man's bank account and the poor are still left hungry, naked and thirsty.  Those misusing God's money will stand before him one day and be judged. You might ask, what can I do?  Each of us should step up and do what we can to help those in need. We see many sitting by the road begging for help and often pass them by.  Do you know that God said we are not to judge?  Who are we to say if they really need it or not.  The bible says in 

Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

That stranger that you thought was just a nobody may be one of God's own angels.   We as Christians should do what we can to help them and what they do with the money is between them and God.  This is just one thing we can be careful in doing.  People lose their homes almost daily, we need to help these people to get back on their feet.  We even have people in our own families that we see in need every day and yes, it is our duty to help them. There is also many good groups of Christians that help to feed the hungry in the world. We should try to help them.  There are so many ways that we can help to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and give water to the thirsty, we just need to look beyond our own needs.  If we don't, we will be among the goats that are cast aside into outer darkness.  We can not be a Christian and ignore those in need. If we do, we are ignoring Christ himself.  Every time we pass by that person begging, we are telling Jesus Christ that we don't care about his needs.  This is the cold hard truth whether we believe it or not.  He said when you do it to the least of these, you have done it to me.  I don't want to hear those words, Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I want to hear the master say to me, Well done thou good and faithful servant.  

Mathew 25:31-46
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 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:

35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 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.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

What kind of fruit is growing in your garden?

As a born again Christian we have liberty through Jesus Christ.  Paul taught us that we are not to use that liberty for the desires of the flesh, but rather to fulfill the word of Jesus Christ, to love one another.  We are to walk in the spirit of Christ.  As Christians the world will look upon us and know us by the fruits we bare, but the world is not the only one watching us, God himself sees all.  When we plant a garden, it must be taken care of.  You have to weed it, water it, and pluck away any bad fruits to allow the good fruits to grow big and strong. God watches his children to see how well they tend their garden.  If left untended, the weeds will overtake it and kill off all the good fruits.  

As Christians we are not under the law of man, but we are to live according to God's word.

Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

If we truly live according to his word, then the laws of man are of no affect to us.  If we walk in the spirit of Christ, our garden will produce fruit to be desired by the world!  The world will want what we have!!

Galatians 5:22-23 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

In the flesh, many times we fail and come up short.  Our flesh is at constant war against our spirit.  Paul taught us that when he would do good, evil was always present.  

Galatians 5:17

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

When we allow our flesh to overcome our spirit, sin is produced. 

Galatians 5:19-21 

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

As children of God, we are in the world, but we are not of the world.  We will always have a battle to fight and a garden to weed.  It's up to each one of us to tend our own garden and see that the fruits growing there are those to be desired and in doing so we will draw others to Christ, which is a work he gave us to do!

Galatians 5:25

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Faith Healing

Matthew 4:23
23: And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

It is not God's will that his children be sick and afflicted. Anywhere that Jesus went he took the time to stop and heal the sick. He is a never changing God and he will take the time to heal you today. You must ask in faith and believe. When the time came and he knew he would no longer be here to walk with us, he passed this gift of healing on to the disciples. 

Luke 9:1-6
1: Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2: And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
3: And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
4: And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.
5: And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
6: And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

Many in the church have gotten cold on the Lord and slack in their faith.  They no longer fast and pray.  They no longer trust in God that he will do what we ask.  The word of God teaches us that he never changes. This tells me that the spiritual gifts that he gave to the disciples and those early believers are still active and available to me and you.  Paul taught the people that the gifts were for them.  

1 Corinthians 12:28
28: And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then GIFTS OF HEALINGS, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

We will not see these gifts active among us until we make ourselves HOLY before God.  God said that he would not dwell in an unclean temple.  He said that if we are LUKE WARM that he would spew us out.  The very taste of something lukewarm is disgusting.  God would rather you be a full blown sinner than to be a lukewarm Christian.  

Revelations 3:15-16
15: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 

Do you need healing today?  Do you have lost loved ones that you want to see saved?  Do you want a closer walk with God?  Do you want to see unity and joy in the church?  If you say yes to these questions, then you have a work to do in order to see it done.  We need PRAYER WARRIORS like our grandmothers used to be.  We need PREACHERS that aren't afraid to stand up and preach the TRUE WORD OF GOD.  If we are ever going to start seeing our loved ones healed of diseases, seeing blind to see and crippled to walk then we must start doing our part.  We need to be like David and pray no matter what.  Our prayer lives need to be active and steadfast.  We need to be reading God's word daily and not just a verse or two here and there.  If we want an answer from God, we need to spend time fasting and seeking his face.  You see GOD NEVER CHANGES so he has never stopped healing the sick.  We have just stopped trusting in him and believing that he will do it.  We have strayed from the RIGHT PATH.  

I encourage you today to find that path again, begin praying and seeking his face, begin reading his word and begin enjoying the gifts that he wants to bestow upon you.