Notes to the Lord:First Words From the Throne

Matthew 25

³¹"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.

³²"All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

³³and He will put the sheep on His right, and

the goats on the left. ³⁴"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

There is coming reward for the those who put faith over fear and use the resources that they have available to meet the needs of those they encounter. There is a blessing from the King that will be waiting for those who have done the will of God. In fact the preparation of the kingdom has been something that has been going on since the beginning of time.

³⁵'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;

³⁶naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

Reward is based on the practical impacts that are made in the lives of people. The kingdom must be made practical and something that impacts the everyday lives of people without strings attached.

The call is to meet the needs of people. What are the needs that you are pointing me to Lord? There are the physical needs that people have...hunger, thirst, a need for clothes, sickness. There are the needs for significance and support...visits to the sick, the invitation to a stranger,those who are in prison need to be visited.

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

³⁸'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

³⁹'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

This kingdom activity of meeting real needs of real people is not something that you are calling me to do, for a reward. It should be something more intrinsic than that...something more foundational than working for a pat on the back. It is almost something that is done as a reflex without thought...out of the simple fact that a need was identified and needed to be addressed.

Jesus where are the needs to that need my attention in my community...who are the needy that you want me to reach out to? Where are the needs for significance that are unmet? Where are the physical needs that have no other place to can find help?

How do I in the middle of all the needs that surround me, maintain balance? I could either get lost in the need on the one hand or get calloused to the need on the other hand? There has to be a way to balance and sustain Kingdom work.

Johnny Wesley got it right...“Do all the good you can,By all the means you can,In all the ways you can,In all the places you can,At all the times you can,To all the people you can,As long as you can."

It is not easy to do by a long shot...and even harder to sustain over a life time. Lord Jesus, help me!

⁴⁰"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Lord Jesus--The needs of the least...the oppressed...the minority in a majority focused culture...the overlooked and undervalued are the people that concern you. These need to be my concerns.

The contrast is so stark. This is one of the first things that you will say when your kingdom has come in glory and you are sitting on the throne with all of heaven and whatever is left of the earth I have known. It will be the rehearsing of the acts of mercy that were done to those who are the least that takes center stage the very first thing. Those who were touched by second hand grace...grace that had be experienced by your people and motivated them to act out of love...act with consistency over time in a difficult environment.

Up Close and Personal--The needs I can see are the only needs that can be met. Lord Jesus give me eyes to see and a heart the overflows with your love. A heart that is willing to meet the need and yet maintain balance. I can so easily miss what is right in front of my face. I am good at denial without the active intervention of your Holy Spirit at work in my life

Lord work in this coming day. Help me to see with the eyes of a faith that is lived out in the my wash and dry world. Help me to demonstrate and live out an awareness of the needs that are waiting to be met.