"With A Life of Privelage Requires Much Responsbility"

       "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what
          ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body,
          what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
          body than raiment?" Matthew 6:25

My life of privilege requires much responsibility, "...For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." Luke 12:48 I am convicted with my life! I have been blessed beyond measure. I was raised in the truth of the holy ghost. I have never been without food, clothes, or shelter. I have never been abused or abandoned. I did not come from a broken family or ever wonder if I was loved. I went to a private Christian school, I was raised in the church youth group, I went to 4 years of bible school, and I have always had a good job.

In my spiritual life I have seen every miracle and yet I still have doubted the Lord. How can I doubt his glory? He who has saved me from everything?  

            "Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 10:24-30

I to have seen blind eyes opened. I have seen people walk out of wheel chairs. I have seen people healed of cancer. I have seen people healed from MS and Lupus. I have seen a leg grow before my very eyes. I have seen every manner of miracle in my short lifetime of 32 years. I have felt the glorious presence of God my entire life!

And yet...

I have doubted whether there was even a God. I have lived in the bondage of self pity and loathing. I have lived in fear and doubt. If there is really a God then how come he hasn't done what I've wanted him to do when I wanted him to do it? No, God is not our personal servant. We are to be his servant. This past year has been the most eye opening year of my life! I was praying this summer and I asked the Lord, "Why did you leave me? Why when I was doing all these things for you; praise singing, Sunday school, choir, youth ministry, etc etc?" He said, "You were so busy doing unto me but you were not looking at me!" I was so concerned for doing unto the Lord that I forgot to be in love with the Lord. No longer can I think that doing unto God is all that I have to do! It's true the work of the Lord is important. But those are just busy things. Think of it this way----It would be like a police officer: he shows up to work in uniform, he drives the right car, he files all the right papers, but he never serves or protects. He looks and does all the right things but he never acts to help people. Or as a friend said this weekend, you are sitting in the gas station all gassed up and you never drive down the road!

Questions that I am posing to myself and to you:

1) What are you willing to give up? The bible says we are to lose our life for him and that we can't save it ourselves. We think that by doing it our way we are actually pleasing God! "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." Luke 9:24 How do we lose our lives to the gospel? We do it by doing what he told us to do. We are to feed his sheep, the hurting, the broken, the ones no one wants to help. I sit here at this computer with tears running down my face as I am convicted once again by my life. Who have I reached out to today?

The words are so plain...

"Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry,

and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring." Isaiah 58:7-11 NLT

Then the words of Jesus...

"For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 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. 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: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 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. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 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.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matthew 25:35-46

2) We say that we want more of Jesus; but do we really? People are messy! And those people who are hurting, hungry, and dirty are even more messy. You can't help people with the idea that it is about you. It is never about you! You may help people and they may never turn to God but that is not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to meet their needs here on earth so that they have a chance to even know that there even is a God. How sad that we often predicate our love by what we receive in return. The lord brings in the harvest and that is not our command to worry about how many "people" actually receive the message. Yes, we want to see them saved but how can they be saved if they don't even know he exists? The only Jesus anyone may see is in you. Is he in your life? Do you share his love with others? Or are you just concerned with the social norm and the status quo. Shame on us!

3) But are we in fact conforming Jesus into our own image? Jesus is not in a box. He is not pretty, blue eyed and blonde haired. He is not excited that we come to church every week and sit on the pew. It is not serving the Lord to just be present for roll call. If we are not reaching for those who are lost and in the highways and biways then who are we? We spend so much time concerning ourselves with our outward appearance that we forget the purpose of it all. Yes, we should look our best when we come into the house of the Lord but there is a balance that we must have. It should no be what drives us. It should not be our consuming passion and it should not be what makes us who we are inside. There must be balance and all things in moderation!

4) Do we in fact conform God in our own image with little or no sacrifice and expect that we are actually worshiping him; or are we actually worshiping ourselves?

"Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:22-24

How can we worship him in spirit and in truth if we are not living the truth he has set before us? If we don't seek after the things of God and we don't follow his example then we cannot be in right spirit or in truth. It is when we lose ourselves to the gospel and take up his cross and follow his commands that are living his plan for our lives. Then we can be in right spirit and relationship with God. 

Conclusion:

Salvation Plan   1) Believe, John 3:16

                        2) Repent, Acts 2:38

                        3) Baptized in the name of Jesus, Acts 2:38

                        4) Receive the Holy Ghost evidence with speaking in tongues, Acts 2:4 & Acts 2:38

Then...

                        1) Daily continual prayer, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

                        2) Bible reading daily, Proverbs 2:1-3

                        3) Lose yourself to the Lord, Luke 9:24

                        4) Love God with your heart, mind and soul, Matthew 22:37 

                        5) Love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew 22:39

                        6) Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe and help the homeless, Isaiah 58:7-11

                        7) Set aside the weights of this world that so easily beset us, Hebrews 12:1

                        8) Give thanks in all things being content, Ephesians 5:20

                        9) Holy life set apart from the world, 1 Peter 1:15-16, John 15:19

                       10) Setting aside vanity, Ecclesiastes 6:9

When we do these these things it is then that we can be assured that we are doing what is required of us! We can enter into heaven and hear the words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." We can sit at his feet and rule beside him and forevermore be worshiping the one and only true God!