My husband with sweet Gladyss.
Matthew 25:40 says "He 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.' " What this is saying, is what ever I
do for others, I am doing for Him. If I chose to ignore the need around
us, if I choose to ignore the pain, the sadness, the sick and starving
children, the orphans and widows, if I choose to ignore
them... Ultimately, I am choosing to ignore Jesus. If I see someone hungry
or naked, and I don't do something to help, I am turning away Jesus. In James
2, verse 15-17, its says "Suppose a brother or a sister is without
clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go
in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs,
what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if
it is not accompanied by action, is dead." God requires us to be
followers with faith AND action.
I do not claim to have it right or to have all the answers,
and I certainly don't claim to live this life fully the way God intended. I
have a long way to go. I am growing everyday. But I stumble frequently, slip up
from time to time. I am a sinner, but I am reaching out for Jesus, and He will
take my hand. I don't consider myself an expert on all this, no where near, but
I've got my eyes on Him, my eyes are on the goal, and he is calling all of us.
He is calling us into faith and to action. We must stand up and move forward to
expand the kingdom of God, to give Him His glory, and to live a life of service
and submission to our Father! He calls each of us to carry our cross, to lay
down our lives, to put away our own human desires, and pick up the desires of
Jesus. To walk down that path He is directing us in.
I struggle with this daily, and I think a lot of us
sometimes focus too much on the "american dream," with materialism,
entertainment, pleasure, self indulgence, money, looks and glamour, etc. Our
eyes need to be set on Jesus, not things of this world. When we become a lover
and follower of Jesus Christ, there is a change in our hearts, and we begin to
see how Jesus sees, how He saw when He was walking on this earth. Its not
adequate to just tell someone, "Good luck, it'll all be fine", We are
called to take action. To show LOVE. To be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ!
He is beckoning us to move. He wants to love in and through YOU.
From Romans 12, we can see some of the many gifts we may
have and how we can serve. 6We have different gifts,
according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then
prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is
serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage,
then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to
lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Matthew 22 37-40: “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.” Love your neighbor as yourself. If I don't want myself
starving, then I should not want my neighbor starving. I want to be clothed,
fed, warm, healthy, loved, etc., then I also should want my neighbors to
clothed, fed, warm, healthy, and loved. Jesus said that whatever you do
for the least of these, you have done for Him. If you read Luke 10, verses
25-37 about the good Samaritan, one of the experts in the law asks Jesus
who exactly is considered his neighbor. To answer this man's question, Jesus
tells the story of the good Samaritan. In the story, a man is beaten and
robbed, and left half dead on the side of the road. A priest and a levite
passed by, seeing the man, and continued to walk on the other side of the road.
But then a Samaritan man approaches the almost lifeless body, he stops with
sympathy and compassion. The Samaritan cleans and bandages the beaten man,
provides for him a place to stay while he is cared for. Jesus then asks the
expert in law which man was like a neighbor to the beaten man. The answer is
the Samaritan. Jesus is saying that a neighbor is anyone that needs mercy,
compassion, or relief from suffering. A neighbor can be anyone that you
come across. You are a neighbor when you care for others and display
mercy. Jesus challenges us to "Go and do likewise."
If every Christian in the world looked like me, or looked
like you, what would this world look like? Would anyone be bold enough to
be Sunday school teachers, to be preachers, or to just stand up a
give a testimony or are we too scared, to shy, or a little stubborn sometimes. Afraid of what people will think, scared
you'll say something wrong? If all Christians looked like you or me, would
anyone be bold enough to tell their friends, their brothers and sisters, their
Dad, about the love of Jesus Christ, do we love Him enough, do we love them
enough, to tell them, to save them, to introduce them to the Savior and Lord of
all creation. If every Christian looked like me or you, would there be any
missionaries, would the Good News eventually be forgotten because no one would
share it or take it to the nations. Would children grow up, never knowing the
name of Jesus, never feeling His embrace? Jesus lives on this earth in and
through us. We are called into action, to be a light in this world, to be a
neighbor, for Jesus to use us so that He can be a father to the fatherless,
using our arms to embrace, our hands to care. What would this world look like?
Would there be love and generosity or would we just be content with our
comforts, selfishly obsessed with the things of the world?
We are made to be brave, courageous, noble. And I can't do
it on my own. You can't do it on your own. We can't do it alone. That is why He
is with us, He is in us, He will give us the words to say, He will give us the
strength to stand tall, the strength to keep going, and to pick each
other up. He is our rock, our solid ground. We are meant to lay down our lives
for the sake of Jesus, and lay down our lives for the brethren. To carry
our cross. Every child, is a child of the King. Every child, He calls his own.
God is present with us through the Holy Spirit living within us. He uses us! WE
are His vessels. When His children are alone and abandoned, He uses YOU
and ME to comfort them, to go to them, to take care of them, and to show them
the love of the Father. He lives in us, and our hands are the Fathers hands,
and He will use us to pick that child up. Defend the poor and the fatherless,
Psalm 82:3. And God is a father to the fatherless through us! And if we're not
doing it, who is? We are all called. Do we care the way Jesus cares? Are we
willing to fight for what is His? Are we willing to be an advocate?
I trip and stumble sometimes. But I'm getting better at
keeping my eyes on the goal, my eyes are on Him. Let us take off running in His
will, down the path that he has laid out before us, and never look back!
Please watch this video. "Depraved Indifference"-
Eric Ludy
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