Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Prayer to Suffer, Pt. 2

Welcome back, I left on a real depressing note last week and I did that with a purpose. I’m hoping that purpose was fulfilled, that is to let it sink in. To most of the world, that’s not a depressing statistic. That is life. It’s a life Jesus has called us to reach out to. To try to do all we can for this broken world, for God’s glory. Let’s look at some scripture.
Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Luke 14:13-14
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
1 John 3:17-18
"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
James 1:27
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."


So let’s see. We believe in God and Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Check. We believe that the bible is God’s infallible word. Check. Living out all the things commanded of us in the bible Ch—No. You see the issue here? If Christ is real, and the Word is true, we can not deny what has been asked of us.
How can we stand by Jesus and yet not do what he asks? This isn’t your parent, this isn’t your boss, he isn’t some teacher. This is the God who according to Psalm 148:5,  commanded and all things were created. If we believe this then how can we dare make up excuses not to live these? Believe me, I’m no better than anyone else. My eyes have been opened to what’s going on around me though, and I can’t sit still any longer.
I said it last time, I’ll say it again. How can we really love thy neighbor, like our selves, when the world is so broken and we live such pampered existences? Is it just me or do we have a sense of entitlement? Doesn’t it seem like this is our life? Our luxury? Our everything? That we are entitled to it, it is ours, to do with as we please.  How can that be so?
The cold, hard fact is when you are born, you are only guaranteed one, sole thing: death.  If you at some point come to Christ, then you at that point, you are guaranteed two things: death, followed by life.
You may die the moment you are born. You may be disabled. Life in itself is a privilege.  That air you breathe? A gift. The fact you have any place to live at all? A gift. The money you have? A gift. Your family? A gift. Your moments of peace? A gift.  
All these things are given to us, as gifts. Gifts with a clause. They are all meant to be used to glorify God and make His name known. They aren’t for us to be lazy, happy, satisfied, unresponsive etc. Our satisfaction is in God alone. Not His gifts.
How can we use our gifts to glorify Him? How can we help the poor and needy in this world? By acting. Not waiting. We are richer than most of the world. We have better educations than most of the world. So what is to stop you right this moment from doing something? Nothing. Jesus took 12 of the dumbest, most ignorant and clueless people he could find, absolute nobody’s, and changed the world as it was known.
He does not call the equipped. He equips the called. You saw those verses, at the beginning of this, you’ve been called. I’ve been called. As believers, we’ve all been called. Do we forget that it’s the God of endless power and miracles from the bible who lives in us?
Are you unsatisfied with the way, we show our “love” for others? I am. What are you going to do?

Much Love,
Luke
“What are you afraid of? Let God act. Abandon yourself to Him. You will suffer, but you will suffer with love, peace and consolation. You will fight, but you can carry off the victory, and God Himself, after having fought with you, will crown you with His own hand. You will weep, but your tears will be sweet, and God Himself will come with satisfaction to dry them. You will not be free any longer to give yourself up to your tyrannical passions, but you will sacrifice your liberty freely, and you will enter into a new liberty unknown to the world, in which you will do nothing except for love.” - Francois Fenelon

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