In Matthew 26:11, Jesus continues to tell the disciples, “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.”

A lot of people try to find a solution to the poverty problem. There are tons of debate on communism, socialism, and capitalism. However, Jesus gives us the solution to the poverty problem. We are that solution. We are to take care of the poor and the needy. It is easy to say the president should create more jobs, congress should do better at stimulating the economy, and banks should be loaning out more money to people who can’t pay it back but if they decide not to do so, that does not mean we should just sit and wait for something to happen. Jesus said the poor, needy, sick, widows, and orphans will always be among and with US. In other words, Jesus is saying the poor and the needy will always be OUR responsibility. Now, if our concern is for the poor and needy, we can do something about it. It starts with one person at a time. I know of two young ladies who woke up one Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving and decided to make bagged lunches for homeless people. The great joy it brought to their hearts and to the hearts of those they were serving! The next year, they were able to nearly tripled the amount of homeless people they could feed. It starts with just one decision to do something, anything. What we can’t do is make someone else feel condemned or guilty because they are not doing what we want them to do.  God places different thoughts, wants, and desires in our hearts that will bring glory to Him. We are FREE. One person may use their freedom in Christ to feed the poor while another uses that freedom to shelter the homeless.  Some others may use their freedom to write, sing, dance, play football  or even do video presentations on YouTube to bring glory to the Most High God. That is what freedom is. God has granted us that freedom to live for Him. If something is in our hearts to do for God, then we should do it but we must let what God places in the heart of another to be done for Him as well.

In Matthew 25:37-39, Jesus continues to say, “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’”

One thing it is hard for us to grasp is the impact that we have on other people’s lives. When we take on the name of Jesus, it is like putting a bright neon lime green t-shirt that says, “LOOK AT ME!” That is a big deciding factor that makes many people want to stay in their miserable conditions. They do not want to be a representative of Christ. They do not want the attention of living up to a higher standard. Of course, the attention that comes with being drunk, high, using despicable language, and having a perverted sense humor is perfectly acceptable.  However, as believers in Jesus Christ, we have immeasurable impact on the lives of people around us. It can range from a simple smile and opening a door for a person to how we deal in the midst of tragedy or sitting along side someone, holding their hands as they go through their tragedy.  Many people have a hard time relating this to God because they believe God is only at church and only present when we are singing, praying, fasting, or listening to a sermon. God is the God of people. He sees those who are suffering and in need and he is there. He desires that His people would love and have compassion on these people the same way He does. We should always be aware that we have that bright neon lime green t-shirt on and allow God to make us the best witness for Him we can ever be!

In Matthew 24:45, Jesus says, “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?”

Many people think Satan still in charge of the earth. It is hard to believe that he isn’t with all the things we see happening today with these natural disasters, murders, wars, and the sense of uncertainty on a day to day basis. However, at the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, He took back the keys of Life and Death and the title deed to the Earth. He has not come back to redeem it as yet as the day of His return has not yet come. He is giving a chance for those who will believe in Him to turn to Him in faith. In the meanwhile, the devil is working as hard as he can to kill as many souls as he possibly can until his time is up. As of right now, Jesus has left us in charge of His possession while we are waiting for Him to come back for us. His last words to Peter were “feed my sheep.” That is also His words to us. We should take care of His flock. How do we do that? We are to take care of one another in His love by sharing the Word of God through the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

I’ve heard people say the “church” is the last hope for the world. We really like to turn all the attention to ourselves and away from the One who created the Church. The church is not the last hope for the world. There is only ONE hope for the world and His name is Jesus Christ! Jesus said the gospel WILL BE preached in all the world. He did specify it will be preached only by the church. As the church, we should do as much as possible to get out the Good News of Jesus Christ, helping as many people as possible to change their focus from the world and themselves to having a right relationship with God. However, we shouldn’t think God will go out of business if the church was to quit on Him.  If God could open the mouth of a donkey to correct Balaam, feed Elijah with ravens, and use the skin of an animal to properly clothe Adam and Eve, it proves how endless the resources of God are. Let us do our part as best as we can without restricting God from freely working in His marvelous ways. All the glory and honor to Him forever and ever! Amen!

In Matthew 22:5, Jesus gives the response of the people invited to the wedding feast saying, “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.”

Some people say they are just too busy for God. They try to pencil Him into their schedule but He always seems to get quickly erased. God has blessed us and many times we take the blessing, thank God, and go on about our business. I believe God blesses us for two reasons. The first reason of course is because He loves us and wants the best for us. The second reason is to help us carry out His will for our lives. When we take the blessings of God to carry out our own will, it is never enough. God gives us beyond what we need to carry out HIS will. Just take the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000; alone, that amount of fish and bread would not be enough to feed Jesus and His disciples, but according to God’s will to feed His people, there was an abundant quantity of fish and bread left over both times.

In Matthew 22:4, Jesus continues to say, “Again, he (the king) sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’

God is so persistent! He never quits. He goes after the hearts of His children until they see how wrong they have been. Until our eyes were opened, it seemed annoying. Everywhere we turned, someone was telling us about how much we need Jesus and how lost we were and how much God loves us but we just wanted to continue living in our glorious life of sin. It felt so good. Sometimes when we are trying to run from God, we can be like Job asking God why does HE care so much (Job 7:17)? However, God’s love for us is so great. He knows what is good for us and will feed us the fruits and vegetables that we need before we get served dessert. Looking back now, I thank God for His persistence and patience for never giving up on me. I’m sure we all can say the same thing. When we look back now, the life of sin we were entangled in was not really glorious as we may of thought it was at the time.

Have you ever worked on a jigsaw puzzle? As we were younger, the pieces were huge. Those puzzles were pretty easy. As we got older, the pieces get smaller and more complicated. Pieces start looking similar to one another. When we would go on family vacations in the past, we would always work on a puzzle together. On more than one occasion, a piece had a tough time fitting into place with another piece. I would try to force it into place but it would never fit. That was very discouraging.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Our life is a puzzle in itself. We can allow God to place the pieces together or we can try to complete the puzzle on our own strength and efforts. Everything has its place. Our lives also have its place in God’s creation, His will, and His plan for us. It does require patience and us to trust in Him. Many times, we cannot wait. We want it now. When this starts to happen, we stop trusting in the Lord. We begin to depend on our emotions, our intelligence, and the knowledge of the secular world around us. We try to speed up God’s plan. However, as soon as we try to speed up His process, we are no longer within His plan for our lives. We then move into our own plans. God is patient. He does things the right way, the excellent way.

When putting a puzzle together, we look from above at all the pieces. We do not angle our eyes at the table level to see which piece fits correctly. That will never work. God looks at our lives from a bird’s eye view. He sees it from beginning to end. To us, the puzzle might not even be an eighth of the way through, God sees our lives as complete. He knows the next step for us. He has a perfect plan for us and He desires for us to walk in it.

As children, the puzzle is easy to put in place. Our parents feed us, cloth us, bathe us, tell us when to sleep, and tell us when to wake up. We have things easy. As we get older, it gets a bit more difficult. More pieces come into play. Do you remember how scared you were on your first day of school? My first day of elementary, I looked to the left and then to the right, then I took off after my mother’s car. I don’t hold it against her for not stopping or even looking back. Do you remember how much more complicated it became when it came time for the first date, or for the high school prom, then college, career, marriage, children, and the list goes on. The puzzle starts to have many more pieces.

In Matthew 18:24, Jesus continues the parable saying, “When he (the king) had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents (over a million dollars).”

Everyone will stand before God naked and ashamed. Our self-righteousness will be striped away right before our very eyes as God lets us know how much we owe for all that we’ve done. Are we able to buy our way into heaven? Can we do enough good works to overshadow the sinful acts and evil desires of our heart? Apparently not. Not even in this world can our good outweigh our bad. Someone may help the homeless, feed the poor, cloth the naked, and so forth but then if they brutally murder someone, they will rot in prison for the rest of their natural life, and possibly even get the death penalty. We can never do enough good that can blot our our sin or make us right with God. We are in a great debt to God that we can never repay. What can we do? Is there hope? Through the cracks of sin and death, there is a bright light trying to burst through the hearts of men and women around the world. Jesus Christ has already paid this great debt that we owe and settled all of our accounts with God the Father. If we would just look to Him and believe He has done it, then by no means should anyone of us have to wait for God’s judgment in fear of repaying the impossible debt we’ve accumulated. We have a beautiful stamp across our hearts and lives that reads, “Paid In Full” signed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ our King!

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

So many of us want the promises, the rewards, and the gifts of Jesus. However, we seem to miss the key to receiving them. Are we a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Of course, many of us will quickly say yes without hesitation. However, maybe we should hesitate just for a moment to find out  what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? A disciple of Jesus is one who denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Jesus. We think it is great to follow Jesus and we try to but without denying ourselves to do the will of the Father, it is impossible to follow Jesus. We will always find ourselves fighting with what we want and what God wants. I was at a church service a few years ago and the pastor told his congregation lift up their envelopes and ask God to give them that big house, that new Lexus and Mercedes, and the high paying job they’ve always wanted. We really need to get our prayers and priorities in order. There are people hurting out there in bad situations slowly perishing away while we sit in church trying to gratify our wicked flesh. Jesus didn’t die on a cross so we could feed our flesh. He didn’t die for us to have more stuff. He died to bring salvation and redemption to a dead and dull world; a world that is so full of darkness that it can’t even recognize it is slowly but surely digging it’s own grave; a world where instead of sin prevention, it practices sin tolerance and acceptance. We are destroying ourselves. We desperately need to come back to the Word of God. Now more than ever, we need to learn what it means to pick up our cross to do the will of the Father; a simple will to believe in Jesus Christ so we can gladly follow Him.

In Matthew 15:14, Jesus says to the disciples regarding the Pharisees and religious rulers that were so blinded by their self righteousness “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Pride, selfishness, conceitedness, and self-glorification feed the flesh. The flesh grows stronger and stronger in its attempt to put out the flame of the spirit. In turn, leaders and false prophets arise preaching to people a sweet flesh flattering and fattening message. When the true word of God comes to the people, they anger. The flesh hates God and has no reverence for Him. The flesh (and all those who are slaves to the flesh) wants to kill God and execute all those who follow Jesus. What are we to do? Do we keep quiet and continue to let the blind lead the blind? Of course not! We are to continue in prayer and teach the truth of God through the love of Jesus Christ. Our hope is their flesh may weaken for even a split second and their eyes can be opened, their ears can hear and their hearts willing to accept Jesus into their lives. Let’s not argue or debate with the world, but pray for them constantly. The deeper they dig their self-glorified grave, the harder we must pray for them. There is an interesting saying that was popular recently which said “Yes we can!” That seems to be the most untrue statement I’ve ever heard unless you you add the word fail to the end. Yes, we can fail. Other than that “No, we can’t.” We are so pitiful that we can’t even breath on our own strength without God giving us the power and will to breath. Since the beginning of time we tried and we couldn’t. Why is now so different? If we “can,” then why haven’t we? Let’s be realistic. No, we can’t; Yes, God can and He ALWAYS does!