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RE Verse reading–Colossians 3:12-14, Hebrews 13:1-8, 14-16  (day one)  “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  Bear with one another and. . .forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you.”  (vs 12-13)  One of the Biblical images of a generous life is of “putting on” certain attitudes toward others.  The Bible says that just as we choose what we wear in the morning, we can choose our inner attitudes–what others will see on the inside of us.  We can wear sympathy, kindness, patience and forgiveness–or we can choose to withhold these generous gifts.  Strange.  Many of these qualities are listed as “fruit of the Spirit”  (Galatians 5)  No contradiction here.  All these attitudes are products of the Spirit’s presence in our lives.  They are also choices that we must make in glad submission to Him.  When we do, we are all dressed up and ready to point the world to a glorious Christ.

RE Verse reading–Colossians 3:12-14, Hebrews 13:1-8, 14-16 (day five)  “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience”  (3:12)  The bible says God loves us.  I know the words.  Sometimes I lack the assurance/experience.  The remedy is the Holy Spirit.  In Romans 5, Paul says ” the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  For while we were still helpless. . .Christ died for the ungodly”  (vs 5-6)  Notice Paul’s reasoning.  The logic of love is the cross of Christ.  His death proves His love.  The experience of love is the person and presence of the Holy Spirit.  We need both.  It isn’t psycho-babble.  Unless we know with certainty God’s love for us, we will not be able to give it away to others.  “Jesus loves me this I KNOW” we teach children to sing.  It is, however, not just for children.  Something we all need to know.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day seven)  “When the Son of Man comes in His glory. . . then He will sit on the throne of glory.  All nations will be gathered before Him”  (vs 31-32)  A difficult subject.  Frequently avoided–even by believers.  Jesus believed that eternity would bring us all to a place/moment of judgement.  “For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. . .each one of us will give an account of himself to God”  (Romans 14:10, 12)  The word in Romans is bema or “raised platform”  We will stand before the Lord (high and lifted up) and hear His decision re. our lives.  Harsh judgement is only one option.  Not the preference of Christ.  “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world” (John 3:18)  But the Father has given “all judgement to the Son”  (John 5:22) To not honor the Son is to not honor the Father.  Those who will not be saved will not be saved.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46  (day six)  “Come, you who that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”  (vs 34)  It will be one of the great surprises on the Day of Judgement (for those who do not hear this instruction from the Christ)  Eternity will be shaped from the raw material of time.  What we do matters.  What we decide matters.  Eternally.  When the Son of Man comes in glory, He will invite some to come!  Come inherit the kingdom!  Enter into the joy of your master!  (Matthew 25:21)  Jesus, however,  has been making this invitation all along.  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest”  (Matthew 11:28)  How fitting!  The end will not be a new word.  Not for any of us.  Our preparation for hearing Him say come on the last day is to hear Him say it now.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day five)  “I was hungry and you gave me food”  (vs 35)  It is a shocking idea.  A God who needs our help.  Requires it, in fact.  A God who (by His own choice and gracious purpose) humbles  Himself to the point of no longer being self sufficient.  Why?  Why would He desire/need the prayers of His friends at Gethsemane?  Why would He ask for a drink of water as He hung on the cross?  Couldn’t He have supernaturally provided for His own needs?  Yes, but He didn’t because He loved.  By giving us work to do ( preparing it beforehand says Ephesians 2:10) He was loving us.  He was giving us value, a reason to grow up.  Like a Father loving a child, one of the great gifts the Lord gives us is to communicate that we are needed, useful, valuable.  Self sufficiency is not strength.  True strength is love expressed in fellowship that allows others to help.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day four) “Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food?”  (vs37)  I disagree with those who teach that we will be surprised by the standards that Christ will apply to our lives/choices at the end of time.  It is a fairly common interpretation of Matthew 25 to present a picture of unconcious goodness.  A moral surprise.  People saying, “I didn’t know that this was what You wanted”.  I disagree.  The surprise registered by “sheep people” is that we never saw Christ.  We expected to.  We expected Him to be more obvious, to “show up” so that could love Him more directly.  Instead, we were presented with churches–people called by Christ, doing His will.  We knew that we should help them.  He told us.  “He who receives you, receives Me”  (Matthew 10:40).  The fact that He expects us to help His people do their work is not what will surprise us on the last day.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day three)  “Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (vs 34)  When the Lord prepared the kingdom (before time began),  He had in mind a glorious reward and appropriate end for people who had loved His son.  Sad history has shown that many will not pass this test.  The good news is that some will!  Some people (may it please God for us to be included) will devote themselves to the work of God in the world.  Some will (by His grace) extend their hands to support the missionary/ministry/benevolent work of the church.  Many will refuse to endorse.  Goats.  Some will support with their time, talent and treasure.  Sheep.  It will indicate a right relationship with the Lord, Himself.  How great is God to rescue us and then reward us for being rescued.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day two)  “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another”  (vs 32)  The future will reveal two facts.  We are all the same but different in one eternally significant respect.  Jesus saw the day when all nations would be gathered before him.  Every person.  Made in His image.  Accountable. EVERY knee shall bow.  NO diversity here.  Having shattered all superficial distinctions (nationality, race, gender, wealth), the Lord will then separate us using His own evaluative standard.  A dividing line will be drawn–those who served and welcomed Christ, and those who rejected and refused Him.  Upon this distinction, the destiny of the soul will rest.  A common secular idea is that all people are equal.  In some sense we Christians agree.  We never surrender, however, that at every moment of history,  two separate groups have been living their lives.  Different responses to God make different people with eternally different outcomes.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day one)  “To the extent you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to me”( vs 40)  Historically, there have been two main ways to interpret Matt 25.  One view takes “these brothers of Mine” to mean the poor generally.  Christ’s criterion for judgement is charity.  (Neither of these two interpretations teaches salvation by works. “We are saved by faith, and judged by works” is the old Puritan proverb)  In the second construct, “these brothers”  refers to the Church, the people of God spread out over the world and time doing His will and work.  We are (history will testify) often hungry, in prison and in need by virtue of our obedience to Savior’s mission.  In this scenario, the nations of the world (and the people) are judged by their support of and welcome to the Church.  Which did Christ mean?  More this week as we think together. . .

RE Verse reading–Mark 10:17-31 (day seven) “No one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age–houses, brothers and sisters and mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions–and in the age to come eternal life”  (vs 29-30)  It is a mystery.  Loss for God is gain.  “I have suffered the loss of all things. . .that I may gain Christ”  (Paul–Philippians 3:8)  No one makes any sacrifice in keeping with the will and request of God that is not multiplied and returned.  Jesus saw this principle in operation.  Perhaps He had in mind Peter’s new family–the worldwide church.  New fields and brothers and problems were now available for his use, if not his ownership.  By following Christ, he had become a rich man in a wide world.  He had received more.  We all do.