the least of these...........

I can't sleep. I've been laying here for hours. It's 2:00am and only about 4 hours till my day starts, and I'm wide awake! Usually, for me, this means that God is trying to speak to me or I need to pray about something. Tonight, (or morning depending on how you look at it) God has placed the needy on my heart. 

You may have seen this video circling Facebook, about a homeless man who just wants people to respect him. He says "I'm not a bum, I'm a human being" as he begins to become emotionally overwhelmed. 

Oh did this hit my heart in such a way that I could literally feel the pain in his words, and see it in his eyes. 

I feel so immensely thankful for a warm bed tonight. Not just my bed, but I have comfort! I have pillows, blankets, and warmth. I often categorize myself as poor, but I'm not really poor at all. I have always had shelter, always food to eat, always people to love and people that love me back. I've never been alone.

Now, I can remember times we had little. I remember one time, when we were so low on food that I had to make homemade noodles out of the little bit of flour we had left. That was dinner. There was also, one early spring when our power was shut off for 4 days, because we couldn't pay the bill. Those were some really cold nights. We all slept dressed in several layers and many blanks all huddled together in the living room. Oh yes, and the time our water was shut off for about a week. That was a very smelly week if you know what I mean! Ha! But seriously, those small situations are NOTHING, compared to what some people face.  

I don't even feel worthy to talk about our situation when so many others are facing so much worse. God says we need to be thinking about these people, and caring for them, and more than that, respecting them!

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 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.” 

Luke‬ ‭14‬:‭12-14‬

Every time I come across this verse I feel so convicted. I don't really have a place to host dinner parties as of right now, but when I did have a home, I definitely only ever invited my friends and family. I know this is a tough one, but what if we invited people who we know just need a night to be loved? People who are needy physically or spiritually? What impact could this have on their life AND yours? What if we actually treated these people as if they really were Jesus? 

“The King 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.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 

Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭40-45‬ 

I am guilty of not caring like I should for those in need around me. It's so easy to get caught up in living life and to just be blind to it all. 

I got to see first hand some of these people last year when my husband stayed at the rescue mission for a couple months. The guys there are real people, with real hearts and real needs. Some them are there from job loss, disability, some are battling addictions, some just have no where to go. They are men with hearts and dreams and they just want to be ok.

The purpose of writing this, is not to make anyone feel guilty that they haven't given their money or time to the needy; no, God never wants us to act on guilt, but instead, I pray that these words would stir something new and different in our hearts. Something that would compel us to be more giving, quicker to help, and slower to judge. No gift is too small, no amount of time is too little, and every prayer is powerful!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20-21‬

"the blessing is not contingent on your performance"

Don't we all want blessings? Of course we do! We want to know that everything's going to be ok in the midst of this dark and broken world. We have pictures and ideas in our heads of how our lives should look. Those ideas are what we believe will bring us happiness and comfort. 

I definitely have always had certain ideas and dreams about how my life should look in order to be thriving. Nevertheless, my life is nothing even close to that picture I once had. At the age of 33 I find myself homeless with 5 kids for an entire year now. My marriage has suffered with deep heart wounds. My husbands addiction to alcohol almost completely destroyed us. These are just a few of the many life altering issues we have faced. Through it all, I have always believed, that my life was this way because I had missed the mark. I would try to rationalize my seemingly many punishments for the poor choices I had made. I kept telling myself that if I could just follow Jesus completely, I would surely reap the rewards and lift this curse I've been under. I was always trying to earn my blessing. 

It wasn't until recently that God spoke to my heart about earning a blessing. I had been trying so hard to follow Him completely. I was doing well. Very well actually. Everything seemed to be glorious in my walk with Jesus. I felt closer to him than I ever had. So naturally, I had been expecting a blessing (or two). I had made a plan to pray a certain amount each day, and do other various spiritual rituals until the blessing would come. Well let me tell you, that must have made the enemy very angry because everything started to go wrong. I was being nailed left and right and I eventually fell. I was so disappointed in myself. I thought that there was no way of getting to my goal now. I had fell flat on my face just when I thought I was strong. 

1 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭12‬
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 

I fell right into the trap. I was devastated. I hated myself. I hated my sinful nature. It sent me into a time of deep repentance, but also horrible feelings about myself. The next day, as I was driving and in tears over the situation, I was telling God about how wretched a person I was; and how sad I was that I had jeopardized this great blessing and opportunity for me to share the story it would have been. At that moment I heard a soft sweet whisper in my heart that said 

"the blessing is not contingent on your performance". 

The peace that filled my soul was beyond understanding. The warm loving grace of a father perfectly righteous in all His ways was overwhelming. 

This is a perfect picture of the gospel. God wanted me AND YOU to see the correlation in this truth to HIS ultimate sacrifice and grace through his son. 

There is nothing we can do to earn salvation, nothing. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ 

And yet, all the while, we still fall prey to this everyday. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that people believe if they try really hard, pray more, go to church more, and if they try to do the right things, that's when God will gift them eternal life. Let me put it this way; a lot of people tend to think that if they can just change their heart a little, and get it to a place where they truly want God, then He comes in and does the rest. Isn't that still trying to earn your salvation? 

God says there is not a single thing we can do to merit this gift. We aren't even capable of wanting God at all if he didn't draw us to him. 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." John‬ ‭6‬:‭44‬  

What beautiful truths in this verse! I am so thankful for a God who draws us to him. I can rest more easily knowing that I can't un-earn my salvation, and therefore I can't un-earn the blessings God already has in place for my life. 

I hope you have found this encouraging and if you've never accepted Jesus to received His unmerited favor, now is the time my friend.

Maybe you've been trying to earn Gods favor, and earn your way to eternal life. If that's the case, then I hope and pray you see that it is not of yourself, but only through faith that you can be justified in Gods sight. 

You see, Jesus came so that he could live this perfect sinless life that we should have lived to earn salvation. He already earned it for us when he died an innocent death to take our punishment. All you have to do is believe that he came and died for you, so that you wouldn't have to. He freely gives his perfect validating record to anyone who asks. Gods word says that all we need to do is believe and repent and His free gift will fall on you and can never be taken away! How awesome is that???!!!! If you have any questions I would love to hear from you! Have a wonderful day/evening!! 

Much love,
Elizabeth