Welcome to Spirit Bread
Spiritual Bread for the Spirit Bred
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
SPIRIT BREAD WEEKLY
TAKING CARE OF JESUS
By Jerry D. Ousley
By Jerry D. Ousley
Taking Care of Jesus
By Jerry D. Ousley
That sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? I mean, most of us have the impression that He’s supposed to be taking care of us … right? To explain, we need to read the account as Jesus gave it in Matthew 25. First of all, this chapter is an extension of chapter 24, where the disciples had asked Jesus about the end of time. In these two chapters Jesus spoke some fantastic and some scary things. Things that, frankly, we are experiencing right now. In chapter 25 He spoke several parables that describe these events and the coming of Christ.
In verses 31-46 we read where, when the Son of man (a name Jesus used in reference to Himself) returns with the angelic armies of Heaven, and He sits on His throne to rule the Earth like no other king, commander, dictator, president or ruler before Him, one of the first things He is going to do is what most theologians have labeled the “Judgment of the Nations.” Now, I don’t claim to be a theologian. I can’t speak Greek or Hebrew. But I do know how to look things up. We may be living in the last days, but technology has provided some marvelous study tools we can use. And so I did a little word study on the Greek word used for “nations.” It’s a word pronounced in English as “ethnE.” Paul used it in description of the word “Gentiles,” referring to anyone who wasn’t a Jew. It literally means “a multitude.” Now, it could be interpreted as nations, or a tribe, or a company of people. The point I want to make here is that the message Jesus was telling us wasn’t referring necessarily to individual nations, like the United States, or Canada, but to all the people of the world.
The picture is that when He returns, all those still living on the planet will be gathered before Him. He will then separate them like a shepherd would set apart the sheep from the goats, the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left. He will then turn to those at His right hand and tell them, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” All those He spoke to will answer, in my own words, “When did we do that? You are the Christ, the Master, the King of kings. How could we have possibly done those things for You?” He answered, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” WOW!
Of course then, those on the left heard, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.” OH NO!
They answered, “What? When did that happen? We wouldn’t do a thing like that!” (My own words again). His answer? Because you didn’t do it to these, My brethren, you didn’t do it for Me.”
That sounds like works, doesn’t it? It sounds like that if we don’t do good deeds to our fellow man, we won’t make it to Heaven. But Paul wrote that all we have to do to be saved is to believe in the sacrifice Jesus did for us by His grace. So, what’s the deal? What’s with that?
The answer is simple. We are saved only by grace. Any good thing that comes from us as the natural man, the one born to this world, the one that may have a kind heart and a willing mind to help others, unless that desire is birthed from the heart of one regenerated by Christ, then it is just a good work. It a good deed, don’t get me wrong. It is praiseworthy to say the least. But it won’t get you into the Kingdom of God.
On the other hand, one who is truly born again, who has without a doubt applied the grace of God through Jesus Christ, to his heart, will want to do good things for others. When we don’t, the Holy Spirit in us won’t leave us alone until we do what we know is the right thing to do.
Let me give you an example from my own stubborn heart. Like many of you, I grew up poor. I didn’t know I was poor because my parents kept that from me. I had a wonderful childhood and memories I wouldn’t exchange for anything. But we didn’t have all the latest gadgets and toys. As I grew up and became a man, my “toy” desire changed from things to play with to things to work with. I had always wanted a battery powered chain saw. I could never afford it. But now, in my old age, when all the debt is paid off and there’s extra money for the occasional power tool toy, I was able to get one. I don’t use it much because, frankly, the older I get the less I’m able to do. But if I need it, I’ve got it. Mostly it just hangs in its place in the garage, looking pretty and maybe to some, impressive. I’m glad to have my “toys” and because I could never have them when I was younger, I suppose I’m a bit selfish with them. I know what can happen when you loan out tools, so I don’t make a practice of doing that.
But the other day, a young couple asked to borrow my chain saw. I explained that I didn’t mean to be selfish, but I just didn’t make it a practice of loaning out my power tools. Then I found out that they were cleaning up a yard for an elderly man with a terrible sickness who couldn’t take care of it himself. The city had given him a date to get it cleaned up or face a high fine which, of course, he couldn’t pay. He couldn’t afford to pay someone to clean up his yard so it stands to reason that he couldn’t afford to pay a huge fine. So this young couple was doing all this hard yard work for free. Several scrub trees had grown up in the yard that had to be cut down, and since I wasn’t going to loan them my chain saw, they were going to use a saw and cut them down by hand, the hard way.
Well, let me tell you, the Holy Spirit hit me hard in the heart. Here I had the tool that they could use to take those trees down in a matter of an hour or two, and because I was being selfish, they were going to have to do it the hard way. The Holy Spirit wouldn’t leave me alone. I knew that it was going to be a sleepless night otherwise, so I called them and told them I had changed my mind and that the Holy Spirit wanted me to let them use my chainsaw. Don’t give me any credit; it was all God, not me. I’m selfish!
Friends, that is just a small, minor example. As believers in Christ, we are to be filled with good works, not to get us in to Heaven but because that’s what Jesus would do. He would risk getting leprosy by touching the leper and commanding it to go away. He would risk being arrested for healing on the Sabbath day, because a need was right there in front of Him. He would allow Himself to be stretched out and nailed to a cross for the sin of all the nations!
So, I suppose doing those things for others, being there when someone else is in need, that is taking care of Jesus. There’s a lot of need in this world. Of course, you, or me, we can’t take care of it all. But we can do what the Holy Spirit urges us to do, if we will be open and honest with ourselves and take the time to listen to Him. That is taking care of Jesus.
By Jerry D. Ousley
That sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? I mean, most of us have the impression that He’s supposed to be taking care of us … right? To explain, we need to read the account as Jesus gave it in Matthew 25. First of all, this chapter is an extension of chapter 24, where the disciples had asked Jesus about the end of time. In these two chapters Jesus spoke some fantastic and some scary things. Things that, frankly, we are experiencing right now. In chapter 25 He spoke several parables that describe these events and the coming of Christ.
In verses 31-46 we read where, when the Son of man (a name Jesus used in reference to Himself) returns with the angelic armies of Heaven, and He sits on His throne to rule the Earth like no other king, commander, dictator, president or ruler before Him, one of the first things He is going to do is what most theologians have labeled the “Judgment of the Nations.” Now, I don’t claim to be a theologian. I can’t speak Greek or Hebrew. But I do know how to look things up. We may be living in the last days, but technology has provided some marvelous study tools we can use. And so I did a little word study on the Greek word used for “nations.” It’s a word pronounced in English as “ethnE.” Paul used it in description of the word “Gentiles,” referring to anyone who wasn’t a Jew. It literally means “a multitude.” Now, it could be interpreted as nations, or a tribe, or a company of people. The point I want to make here is that the message Jesus was telling us wasn’t referring necessarily to individual nations, like the United States, or Canada, but to all the people of the world.
The picture is that when He returns, all those still living on the planet will be gathered before Him. He will then separate them like a shepherd would set apart the sheep from the goats, the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left. He will then turn to those at His right hand and tell them, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” All those He spoke to will answer, in my own words, “When did we do that? You are the Christ, the Master, the King of kings. How could we have possibly done those things for You?” He answered, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” WOW!
Of course then, those on the left heard, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.” OH NO!
They answered, “What? When did that happen? We wouldn’t do a thing like that!” (My own words again). His answer? Because you didn’t do it to these, My brethren, you didn’t do it for Me.”
That sounds like works, doesn’t it? It sounds like that if we don’t do good deeds to our fellow man, we won’t make it to Heaven. But Paul wrote that all we have to do to be saved is to believe in the sacrifice Jesus did for us by His grace. So, what’s the deal? What’s with that?
The answer is simple. We are saved only by grace. Any good thing that comes from us as the natural man, the one born to this world, the one that may have a kind heart and a willing mind to help others, unless that desire is birthed from the heart of one regenerated by Christ, then it is just a good work. It a good deed, don’t get me wrong. It is praiseworthy to say the least. But it won’t get you into the Kingdom of God.
On the other hand, one who is truly born again, who has without a doubt applied the grace of God through Jesus Christ, to his heart, will want to do good things for others. When we don’t, the Holy Spirit in us won’t leave us alone until we do what we know is the right thing to do.
Let me give you an example from my own stubborn heart. Like many of you, I grew up poor. I didn’t know I was poor because my parents kept that from me. I had a wonderful childhood and memories I wouldn’t exchange for anything. But we didn’t have all the latest gadgets and toys. As I grew up and became a man, my “toy” desire changed from things to play with to things to work with. I had always wanted a battery powered chain saw. I could never afford it. But now, in my old age, when all the debt is paid off and there’s extra money for the occasional power tool toy, I was able to get one. I don’t use it much because, frankly, the older I get the less I’m able to do. But if I need it, I’ve got it. Mostly it just hangs in its place in the garage, looking pretty and maybe to some, impressive. I’m glad to have my “toys” and because I could never have them when I was younger, I suppose I’m a bit selfish with them. I know what can happen when you loan out tools, so I don’t make a practice of doing that.
But the other day, a young couple asked to borrow my chain saw. I explained that I didn’t mean to be selfish, but I just didn’t make it a practice of loaning out my power tools. Then I found out that they were cleaning up a yard for an elderly man with a terrible sickness who couldn’t take care of it himself. The city had given him a date to get it cleaned up or face a high fine which, of course, he couldn’t pay. He couldn’t afford to pay someone to clean up his yard so it stands to reason that he couldn’t afford to pay a huge fine. So this young couple was doing all this hard yard work for free. Several scrub trees had grown up in the yard that had to be cut down, and since I wasn’t going to loan them my chain saw, they were going to use a saw and cut them down by hand, the hard way.
Well, let me tell you, the Holy Spirit hit me hard in the heart. Here I had the tool that they could use to take those trees down in a matter of an hour or two, and because I was being selfish, they were going to have to do it the hard way. The Holy Spirit wouldn’t leave me alone. I knew that it was going to be a sleepless night otherwise, so I called them and told them I had changed my mind and that the Holy Spirit wanted me to let them use my chainsaw. Don’t give me any credit; it was all God, not me. I’m selfish!
Friends, that is just a small, minor example. As believers in Christ, we are to be filled with good works, not to get us in to Heaven but because that’s what Jesus would do. He would risk getting leprosy by touching the leper and commanding it to go away. He would risk being arrested for healing on the Sabbath day, because a need was right there in front of Him. He would allow Himself to be stretched out and nailed to a cross for the sin of all the nations!
So, I suppose doing those things for others, being there when someone else is in need, that is taking care of Jesus. There’s a lot of need in this world. Of course, you, or me, we can’t take care of it all. But we can do what the Holy Spirit urges us to do, if we will be open and honest with ourselves and take the time to listen to Him. That is taking care of Jesus.