30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 21 25-28 WATCH AND PRAY IV 07 Luke 21 27 Blessed to be a blessing to others
📖 Luke 21:25-28
*FRIEND OF GOD*
11Jun2021 - *Blessed to be a blessing to others* - _Luke 21:25-28_ - WATCH AND PRAY IV (07) – Bible reading: _I John 3:17-19_
The Lord has made known to us His expectations. We can only meet the expectations of God in the enablement and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
We are here, not just to be worried about ourselves but to be concerned for people around us. Learning that loving God and loving people need to go hand in hand.
_Luke 21:27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with *power and great glory*._
_Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then *He will sit on the throne of His glory*.
The requirements that God has of us is clarified to us.
_Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE. (30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' This is the first commandment. (31) And *the second, like it, is this: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF*.' There is no other commandment greater than these."_
The law consists of two parts, both are on the same plane. There is no hierarchy here. Loving God and loving man, go hand in hand.
_I John 3:17-19 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, *let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth*. (19) And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him._
It is important not to shut up our hearts to the needs of people around us. We must ask the Lord to give us a heart that is willing and ready to give and share to meet the needs of people. The Lord will place in our hearts what He desires for us to do and we need to follow through on His will that He places upon us.
We now see the details of the judgement that is to take place, when the Lord is seated on His throne.
(32) All the nations will be gathered before Him, and *He will separate them one from another*, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
What will be the basis of this separation?
_Matthew 25:33-34 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. (34) Then the King will say to those on His right hand, '*Come, you blessed of My Father*, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:_
*The blessing of God must always be seen as us becoming a blessing to others*. The blessing of God is not just that we are taken care of and our needs met but the blessing of God is of how much our life is a channel and conduit for the blessing of God to flow through us, blessing others around us.
This is how God created us to be from the beginning that we will be concerned for others and for the welfare of others. *God intended us to be a community under Him, caring for each other and building up each other*.
This is where each of our personality grows to full maturity as we nurture others. When we are inward-looking, only looking for God’s blessing on us, we will be anxious, worried, full of complaints, sick, tired, weary and we will disintegrate.
_Matthew 25:35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;_
This is not about the actions. Actions and activities are important. The actual action that we may execute for others may be insignificant but it was what the Holy Spirit prompted us to do and we obeyed. No one may even notice the action that we had undertaken but it is not missed in God’s eyes.
_Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'_
Mat 25:41-42 "Then He will also say *to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed*, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: (42) for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
This is frightening. When we do not see that we are blessed in order to be a blessing but instead we only see how good God has been to me/us, then the verdict at the judgment will be damnation.
The teaching and the preaching that we have been receiving for the last 2-3 decades has been all about how good God has been to me and my family and how much He has blessed me/us.
Being blessed never stops with us. *The blessing of God is in being a blessing to others*.
*If we keep all the goodness of God for ourselves and we are thinking only of our own well being then we are cursed*.
_Matthew 25:45-46 Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' (46) And these will go away into everlasting punishment, *but the righteous into eternal life*."
*Righteousness, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is about being a blessing to those around us*.
_Galatians 5:13-14 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but *through love serve one another*. (14) For *all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF*."_
_Romans 13:8-10 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law._
He who loves another has met the requirements of the law.
_(9) For the commandments, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER," "YOU SHALL NOT STEAL," "YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS," "YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "*YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF*." (10) *Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law*.
*Thought to ponder*
```May we be called blessed by the Lord since we have been a blessing to others.```