Hebrews 13
13 Keep loving each other like family. 2 Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. 3 Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. 4 Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. 5 Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.
In a Facebook posting was a urgent need by a couple to help them unload their moving van. A friend of mine and I showed up at their home at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning. As strange as this may seem I was invigorated the closer I traveled to their destination. I was listening to KTIS FM to some amazing worship songs when I realized I was actually using my spiritual gift of service! As I look back over my life it was those moments when I was helping someone in need that I completely felt like I was in the center of God's will for my life.
Grief has a way of causing us to being entrenched and inward focused. When we stay in this self centered position for long we allow ourselves to develop a cynical view of the world. We see the world as a very evil place, full of untrustworthy people and organizations. You can imagine that this entrenchment mentality really is not a healthy place to be for even a short period of time!
Which is one reason God desires us to look outward at the world by performing acts of service. In Hebrews we read in the following:'13 Keep loving each other like family. 2 Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. 3 Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. Again in verse five, Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.[a] 6 This is why we can confidently say,
The Lord is my helper,
and I won’t be afraid.
What can people do to me?[b]
Later on in that verse and this is the part that invigorates me and it goes like this: 13 So now, let’s go to him outside the camp, bearing his shame. 14 We don’t have a permanent city here, but rather we are looking for the city that is still to come.
I encourage you to look around you today and search for some way to meet the needs of those around you. As you do so you may discover, like me, a feeling of being more invigorated because God is using you in the lives of people around you. The more you reach out to the world around you, the more you will see the needs of others and the more peace you will feel just knowing that God is using your hands and your feet to meet the needs of others around you.
Grief has a way of causing us to being entrenched and inward focused. When we stay in this self centered position for long we allow ourselves to develop a cynical view of the world. We see the world as a very evil place, full of untrustworthy people and organizations. You can imagine that this entrenchment mentality really is not a healthy place to be for even a short period of time!
Which is one reason God desires us to look outward at the world by performing acts of service. In Hebrews we read in the following:'13 Keep loving each other like family. 2 Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. 3 Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. Again in verse five, Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.[a] 6 This is why we can confidently say,
The Lord is my helper,
and I won’t be afraid.
What can people do to me?[b]
Later on in that verse and this is the part that invigorates me and it goes like this: 13 So now, let’s go to him outside the camp, bearing his shame. 14 We don’t have a permanent city here, but rather we are looking for the city that is still to come.
15 So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. 16 Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.
The beautiful part of helping our brothers and sisters in need is we are honoring God because we are becoming the hands and feet of Jesus.
Finally, in a conversation with a friend I was reminded that in World war II there was a massive carpet bombing that decimated a city. When they toured the wreckage of a nearby cathedral they discovered a large statue of Jesus that formerly had arms and hands outstretched with the phrase 'come unto me those with heavy burdens'. They decided not to reattached the hands and arms in order to be reminded that we are the hands and feet of Jesus to meet the needs of the world.
The beautiful part of helping our brothers and sisters in need is we are honoring God because we are becoming the hands and feet of Jesus.
Finally, in a conversation with a friend I was reminded that in World war II there was a massive carpet bombing that decimated a city. When they toured the wreckage of a nearby cathedral they discovered a large statue of Jesus that formerly had arms and hands outstretched with the phrase 'come unto me those with heavy burdens'. They decided not to reattached the hands and arms in order to be reminded that we are the hands and feet of Jesus to meet the needs of the world.
I encourage you to look around you today and search for some way to meet the needs of those around you. As you do so you may discover, like me, a feeling of being more invigorated because God is using you in the lives of people around you. The more you reach out to the world around you, the more you will see the needs of others and the more peace you will feel just knowing that God is using your hands and your feet to meet the needs of others around you.
As far as my friends I helped yesterday just a few of us were able to empty the moving truck.
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