Are You on the Right Side?

Good morning to all on this Tuesday morning! Waine and I will be heading back to Atlanta today so please pray for our traveling mercies. We left a very sleepy Kai and his family last night and I am already missing Kai and the Princess Hailie. We had a chance to catch up with friends on Sunday night, Jesse and Wilma McGee, who were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. It was great to be with our friends and catch up on old times. Please continue to pray for ET and his family. Pray that God continues to work mightily through ET's faith and will give him healing and peace. God is God every day and is in control!

I am continuing my journey through Matthew 25, verses 31-46 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers 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, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Amen and amen!

If you truly read this passage, the sheep actually separated themselves from the goats--or the folk that bear spiritual fruits separated themselves from those that do not. The people Jesus are describing as "sheep" are those among us that have an "attitude" of service and a heart full of love and kindness because they bear the fruits of the spirit. Yesterday I was on an airplane. The last two people to get on were a woman and her child. There were only two  middle seats left the one next to me and the one behind me. The woman was encouraging her child to sit in the one behind the row we were in and the child was obviously not comfortable with that arrangement. I was sitting there deciding I would give up my aisle seat so that the woman and child could sit together but before I could the gentleman behind me gave up his. I was convicted and I knew I was wrong for waiting to be kind. We should never wait to be kind to others; my spirit responded immediately with the correct thing to do but my flesh was weak and slow. I was being a goat and not the sheep. Sheep respond without thinking; they just follow.

As Christians, we all know the right thing to do--our Spirit is responsive to Christ 100% of the time. You have to  kill this old flesh daily so that  Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love and Obedience can shine through. The man who gave up his seat did more to convict me with his actions then a thousands words could have and I felt ashamed. I am determined to respond to the Spirit today and not my flesh. Remember that the world will know us by our Spirit and works. Kingdom building is about both. Love someone today that you feel doesn't deserve love; send out to that person what you would like in return and reap your rewards. When you pray for ET you are praying for yourselves.

Stephanie