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Word for Today - November 15, 2000 |
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Matthew
25:34-46 (KJV) |
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Then shall
the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye
gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye
took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me:
I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. |
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Then shall
the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed
thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed
thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto thee? And the
King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
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Reference Links: |
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Comments: |
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(All views expressed are those of Teresa
Christian alone, and not the views of any other business entity or church
affiliation) |
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Funny how that man in this picture looks so
much like my favorite evangelist, Billy Graham, huh? Anyway, you good Christians know this part
of scripture to heart, but below you will find an additional story that is so
neat, I will try to be brief in my commentary today. I picked this scripture because we are in
the month of Thanksgiving and of course the Christmas celebration to
follow. First, let me say to all you
men, God designed you as hunters, to go out and slay the fair gain for your
family (James 4:13-17). Yes, the Lord designated you for the role
most like his, provider. He raises up
women for the position as well, when there are no men who make themselves
available to His will. However, in
the Christian order of things, "you be da man" as it were. Now let me add this big detail, the man
was made in the image of God to be a representative of God here in the earth,
over all the other creatures who dwell in the earth, again "you be the
man"! (Genesis 1:28). The position of the female is subservient
only to the end that she was made from the man for the man to be comparable
to the man as a partner, helper. A
help meet (Genesis 2:18). She was made to give you, the man, a
comparable hand in meeting the task of being God and governor of the
earth. You are not alone in this task
and a real man knows this and is secure with this knowledge. She was not made a Squaw; sub-men and
blood killers like the lineage of Cain made women Squaws. That is why he ran off into the land of
Nod and tall grass (Genesis 4:16-19), to
forget the design and image he was made in and that is why he took two wives
or multiple wives so that there would be no need to honor either. A man cannot serve to masters (Matthew
6:24), he cannot be true to two voices of
doctrine nor can he be obligated to two provisions. One will suffer and be hated and the other will thrive, but a
house divided cannot stand (Mark 3:25). I can't go here right now on the man/woman or marriage thingy,
another page, later, okay. You gonna
have to print this one out anyway and sit on the toilet with it tonight, the
wisdom on these pages is not a full plate, it is a full platter, so try and
stay with me here. This is why, when
the Lord returns, He stays for a period on the earth doing first hand
training of men to be Gods and governors in the earth (Revelations
20:6).
What I don't want, is for the man to feel or become overwhelmed in
this giving and thanksgiving season because any should comprehend this whole
idea of breadwinner incorrectly. I
want the men of God to be encouraged by the fact that we, the women of God,
we godly women, "we got yo back baby". Oh yeah, you all gonna know all the Ebonics I know by the end
of this message today. Do not stress
at the overwhelming need of others in the world, the poor have been and will
always be with us; Christ Himself became poor that we might be rich (2
Corinthians 2:8).
The poor likewise are also our God given opportunity to exercise our
faith in God by demonstrating benevolence to a homeless world (John
12:8).
Take opportunity; fill a need and your paycheck will never read "out of work, or unemployed and homeless" (and
that is a lot of zeroes in that phrase).
Look not at your own limited resources and circumstance, look at the one
beneath you and then look to the one above all. Be not overly concerned about the little you have, because your
father in heaven is aware of your needs and is addressing them as we speak (Matthew
6:30-33).
Instead, go into your bigger barns and pull out that which rots on the
shelf and thieves rob you of (Matthew 6:19-20) and
bless one of the manifold opportunities before you. She works in your office and is paid the least. He delivers your packages and has yet
another child on the way. He made some
bad choices, got trapped in an addiction, lost his job, but now sees the
error of his ways. She is your wife's
sister, who married a deadbeat, now she struggles alone with those three
kids. He's retired now, but illness,
hospital stays and medical bills have broken him down, he lives down the
street from you, in that trailer park.
She's an unwed mother, whose own mother was disgusted with her and
kicked her out after she got pregnant at thirteen. She works at Burger King and goes to school for her GED at
night. You know I don't need to go
on, you can finish the next identifying sentence. The question is, will you pick her up tomorrow for work, the
co-worker with no car now. Will you
commit yourself to making sure as long as your car is running, you will go
the extra mile to pick her up and drop her off in the evenings. Will you inconvenience yourself and be
gods in the earth, representing Christ?
Will you be the Good Samaritan this year? I lean heavy on this area of giving during this time of year,
because I am a gift of God too, to some of you. I was homeless and the same man, who evicted me from the church
property, came to the shelter and then rented me his old home. You see, they had just move into their new
one. He stepped outside of the Church
confines to be Christ-like. When my
van was reposed, my own landlord called me at work and said "before you
go to another car dealer who will punish you with 24% interest charges, let's
check out these two privately owned used cars. With the second private car owner, the man wanted $3,300 and I
only had $500 for a down payment with Ugly Duckling. My landlord and his wife didn't even ask
me, they just agreed to stand in the gap for me, a child of God. My landlord asked the owner of the used
car, would he take $3,100. He did and
my landlord wrote out a check, purchased a new set of tires and told me to
pay him $75 with each paycheck. It
was me who picked up a stranger one night that informed me she was
hungry. I had no money myself, but I
had met this guy named Menendez. He
had purchased for me a sack lunch for my son needed for a school field
trip. I had just walked into this big
chain grocery store with a hope and a prayer in my hand and absolutely
nothing else. I asked him, the
cashier, Mr. Menendez if he would ask the manager to give me the food
necessary for the sack lunch today and I would return with food stamps as
soon as my application was processed.
Do you know anything about the lead time/process time on a new welfare
case from out of state? I do. It was almost five months before I got
food stamps from the government. He,
Menendez, he trusted me, a total strange in need with an outrageous
proposition. He didn't look
stupefied, he didn't even call the manager to the case, he took it upon
himself. He reached into his pockets
right there on the spot and purchased for me the items I had already pulled
off the shelf, believing in God to make provision as He had in the past. Menendez also gave me the address to his
church, Palm Valley. I was on my way
there when I picked up the young female stranger, you see I always trust God,
He always provides. I took her to
that church with me that cold November night, I told them of her situation
first. Just so happens, their youth
group was meeting there that night and they had hot food, cooked and being
served. The Lord killed two birds
with one stone that night. They
whisked her away into the youth group, then this angel-faced smiling young
senior pastor, Paul Covert approached my car with Dan, the youth pastor. They listened to my story and glanced at
one another still smiling. "Open
your trunk sister" Dan eagerly announced, as he and Paul began to fill
my trunk with turkey, ham, chicken and oh so many fixings that my car sank
when they had finished. Needless to
say I joined that church the following Sunday, I knew God had sent me
there. God always feeds His
followers, He is in the business of feeding the multitudes and we should be
too. My plan was to join a black
church that could minister in song so that on Sunday's I could bury my need
and pain underneath the music. But
instead, the Lord made me a gift of opportunity. When I saw Paul smiling pink-white face, I knew he was my blood
relative. Shucks, I said I would be
brief, sooooo sorry. My praise-thank
you Jesus list would become a best selling novel if I were to report the hand
of God in the person of individuals who understand the principle of
giving. |
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Let's see, the cast of star credits would
read in part, something like: Joel, Sharon, Theresa, Valerie, Mike,
Ginny, Paul, Dan, Steve, Laura, Linda, Andy, Reza, Ben, Charles, Brenda,
Javier, Chicken, Anthony, Teja, Myte, Ann, Hattie, Fred, E.C., Janet, Gwen,
Monna, John, Jeff, Mary, Diane, Jim, Elizabeth, Gladys, Pan, Marshall, Tina,
Brandon, Terry, Louise, Cathy, Willie and Mr. Stranger and Ms. Enemy just to
name one/tenth of them. The Lord has
taken the wealth of the wicked and placed it in my hands of His saints. The Lord will cause even your enemies to
be at peace with you and to bless you (Proverbs 16:7). I am still homeless, I don't yet have my
own home, but I am not homeless or begging bread (Psalms
37:25). I still live paycheck to paycheck as some
of you, but I have not had a need before the Lord unmet, the manna still
appears on the ground for my family and me each morning when I arise. No, I'm still not divorced. Yes, my husband did abandon our joint
responsibilities and has not contributed in over ten years. I have five children. How did I do it, how do I do it? I don't do it alone. I have never done it by myself. It was Jesus all the time; it just looked
like me. The Lord has many hands; all
the wealth in the world is really His.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and has a bank account in every
single bank in this world (Psalms 50:10). It was Jesus, it was the Lord, He did
it. I gave the Lord my last cup of
flour and oil. I gave over to the
Lord, my last hope and cry. I turned
over to the Lord, my will, reasoning and logic. Since then, my cabinets have never been bare and I did way
little to fill them, way little. I
have no skinny children and I'm still on a diet, this is praise to our
God. I must tell this story every
Thanksgiving season, just so some of you might put your hope in the right
basket. I tell this story in part, just to say thank you to the hands of God in
you listed above.
And tonight when I send this message, the unmentioned hands will raise
up in my memory. You see, I will not
ever forget when you clothe the Lord, cause I was witness to your good
works. It was me naked in the person
of Jesus. I will not forget when you
put food on Christ table and fed all of his followers, cause I witness your
good works first hand. It was me and
my children you fed in the person of Jesus.
I will not forget when you picked Jesus up out of the county jail that
early morning at four a.m., I was an eye-witness. It was me Paul, in the person Jesus Christ. I will never forget when you gave Jesus
that computer for His little ones, or the printer (even though you rest in
your grave Jim). I will not forget
the night you went to Jesus' house and hooked His system up, getting Him
online with this new technology and all.
You even gave Him free Internet service, I will not forget. No no my friends, I will not forget,
because I was an eye witness to your good works at the house of Jesus at my
address. Your good deeds will not go
un-rewarded. I will not forget how
you did not do a credit check or even demand of Him a long litigious
application. You rented Jesus without
pre-judging Him. I saw it myself, you
never charged Him a red penny for a security deposit, I know cause it was me
you rented to. You didn't even charge
Jesus extra when the kitchen burned down, you even has His phone turned on in
your name. I saw it myself. I can report how you even purchased Jesus
a car and lent Him another when His donkey got repossessed or broken down. I know cause it was my car problem. No, I will never forget the countless
dollars you lent Jesus and even gave to him sacrificially, because I am the
record keeper and it was to my account you extended your hard-earned
cash. I shall never forget, nor will
Jesus and He is the rewarder of them that do good deeds and seek after Him
and His will, such as you have (Hebrews 11:6). Seek ye first the kingdom of God, the
things pertaining to God, the will of God and everything else you need will
be added to your life; ain't that the way it goes? Be blessed, be a blessing and may your cup always run over till
the day you enter into heaven. Teresa Christian |
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Psalms 50:10 |
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for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a
thousand hills. |
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Reference
List |
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James 4:13-17 |
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Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will
go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not
what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord
will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin. |
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Genesis 1:28 |
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And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth. |
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Genesis 2:18 |
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And the LORD God said, It is not good that the
man should be alone; I will make him an help
meet for him. |
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Genesis 4:16-19 |
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So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and
lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to
Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son
Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and
Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael,
and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. |
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Matthew 6:24 |
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"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one
and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and
Money. |
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Mark 3:25 |
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If a house
is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. |
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Revelations 20:6 Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a
thousand years. |
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Revelations 5:10 |
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And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:
and we shall reign on the earth. |
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2 Corinthians 8:9 |
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For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. |
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John 12:8 |
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You will always have the poor among you, but you
will not always have me." |
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Matthew 6:30-33 |
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Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the
field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. |
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Matthew 6:19-20 |
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"Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. |
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Proverbs 16:7 |
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When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh
even his enemies to be at peace with him. |
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Psalms 37:25 |
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I was young and now I am old, yet I have never
seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging
bread. |
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Hebrews 11:6 |
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But without faith it is impossible to please
him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. |
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