Called To Bless

James 2:14,15 & 16

A few weeks back the Lord dropped a thought into my spirit and it is the following “For too long my people have been asking me to bless those that are in need, they have been asking me to provide for them, to give to them, to feed them, to heal them etc, but I am asking you now (The body of Christ) to go and bless them”.

I thought about that statement for a moment and realized that for the most part, the western Church has been guilty of such. We are blessed with so much in this nation of Australia, so much wealth, there is no lack of food, housing, cars, clothes etc. But yet so many people around us even in this nation and many around the world at this very moment are lacking the basic needs to live normal life. What we take for granted they take it as precious. Firstly the Church has been called to provide the most important need for mankind which is the saving of the soul, and secondly we have been called to provide for the physical and material need of man. The Bible says in James 2:15-18 “If a Brother or Sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit? Even so Faith, if it have not works, is dead being alone”.

We can say to those in need of physical things “Go in Peace” in other words God bless you,  but if we do not  get of what we have and give to them and bless them with substance, then God asks the question in this verse “What does it profit?”. What God is saying here is, that our expression of “God bless you”, that is in word only is not good enough in His eyes. He calls that faith without works, which is a dead faith. What a challenge for the 21st century church of our nation. Unfortunately we do not want to be inconvenienced by the needs of other people. We even  find it hard to go to church in this nation, we find it hard to praise and worship God for more than 40 minutes and if the service goes more than 2 hours we feel it has eaten up to much of our leisure time, we want a Christianity that does not inconvenience ME. Sadly much of western Christianity has become ego centric, as long as I am comfortable in this life and going to heaven when I die I am happy. Beloved God is not pleased with this, there is a calling and a cry from His heart, to get serious about His work on the earth and get serious about the lost and hurting, lets get serious about what God is serious about.

The word of God says in Mathew 35-40 “For i was hungry, and you gave Me meat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in, Naked and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; i was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying Lord when did  we see you hungry, and fed you? Or thirsty and gave you drink? When saw we you a stranger, and took you in? Or naked and clothed you? Or when did we see sick, or in prison and came unto you?

And the King (Jesus) shall answer and say unto them, Verily i say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me”.

May you and I look for opportunities to bless those in need not only with the Gospel but with whatever we have in our hands. Amen.

Pastor Esteban San Martin