ODJ: loving Jesus
And the King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!” (v.40).
READ: Matthew 25:34-40
Jesus left earth long before we got here. And despite His alleged appearances over the years, none of us have seen Him. So how can we love someone whom we have never met?
Jesus addressed this issue the night before He died. He promised that He would return in the form of His Spirit to live with us forever. So in one sense Jesus isn’t gone, for He lives within us by the third person of the Trinity (John 14:16-19). The Spirit of Christ unites us to Jesus, opening our ears to hear His voice when we read Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:10-16) and helping us pray by praying alongside us “with groanings that cannot be expressed in words” (Romans 8:26).
Besides this Spirit-led communication, there is another, often overlooked way that we may love Jesus now. He told us that when we serve others we are also loving Him, for He personally receives every meal and cup of water, every open home, and every serving hand offered to “the least of these my brothers and sisters” (Matthew 25:34-40). Serving the poverty-stricken person before us is not as appealing as expressing our love directly to Jesus, but He assures us that it counts the same.
When the bubonic plague came to Wittenberg, Germany in 1527, many frightened pastors wanted to flee for their lives. But Martin Luther ordered them to remain in the city and care for the dying. He encouraged them with these words: “If you wish to serve Christ and to wait on Him, very well, you have your sick neighbor close at hand. Go to him and serve him, and you will surely find Christ in him . . . whoever wants to serve Christ in person would surely serve his neighbor as well.”
We don’t merely love Jesus and our neighbor, but we love Jesus by loving our neighbor. —Mike Wittmer
Not everyone who is kind to a neighbor also loves Jesus. What is unique about our service to others that makes it count as loving Him? Why is it important to love others and spend time alone with Jesus?
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Loading ...ODB: five people you meet in heaven
October 25, 2009
READ: 2 Corinthians 5:6-11
We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. —2 Corinthians 5:10
Mitch Albom, author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, said that he got the idea for his book when he speculated: What would heaven be like if it were a place where some of the people you impacted on earth explained your life when you met them in heaven?
Albom’s book does give insight into how we unintentionally affect others’ lives. But for the Christian, our ultimate joy in eternity does not stem from other people but from our Lord and Savior. Heaven is a real place that Jesus is now preparing for us. And when we get there, we’ll rejoice to meet the living Christ (John 14:2-3; 2 Peter 3:13).
This encounter with Jesus, however, will also include accountability for the life we lived on earth. Believers are told: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). His wise and just evaluation will show us how well we have loved God and our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40).
We don’t know who will be the first five people we meet in heaven. But we do know who the first One will be—the Lord Jesus. — Dennis Fisher
To be with Jesus forever is the sum of all happiness.
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