I am posting chapters from my sister's book, "The End is near. End Time Bible Prophecy Anyone Can Understand." E.A. James. Available at lulu.com
Continued from previous post..
Faith & Deeds of the Christian.
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Blessed and holy
is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second
death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will
reign with Him for a thousand years. Rev.20:6
Faith & Deeds of the Christian.
So
where do deeds come into the picture?
When you fall in love with someone you desire to please that person, and
our love for Jesus will be no different.
The longer Jesus is in your life, the more you will know him and the
more you will love him and the more you will want to please him. So what is it that pleases Jesus? When asked what the greatest commandment was,
Jesus replied, …”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind”.
This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” (Matt.
22:37-39) Loving God and treating people
as we would want to be treated are the deeds for which we are judged. (See Matt. 25:31-46)
By ourselves we cannot
please Jesus, but he promises to help us personally, to give us the Holy Spirit
to help, and to cover us when we fall short.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He
may be with you forever… (John
14:16) …he who abides in Me and I in
him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5) …for
it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good
pleasure. (Phil. 2:13) …if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1
John 2:1) For we do not have a high
priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted
in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:15, 16)
“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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:34-40
Those who do not do these works are those whose hearts are hard. They are people who perhaps say they are Christians, but if Christ was in their hearts, they would do these kinds of works, for he puts this in our hearts. God will bring people into your life who need help. The Holy Spirit will whisper to us, "Help them." Not all of us do large or far-reaching good works, but the small kindnesses of life add up to a mighty river of righteousness.
