BS-14,
Lesson Point – ‘What you or I DO; we are to DO unto the Lord’
So, am I pleasing, even at times, Lord?
Question – 1. Have you ever had one of those bad days? Sometimes it seems that MURPHYS law has you almost defeated. Remember Job; he had a bad day; several of them. Who was it that wanted him to have a defeated life? ___. What did Job do when he landed in his situation?
Answer – In the book of Job 1:8-12, scripture tells us that Satan was and is still the one who deceives and tricks mankind; he has the power to cause bad things to happen to God’s people [that’s you and me]. The fallen angel, Lucifer KJV-Isaiah 14:12 or Satan, is at work here in our world today. Later, Satan even tried to deceive the Lord Jesus [God the Son] as written in Matthew 4:1-11; Note – scripture verses are below at the end.
What did Job DO? ___
Question – 2. Who provides the example we should follow??_____. What is the Word that Jesus uses in responding back to Satan in these verses?
Each of us have a difficult choice; to reject Satan’s deceitful attack or we can just go along with the secular crowd who care little what scripture proclaims. Many accept sin as a normal way of life. Then, sometimes we let our mind get stuck on a life challenge and we, Christ followers, can’t seem to get out of our own MUD hole.
What did Jesus DO? ___
Question-3. When I’m in the MUD hole; having a bad day; do I stay there or do I get out. Sometimes taking our mind off of our challenge and doing a good deed cures the trial of the day. So, what are we going to do about it? ___
Jesus tells us what to DO. Matthew 28:16-20, He tells us to go to others. The context in this passage is to proclaim the WORD or the Gospel, which is ‘the great commission’ and it is always important but he’s also told us to comfort the afflicted as well. Love for others comes into thought when you CARE for them; you comfort them.
Question-4. Do we CARE enough for others that we take a little time for them? There is scripture that speaks to me when I take time to read it. So I ask myself; Dale, am I a good steward unto the Lord? Do I give of myself? Do I give some time, some talent, or some treasure unto the Lord? Am I a sheep or am I a goat? A few lines of scripture that speaks to me is thought provoking. Here is one.
Matthew 25:31-46, 31 “But when the Son of Man [God the Son] comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations [PEOPLE] will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘COME, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 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; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see ‘You’ a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King [Jesus] will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ [Is that me? Do I give?]
41 “Then He [Jesus] will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These [goats or unrighteous] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Question-5. Do we visit or follow thru on some of the things the Lord talks about? Do we CARE enough to share a little of our time? How many of us want to hear Jesus use the word, COME, when he speaks to us? Below is scripture that speaks on the subject.
Colossians 3:22-24, 22 Slaves [i.e. Servants, Blue collar workers, Professionals, Christians], in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. [ Do what is right! ]
So, it looks like if we are DOING unto the Lord; it will be a heavenly reward. When we do something; [i.e. a good deed] unto the Mayor, a Neighbor, or even our Preacher it is an earthly reward; maybe its praise we expect as recognition for doing something. If we look for this, it is probably all we will get. So, think about the heavenly reward where you get Jesus approval, which will be for all eternity. Giving of yourself to someone and not expecting an ATTABOY for doing it; is doing it unto the Lord. [Ex. – Stephen’s Ministry, parking lot helper, or Nursery person.]
Question-6. When you are paid to do a task; it is a JOB. The paycheck is your reward. Do you think the person employing you expects you to do the work to the best of your ability; not being slothful? When you do a good deed; do you get the Lords blessing if it comes with a grumble or uncheerful attitude?
Conclusion,
So, what is ‘The Golden Rule’? Matthew 7:12
Do unto others as you would have others do to you… What would I want if I was in-need?
So, ‘what we DO; we DO unto the Lord, not for earthly praise.
***
Scripture
Job 1:8-12, 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. Vs.-7 Satan had been roaming & walking the earth…. [Satan, a powerful enemy]
Isaiah 14:12, KJV How thou have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground. You who weakened the nations. For you have said in your heart; I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God……… [Lucifer is a Latin translation for Satan.]
Matthew 4:1-11, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” [Satan knows scripture; he was in heaven with God.]
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
[Jesus defeated the foe that day; our example is to DO as Jesus did.]
WWJD should be our thought
DG