KHANDIE'S KORNER - October 31, 2004 | |
Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes | |
This Weeks Message- (scripture taken from King James Version) "A HEART FOR THE LOST" Then
drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying,
This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And
he spake this parable unto them saying, What man of you, having an
hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the
wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his
shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh hom,
he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I
have found my sheep which was lost. I say
unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, MORE
than over the ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if
she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till
she find it? And when she hath found it, she
calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found
the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I
say unto you, thee is joy in the presence of the angels of God over ONE sinner that
repenteth (Luke
15:1-10) Those
who are called into the office of evangelism, who possess the heart of Christ
and are consumed by his love understands what it means to have A Heart for The Lost. For this was the teaching of our Lord in that he
not only taught but demonstrated in his actions Love, Mercy, Compassion, Grace and
Forgiveness. Every
professing believer should possess these VERY SAME qualities as well, and
demonstrate the LOVE of Christ Jesus our Lord by reaching out to those whove yet to
know and receive Him. This is not a task that
should be left up to ONLY Pastors and Teachers, Prophets, Apostles, and Evangelists as
EVERYONE who profess to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior can and SHOULD be
an effective witness of his grace and mercy to one whos lost. This is an assignment for EVERY Christian, but
sadly every believer does not have A Heart
for The Lost, even though they themselves was once lost and doomed for eternal
damnation. How very selfish and disgraceful
is this in the eyes of The Lord. In
the above scripture passages, the Lord shares a parable of seeking that which was lost. In this parable, it is not difficult to understand
its meaning with reference to one who is lost in this world and is found
by the Lord. The Lord declares this of such a
one, that there is joy in heaven, joy in the presence of the angels of God, over ONE
sinner who repents MORE than of ninety nine who need no repentance. While reading these passages of scripture, two
thing stood out more than all the rest to me. The
first was that sinners DREW NEAR Him to HEAR Him and the second
was that the Pharisees and Scribes murmured AGAINST the Lord for RECEIVING
them. What I found most interesting in these
passages of scripture was first THEY (the publican and sinners) DREW NEAR HIM to HEAR HIM,
indicating that what he was sharing was so effective and shared in such a way that it
caught their attention. Rather than run away
from him, they ran TO him to hear his speech that would inevitably change the course of
their lives. The Lords words then came
to me: Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and GREATER works than these shall he do;
because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12) I had to wonder what was preventing the
church today from doing these GREATER WORKS, and why is the speech of the
church LESS effective in drawing publican and sinners to the Lord, and MORE
effective in seemingly pushing them away. In
other words, what are WE (the body of Christ) doing that differs from The Lord to the
point of being ineffective to the unbeliever. When
many read the above verse (John 14:12), it is assumed the Lord is speaking of
outward tangible works such as healing, deliverance and such but this is not
what hes referring to at all since there is NO healing, or deliverance that could be
GREATER than what the Lord has ALREADY done, even to the point of raising the dead. What he is referring to is the ability to cause an
INWARD change in the heart of an unbeliever THROUGH our testimony of Him which can ONLY be
done by the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! THIS
is the greater work! For he cannot testify of
himself thus WE are His witnesses and not through speech alone, but through the visible
testimony of change in our very lives which would be the evidence of his unfailing love,
mercy, and forgiveness. For once we were as
they (and some still are yet profess not to be) in that we openly, publicly and willfully
committed all manner of wickedness and evil. But,
being drawn to Him by the Power of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of a believer, we
were then able to spiritually see the ugliness of our sins and the beauty of His Love and
forgiveness to the point where we cry out in repentance, accept his gift of forgiveness
and salvation, and became a NEW creation in Him. From
there, we should then begin to live our lives as such, and become a witness to others of
the very one who CHANGED our lives by removing the darkness that once enveloped the heart,
and pouring in HIS light of Love. Using then
the power of the Holy Spirit, we can then become an effective witness of him to the
unbeliever that they may as we have, come out of the darkness into the Light. THIS, is the GREATER WORK! Thus, the church (Body of Christ) what we lack we
must gain, and the speech we once spoke must be changed IF we are NOT being an effective
witness of Him. For our lives should be lived
in such a way, that the unbeliever should be requesting of us saying what must I do
to be saved? The Lord shared his heart
with the sinner speaking the TRUTH in LOVE and receiving ANYONE who was willing to
listen, ANYONE who truly desired an inward change. The
church today however for the most part speaks to the lost in CONDEMNATION and expects one
to enter into the church ALREADY cleansed before RECEIVING from Christ, the inward
necessary CLEANSING. This is foolishness as
how can one enter in already perfect, while seeking to BE PER-FECTED! In
the days of old, such were labeled as Fire and Brimstone Preachers however the
Lord does NOT desire scare tactics and condemnation as the more one is told how WORHTLESS
they are, the LESS they will be desirous to hear the rest of your speech. NO, the Lord desires one to WILLINGLY come to him
seeing their need of salvation, and having an INWARD desire TO REPENT and receive His
loving forgiveness. THEY MUST SEE HIM, and
their NEED FOR HIM but how can they see this if the speech they hear is condemnation and
not truth delivered in LOVE! Now, there is a
difference on how we are to deal with a believer still bound by sin, as
opposed to a unbeliever for WILLFUL sin cannot remain in the Body (of Christ) and Must be
uprooted and plucked out for a little leaven, leavens the whole lump and one small
cancerous cell if left untreated will begin to spread and destroy the entire body. Therefore WILLFUL sin within the Body of Christ
must be dealt with, but again it must be done IN LOVE in order to be effective. The TRUTH must be boldly spoken, but not spoken as
to condemn but to bring the sinning brother or sister to repentance out of LOVE for
him/her. Unlike an unbeliever, the believer
should KNOW better, is without excuse since he/she proclaim acceptance of the Lord, HIS
WORD and commandments should also be etched in the heart and lives MUST demonstrate this. Otherwise, the witness of such a
believer is ineffective to the unbeliever.
Therefore, hate, division, strife, bitterness, unforgiveness, sexual perversion,
lying, cheating, fornication, adultery and the like MUST be removed from the Body of
Christ Jesus our Lord! These are visible
stains within the church for all to see and inevitably mock the name of The Lord. To be effective we must speak and live as HE, that
the unbeliever will not only HEAR and desire the speech, but SEE the inward change and
come, that they to may receive. The
other portion of the above scripture in Luke 15 that stood out to me was where the
Pharisees and Scribes murmured against the Lord for receiving the sinners as
they proclaimed: This man (speaking of
Jesus) receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
Here are the self-righteous, puff-up and prideful, arrogant and haughty,
unloving, uncaring, unmerciful know-it-alls in the church today for many have this very
same attitude towards those who receives openly and lovingly the unbeliever whos the
drug addict, the prostitute, the beggar, the murderer, the adulterer, the perverted, the
thief, the liar, and the like. Such would not
consider going to these who are lost and sharing with them the Love of Christ but yet will
condemn and murmur against another believer who would!
Did Christ not come to save that which was lost?
Did he give his life for a certain type of sinner or for ALL sinners! Is one sin more uglier, more worse than the other
or are ALL sins equal in spiritual destruction if it remains in the heart and life of an
individual. What makes the sin of pride and
hate less than the sin of a murderer, after all both have the ability to kill! And whats the difference in selling
ones body for profit as oppose to withholding the truth/peddling the gospel/and
selling your own soul for the same, both ways are sin EQUALLY! And how many adulterers do we have sitting in the
pews this day? Not just adultery against your
earthly husband or wife, but how many have played the harlot against the LORD who is the
HUSBAND of us ALL by rejecting His love and seeking other means of pleasure in this sinful
world to take his place. Anything that has
been placed in a position above HIM where IT receives all your attention/affection and
love is like committing adultery against him. Do
you think this is not sinful? Therefore, how
can we (the Church) label a sin as being so great that the sinner does NOT deserve to hear
there is a way of escape from their sins, and that way is through Jesus Christ our Lord. That he/she does not deserve the Love of the Lord
for their lives are too sinful and wicked. Have
we forgotten that we to are sinners as there is NONE (according to scripture) that is
good, NO NOT ONE, and ALL have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. What makes one who had sinned differ from one
whos still sinning is the one who once had, has since REPENTED! REPENTANCE is whats different in the life
of one vs. the other. BOTH are still sinners,
the difference is ONE has repented and received the Lords forgiveness and the other
has YET to do so but BOTH deserve the opportunity, even one who would be considered as
most wicked. Therefore, as the
Lords heart is for the lost, EVERY BELIEVER should have A Heart for The Lost as well,
especially remembering that we were once lost ourselves but have now been found. Everyone, deserves the opportunity to hear of the
Good News that there IS hope, there IS a way out of bondage, and it is ONLY
through Jesus Christ our Lord for HE IS the Way, the Truth and the LIFE! Allow
the Lord this day to begin developing within you a Heart for the Lost. See your neighbor as you once were and remember
how you felt when you had not Christ. The
Loneliness, the emptiness, the continual search to be filled and yet could find nothing in
this world feasible as only the Lord can heal the inward hunger. Have his love, his compassion, his mercy, towards
the lost as someone had for you. Someone had A Heart for The Lost, for you when you
were without direction and they stopped and shared with you the Gospel of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Now, go and do the same! Have A
Heart for The Lost I
Love you all so very much. Have a blessed
week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we
do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the
PRAISE! Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh,
May the peace of the Lord be with you today and always KhandieleseDaughter & Servant of the Lord God |
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