KHANDIE'S KORNER - April 11, 2004 | |
Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes | |
This Weeks Message- (scripture taken from King James Version) BROTHERLY LOVE But as touching brotherly love ye need not that
I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to LOVE one another. And indeed ye
do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren,
that ye INCREASE more and more
(1st Thes 4:9-10) And
the Lord make you to INCREASE and ABOUND in LOVE one toward another,
and toward ALL MEN, even as we do toward you (1st Thes Paul,
in his letter to the church at Thessalonica acknowledges the love the brethren
had for one another there and for all in But
we, of the church, of the body of Christ this day, after thorough examination can we
honestly say that we are fulfilling the commandment of The Lord to LOVE? Let us search our hearts with ALL honesty and truth
for we have spoken the words, yet are we LIVING THEM?
Although there may be a remnant of those who WALK in this Love and teach
others the same (I PRAISE the Lord for this), yet there is still much space available to
INCREASE. As we open wide our hearts to be
filled with HIS unconditional love that we may unconditionally love others, permit me to
share with you this story from the heart of our Father to the ears of HIS children. There
was a man, who stood at the doors of the local place of worship faithfully every Sunday
morning. By all outward appearance he was
considered a beggar, yet he asked for nothing merely stood by the doors watching the men
and women enter in, and exit out. Those who
enter professed themselves to be children of the LIGHT, children of GOD,
BELIVERS on the MESSIAH and His spoken word and yet, they utter not one word of kindness
to the man at the door but rather ignore his very presence while inwardly desiring that he
would just go away. There were a few who would
out of courtesy smile and slip him a dollar or two in secret. However, it was quite obvious no one really wanted
him there. The one in leadership, the one who
was called to SHEPHERD the FLOCK spoke in secret to some of the sheep that hed wish
the man would simply leave, for his very presence said this leader, disrupts the
entire congregation, and his standing there in such shabby clothing, having the appearance
of a vagrant truly takes the beauty away from the building making our place of
worship less inviting to others who may want to come in for fellowship. Yet no one asked him to leave but rather believed
if they would simply ignore him, he would tire himself from coming and just would never
return. But, every Sunday morning there he
stood watching as they entered in and exited out. His
presence there began to irritate many within that congregation so much so, that some began
to outwardly express their bitterness in the form of hurtful words as theyd hope he
would no doubt overhear. For it was their
desire that if he overheard their unkind speech, it would anger him enough that he would
leave and never return again. One woman said
upon approaching the doors of the building: Now my Sunday is ruined, for who wants
to see this beggar just before entering our place of worship? Many laughed at her comment while others vehemently
agreed with her. Another said to those who
were considering giving him a handout: Give him nothing, those kind are
like dogs, when you give them a little theyll
just come back for more. He has two hands and two feet, let him work! Others would make no eye contact with him but
quickly would brush pass him in haste and obvious bitterness, into the place of worship. One man who happened to be the worship leader of
the church, quickly handed him a gospel tract and rushed inside the building. Yet he did this in secret for he feared what people
may think or say if they were to see him speaking to this kind of man. On the cover of the gospel tract the words were
written: Love one another as I have loved
you and then it read: Jesus Loves
You! and upon seeing these words the
man wept. One
Sunday morning, a very cold morning indeed, bundled up in the warmth of their coats and
jackets the congregation prepared to go to the morning service. They thought within themselves, surely that
beggar will not be here today for its too cold to just stand outside as he normally
does, and he obviously has no coat. I
dont think we will be seeing him today. Yet,
to their dismay there the man stood faithfully at the doors, although shivering from the
cold having no means of warmth, he yet still stood. As
the crowd entered into the doors, a young 10 year old boy stood looking at the man with
great compassion. While his mother stood
talking with a few others losing sight of the boy, he reached into his pocket and pulled
out the crisp $5.00 bill given to him by his grandmother that morning to place in the
offering plate. Without any thought he quickly
ran over to the man and fell into his arms, clutching him tightly. His mother never even noticed. He looked up at the man, and the man looked down at
him and began to weep. The boy asked him,
sir, why are you crying? and the
man replied My son, your love has given me warmth, Im no longer cold. The boy then lifted his hand that held the $5.00
dollar bill and said, Sir, this is all I have but maybe it is enough to get a bowl
of soup. Would you please accept this?
The man began to sob and at this the boys mother noticed her son standing there clutching
the arms of this beggar and she race over and snatched the child out of his arms. She rebuked her son for talking to
strangers, and commanded he not speak to the man ever again. She then pulled her son into the building and the
worship service began. While she
went to join the choir on the platform, the boys mind wandered back to the man
outside for to him, he had discovered a friend and he desired his friendship. Thus, while the choir sung their songs and the
congregation stood to worship and praise the Lord, the boy quietly
slipped away, and ran outside hoping with all his heart his new friend was still there. To his delight he was, and the man upon seeing the
child, his face lit up with joy! The boy ran
over and embraced again, and began to share with him all his childhood activities, daily
events and the things he was involved in. He
shared with him that hed just joined the softball team and that theyd made him
the catcher noting that he must practice a lot. He
told the man of his camping trip that hed just returned from and how hed seen
deer, rabbits, squirrels and frogs, and how he tried to even catch a frog but it kept
slipping away. The boy and man chuckled
together. For you see, all the man wanted was
for someone to stop and take notice of him and show him a little kindness and love, and
this young boy with such a heart of compassion had done so.
Well, on and on the boy shared with the man and the mans heart was filled
with joy unspeakable. Losing track of time,
the boy realized that hed been sitting there talking to the man almost the entire
time of Sundays service so he said to the man Forgive me sir, but I dont
wish to make my mother angry having slipped away, so Id better go back inside before
she notice Im not there. Thank you for
being my friend and listening to my stories. You
are the first person who listened to me and thought my stories were interesting. Thank you sir.
He gave the man a long embrace and whispered I love you. And the
man responded back
My son, I LOVE YOU.
and during the embrace the man secretly slipped the crisp $5.00 back
into the pocket of the boys coat. The
boy then entered into the building without ever being noticed gone by his mother. When the service was over, and all began to exit
the building, they noticed the man was gone and they all, EXCEPT for the boy, breathed a
sigh of relief and even gave praise to God for answered prayer in removing the
man from the doors of their building. When
the young boy and his mother arrived home, he raced upstairs to his room to hang his coat
when he then noticed the crisp $5.00 sticking halfway out the pocket. He pulled it out and saw these words: Thank you Christopher, I Love you my
son.. The boy stood there for a
moment wondering how the man knew his name, for they never formally introduced themselves
to one another, just began sharing as if they were friends that had been reunited. He said to himself that he would ask the man about
this the next Sunday morning. However, to his
disappointment and great sorrow, the man was not there and he never returned back to stand
at the doors of the local place of worship. Judgement
day arrived and ALL stood before the throne. Those
who were part of that local place of worship all stood proudly expecting to receive some
great reward from the Lord. While they looked
intently at the Light, they noted that seated at the throne, at the right hand of the
Father, was the very man who stood outside the doors of their place of worship. Yet, something was different about him. He no longer wore the shabby, dirty, clothing but
was clothed in a BRILLIANT WHITE ROBE which the
train of it stretch as far as the eye could see. He
was not unkept at all but was GLORIOUS! Some thought this cant be the same
man but yet they couldnt deny his face which was the very same face they
passed by every Sunday morning, but this face was RADIANT! He stretched out his hands and thats when
they all saw the Nail Prints, and in his feet were the print of the nails as well. Before he could say a word they all began to make
excuse for their behavior. Lord, they
said: If we only knew that it was you who stood at the doors. Surely we would have stopped and taken
notice. The Lord simply looked at them
with deep sadness. Then, the one whod
secretly given him the gospel tract said: Lord, surely I had compassion as I gave
you the gospel tract. And the Lord
replied: My son, you shared the tract but not the contents and you did it in secret
that none would think the worse of you. You
truly cared not for a mans soul THAT was YOUR TEST, and you did not pass. For if youd cared, you would have openly and
boldly shared with me the words written on the paper you so quickly shoved in my hand. The words read on your tract: Love one another as I
have loved you. My son, you gave me the tract,
but did not truly show me love. Then
another said, Lord, what about all the hard labor we did in that we had built great
buildings that we may all come together in worship and praise? But the Lord replied: There was much wrong in
your building for you focus so much in beautifying the outside, while inwardly you
remained empty and in need. It would have been
good to first FILL the inward, and the outward would then have taken care of itself. And even after your building was built, you did not
open your doors that ALL would come together in worship, but you selected a few and cast
out many. You did ALL THIS through your lack
of Love. Every Sunday I stood and watch, and NONE asked me in! Then another declared, Lord Ive given
tithes and offerings and have given to many charities and organizations, what about
this? And the Lord replied But How much LOVE did you give? How much time did you give? How much of YOURSELF did you give? How many times did you stop to share with another
who was hurting? Where was YOUR LOVE? Your money did not replace this, for I desired
MERCY and not sacrifice! After
hearing the Lords words they all wept, ALL except the young boy who had shown him
mercy, who had given him his heart of love. The
Lord opened his arms to the child, and he raced to them with great joy and gladness of
heart. And the Lord said to all standing about
You see this child? Out of your
thousands who entered through the doors of your building HE was the only one who stopped
and demonstrated unconditional love towards me. Even
when he was rebuked for doing so, he continued to remain compassionate and loving towards
me. He did not judge my physical appearance
nor was his heart fearful. But he shared his
heart with me, while you hardened yours. He
fellowshipped with me while you utterly ignored my very presence. He offered me food and means of warmth, while you
compared me as being like a dog. My
heart would break while I stood outside listening to your songs of worship and praise
towards me, and your sermons and declarations of love while knowing you truly did not love
me, for if you did you would have never passed me by every Sunday rejecting my love, and
rejecting my fellowship. Then looking upon the
child the Lord said Well done my son. For
you indeed loved the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and you indeed loved your
neighbor as yourself. The
child then said: Now I know how you knew my name when you wrote on the $5.00 bill
that you returned to my pocket. For you are
all knowing, all seeing, all powerful and I Love you Lord Jesus! And the Lord replied, My Son, I LOVE YOU
.UNCONDITIONALLY
as you loved me while I stood at the doors
. Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For
I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye
visited me not. Then shall they also answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it NOT to one of
the least of these, ye did it NOT to me. And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal. (Matt 25:41-46) BELOVED,
LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER: FOR LOVE IS OF GOD; AND EVERYONE THAT LOVETH IS
BORN OF GOD, AND KNOWETH GOD. (1st John 4:7) 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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