For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, butfew things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
– Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him! Fear the Lord, you His godly people, for those who fear Him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.
– Psalm 34:8-10 (NLT)
For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.
– Psalm 84:11 (NLT)
This is a comprehensive promise, and is such an assurance of the present comfort of the saints that, whatever they desire, and think they need, they may be sure that either Infinite Wisdom sees it is not good for them or Infinite Goodness will give it to them in due time. Let it be our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us everything that is good for us.
– Matthew Henry
“No good thing will He withheld,” but how is this true, when God oftentimes withholds riches and honors, and health of body from men, though they walk never so uprightly; we may therefore know that honors and riches and bodily strength, are none of God’s good things; they are of the number of things indifferent which God bestows promiscuously upon the just and unjust, as the rain to fall and the sun to shine. The good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience and the joy in the Holy Gost in this life; fruition of God’s presence, and the vision of His blessed face in the next, and these good things God never bestows upon the wicked, never withholds from the godly, and they are all cast up in one sum where it is said, “Blessed are the pure in heart (and such are only they that walk uprightly) for they shall see God.”
– Charles H. Spurgeon
For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
Trying to work for God without worshipping God results in joyless legalism. Work minus worship magnifies your will power not God’s worth. If you try to do things for God without delighting in God you bring dishonor upon God. Serving God without savoring God is lifeless and unreal.
– John Piper
We don’t serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted so we serve God. We don’t follow Him in order to be loved; we are loved so we follow Him.
– Neil T. Anderson
Make this your one purpose: to revere Him and serve Him faithfully with complete devotion because He has done great things for you.
– 1 Samuel 12:24 (VOICE)
To serve God, to love God, to enjoy God, is the sweetest freedom in the world.
– Thomas Watson
And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
You stepped up to me when I was young and flung open your coat so I could see what you carried.
You cooed, “I’ve got it all. Anything you want.”
You seemed nice enough. So I took a hit.
First it was popularity, which has taken approximately my whole life to come down from.
Then you let me sample pride, possessions, power. It was all so strong. It was all so intoxicating. You spun me around until I was too dizzy to look straight and you sent me on my way, “I’m all yours, baby. Live it up.”
I guess it could have worked but in my reeling stupor the Savior of this world grabbed me by the shoulders, He called my name. And I was, with great resolve, wholly His. The aroma of His love exposed the aroma of you, which smells mostly like rot.
He set me straight and showed me how truly upside down you are.
You put the best looking first and the least of these last. You pour accolades on the rich and devastate the poor. You invite the popular first. You hide the unwanted in the shadows.
But can I blame it all on you? You convinced me that it’s my life I need to save – and for a time I agreed.
But His call was so inside out. It was so fantastically right. It went something like this, “Let’s lose your life and go save so many others.”
….We must act.
We must allow Him to use our life for something greater than this world has to offer.
– Brianne McKoy
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.
– Matthew 16:25 (NLT)
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
– 1 John 3:16 (NLT)
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.
The truth of the Gospel works on so many levels. Though some will argue that God does not exist and that man is the highest form in the universe, they will still strive for a moral code. Challenge them to find a better moral code than that which is outlined in the New Testament. Ask them to compare it to the other systems of morals in the world: those of atheists, other religions, or political systems. You will have to know it well to spell it out, but have them compare the law of love to all other philosophical systems and challenge them to show you a better one. Ask them to come up with a better moral low than the Golden Rule of “Treat others the same way you would want them to treat you.” Ask them to show you a country where innovative breakthroughs emerge where Christians are not in the majority. Discuss the list of great scientists and achievers of all time and see how many of them were Christians or Jews or at least believe in God’s existence. Do the study yourself. Look at the top ten people of the last millennium and look at their beliefs and accomplishments. Newton, Gutenberg, Michelangelo, Luther, Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and others you will find on any list of important people of the last one thousand years. They all had tremendous faith in God. Look at nations that have tried to exist without God: the Soviet Union, China, Albania, Vietnam – which of these has been as successful as those that built their foundations on the laws of the Bible?
But then you will have to add that even though this is a great philosophy, it cannot work without its power source. Man has no motive to be “good” without gratitude to a Savior who granted they should not have to suffer of their own sins. Without the love of God in their hearts to motivate them to put the needs of others before themselves they will ultimately act selfishly despite what philosophies they hold on to. The views of Marx and Lenin sound like they are a solid formulation for heaven and earth, but their applications have brought more hell than any other. What brought this about? When those in power saw that they could do whatever they liked and tried to force others into a mold of service to the state, selfishness took over and whenever convenient they began to reword their philosophies to justify their own selfish desires. To free ourselves from cultural restraints to rise to a higher and better system seems a great idea, but such cultural revolutions in the Orient have done little but bathe their countries in blood.
– DC Talk & Rick Killian
For not only does sound reason direct us to refuse the guidance of those who do or teach anything wrong, but it is by all means vital for the lover of truth, regardless of the threat of death, to choose to do and say what is right even before saving his own life.
– Justin Martyr
For by whom has truth ever been discovered without God? By whom has God ever been found without christ? by whom has Christ ever been explored without the Holy Spirit? By whom has the Holy Spirit ever been attained without the mysterious gift of faith?
– Tertullian
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. the only way to the Father is through Me.
– John 14:6 (NCV)
He must increase, but I must decrease.
– John 3:30 (ESV)
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
The greatest test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it produces an increasing humility in us. In man, humility is the one thing needed to allow God’s holiness to dwell in him and shine through him. The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is lack of humility. The holiest will be the humblest.
– Andrew Murray
Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
– Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.
– Titus 3:2 (NLT)
If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.
In other translations – “love believes all things”.
Believes – Greek pisteuo = faith, trust, belief. In context it implies that love sees the best in others or gives the other person the benefit of the doubt, choosing to believe the best about them, not the worst…Paul is not saying that love is gullible and believes everything and does not exercise qualities such as wisdom and discernment…love will believe well of others unless convinced otherwise.
-Bruce Hurt
When love has no evidence, it believes the best. When the evidence is adverse, it hopes for the best. And when hopes are repeatedly disappointed, it still courageously waits.
-Robertson & Plummer
I’m thankful that my parents trusted me as a teenager; it made me want to live up to that trust. One of my friends had parents who did not trust him, and he lived up to their distrust! Sometimes you will get ripped off when you trust, but love persists in trusting.
– Steven Cole
You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
– Isaiah 26:3,4 (NIV)
People are not always trustworthy.
God is.
Instead of mulling over broken trust from the past,
Love protects in many different ways. Love protects from the harm of gossip from our own mouths or others’. Love protects physically, even to the point of giving up our lives for our loved ones if necessary -there is no greater love. Love protects by praying spiritual, emotional, and physical protection over a person. Love seeks to protect one’s marriage. Love steps up to protect the vulnerable. When dating, love protects the virtue of the other person. Love covers over a multitude of sins.
– Susie Stewart
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
– Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
– John 15:13 (NLT)
You are my hiding place. You will keep me out of trouble and envelop me with songs that remind me I am free.
– Psalm 32:7 (VOICE)
He who takes refuge in the shelter of the Most High
will be safe in the shadow of the Almighty.
He will say to the Eternal, “My shelter, my mighty fortress,
my God, I place all my trust in You.”
For He will rescue you from the snares set by your enemies who entrap you
and from deadly plagues.
Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers,
will protect you under His great wings;
His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.
You will not dread the terrors that haunt the night
or enemy arrows that fly in the day
Or the plagues that lurk in darkness
or the disasters that wreak havoc at noon.
A thousand may fall on your left,
ten thousand may die on your right,
but these horrors won’t come near you.
Only your eyes will witness
the punishment that awaits the evil,
but you will not suffer because of it.
For you made the Eternal [your] refuge,
the Most High your only home.
No evil will come to you;
plagues will be turned away at your door.
He will command His heavenly messengers to guard you,
to keep you safe in every way.
They will hold you up in their hands
so that you will not crash, or fall, or even graze your foot on a stone.
You will walk on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the lion and the serpent underfoot.
“Because He clings to Me in love,
I will rescue him from harm;
I will set him above danger.
Because he has known Me by name,
He will call on Me, and I will answer.
I’ll be with him through hard times;
I’ll rescue him and grant him honor.
I’ll reward him with many good years on this earth
and let him witness My salvation.”
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
– Romans 8:28 (NIV)
…we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
– Romans 8:28 (MSG)
And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP)
To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oak that the Lord has planted for His own glory.
Throughout history, an authentic faith has been marked by a compassionate response toward those the world tends to forget.
~ Gary L. Thomas
This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, “Here I am.”
– Isaiah 58:6-8 (MSG)
His is a loving, tender hand, full of sympathy and compassion.
– D.L. Moody
Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.
Susie Stewart 