“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness And his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work, Who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house with spacious chambers, And cut out windows for it, Paneling it with cedar And painting it with vermilion.’ “Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; Then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?” says the LORD. “Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, For shedding innocent blood, And practicing oppression and violence.”
Memory verse: “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”I John 4:20
Let’s start with statistics this morning, the internet records that Jesus Christ has over 2 Billion followers; that’s huge right? I thought so too but most importantly some countries have a population of over 80 Million Christians with the least of the top 25 countries recording over 24 Million. In 2020 Wiki recorded Christians as making up approximately 31% of overall religious group in the world.
With all the analysis done and the numbers recorded, it’s clear that the name of Jesus has the greatest number of followers and if Jesus had a Twitter account, He would have won an award for being the most talked about in the world but a very important question is why do you follow Jesus and what is the impact of your followership?
There is a difference between been called a Christian and actually being a Christian. People are called Christians for various reasons with one of them being that they were born into Christian homes but when they grow, there is then an opportunity to be a Christian. Christianity is by choice and for you to be officially part, you need to pledge your allegiance to it, not inherit it.
Likewise, Christianity is not a title that could just be held onto because with that title comes the responsibility of knowing, loving and doing God’s will. It’s impossible to be an actual Christian and continue to enjoy the world and treating others wrong but this seem to be the norm in the world we live in today.
Jesus has given us some useful information on how he will separate His followers from named Christians and apart from declaring Him as a personal Lord and savior and renouncing the world’s sinful nature, He said on the last day, His response to the genuine follower will be “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me” Read Matthew 25:35-40.
Love is the foundation of Christianity and the evidence is in the action.
PRAYERS
- Father I thank you for the start of another wonderful day full of your love
- I am grateful for your kindness and for all that you do for me
- I invite you to be the centre of my all, help me to love you unconditionally and obey your teachings.
- Help me to love my neighbors as myself
- Have mercy upon me Lord, forgive all my wickedness and help me to cease from them
- Let your love occupy my heart Lord and let me live my life for you alone.
- Thank you for qualifying me through your blood on Calvary Cross
- Thank you for giving me dominion and power to conquer
- Help me Lord to run the race till the end and not lose my crown.
- Forgive me Lord of all my iniquities, bless me abundantly and make me a blessing unto others, in Jesus mighty name I pray, Amen
