Mat 25:34 (NIV) Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” If you were to take a class on a certain subject, it would be important to make sure you were studying the right material. If you were preparing a dessert from scratch, you would want to follow the recipe to the letter. Since you are living the life that Jesus gave you, you need to be sure you are living it the way He designed it and you to live it. Jesus, in Matthew 25:34-40, tells you what He wants you to be doing while living on this planet.

Mat 25:35-36 (NIV) “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, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.” This assignment sounds simple enough, if Jesus wouldn’t put Himself in the senerio. How are Christians going to feed Him, give Him a drink, visit Him as a stranger, give clothes to Him, take care of Him when He is sick, or visit Him in prison? When you and everyone else are there, that will be the question.

Mat 25:37-39 (NIV) Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?” There are people who are trying to be a good Christian by reading their Bible, going to church, singing very worshipful and praising songs, reading good Christain books, and listening to sermons all week long; and, it is VERY important that they be doing all these things. But, this is the extent of their involvement with Jesus. They never reach out and help the hurting and needy around them.

Mat 25:40 (NIV) The King (Jesus) will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” When you pray and ask Jesus to help you reach out to people who are suffering like you are, you aren’t just being nice to them. Jesus actually sees it as you doing to for Him personally. Why would Jesus care so much about whether or not you help hurting people when you are hurting yourself? That’s the problem; everyone is hurting! As long as every hurting person goes around trying to get someone to help them, there will be no one to respond; because, everyone is hurting.

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, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me. Now that you know Jesus takes all your reaching out to other people personally, let Him show you what kind of personal acts He is looking for. He isn’t just looking for you reaching out to dramatic personal needs, He is just looking for you seeing someone who can’t help themselves with some human need. Obviously you can’t meet everyone who has a need that they can’t help themselves with. That is why you are praying and asking Jesus to guide you to the person that He wants you to reach out to.

Acts 10:38 (NIV) God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him. As people experience Jesus working through you helping them with their pains and needs that they can’t take care of themselves, it opens the door for you to share Jesus and all He has to offer. 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, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.

Your ability to help hurting people comes out of your spiritual power; without the mighty power of Jesus in your life, you won’t care, you won’t have the resources, and you will end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, doing and saying the wrong things to the wrong people. There are people who do a great job of fooling you into thinking they can’t help themselves. And, there are people who have a real need; but, Jesus wants someone else meeting that need. And, there are people that Jesus wants you to help; but, they struggle with letting people help them. You need to pray and ask Jesus to guide you in the direction He wants you to go.

Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. You need to be able to give to the right person, at the right time, with the right kind of help. They need you to be there when they need you. Jesus wants to give you the resources so you will have what you need. And, He wants to empower and train you so you will be ready to go as the needs arise.