Do you know that the choices we make in this life affect what happens after we die? The day of judgement will come for all of us and God tells us that our rewards in the after-life will depend on the way we have lived in this life. “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.” Matthew 16:27

The Gift of Salvation from Jesus Christ

Salvation is not something we can earn. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:9

“He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our own works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time eternal.” 2 Timothy 1:9

“He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5

Jesus says,

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12

God gives us the gift of faith in His Son Jesus Christ who died to save us from our sins.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3: 16-18

Faith Without Works is Not True Faith

If we say we believe in Jesus but don’t live our faith is that true faith?

I think the answer is NO!

“But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” James 2: 18

“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” James 2:24

FAITH IN ACTION DETERMINES OUR ETERNAL REWARDS IN PARADISE!

Do you feel you are living your faith?

At the beginning of my spiritual journey I had a mystical encounter with God. I speak about it over and over again because I do not believe this grace was for me alone. God spoke to my heart and asked me this question: “What is love?” At the time I was not going to Church and I had never read the Bible and I answered “Love is a feeling.” To this God said, “wrong” in a quiet, gentle voice that spoke to my heart. So I asked, “What is it then?” And God said, “Love is a choice.”

Illumined by the power of the Holy Spirit I realized Jesus was saying we prove our love through the choices we make. Love is the choice that honours God and gives Him glory.

After this encounter I began to study the Bible. I immediately signed up for a “Learn the Bible” course offered by some Christians who were teaching the Bible on Saturday mornings to anyone that wanted to learn the Word of God.

I learned that Jesus wanted us to build “our treasure in heaven”.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20

I figured I had no treasure in heaven as I was not working on any charitable missions, so I thought I need to start doing some volunteer work and contributing to my community. I will confess to you that I began trying to ‘build my treasure in heaven’ with the same selfish disposition that had me ‘building up my bank account’. It was all about ME and my future rewards.

But God had a plan and guess who would be taken by surprise – ME!

As I began to volunteer in various capacities I began to suffer. I saw so many problems I didn’t know how to fix. I saw youth living on the streets and I wanted to ‘fix’ the problem. God kept showing me a new dimension of the problem. I remember meeting a young man who said to me “Do you do drugs?” “No” I said, “I don’t”. He said: “I never met a chick that didn’t do drugs! I do drugs with my mother on the weekend.” I was in my early 40’s at the time and I was struck that this young man was calling me a chick. I could have been his mother. I felt like a ‘mother hen’ that wanted to gather all these young people under my wings, “no more drugs – little ones!”

I am not sure when it happened, but at some point along the way of charity as I was trying to build my treasure in heaven, I forgot about myself. I began to be so happy just serving and helping and loving that I realized that the reward of pleasing people was enough.

God used every choice I made to teach me something. We went to the Caribbean to a beautiful Mexican resort and He arranged for a tour of the island. Guess what we saw? POVERTY! Horrible, ugly, miserable poverty! I remember driving around in this golf cart with my family seeing all of these beautiful Mexican people smiling at me living in conditions that were unacceptable. I told my husband “Stop the cart and give them some money!”

OK – STOP and think about your life. Enough about me, what about you? What are you doing now to show God you love Him?

“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.” Proverbs 28:27

Do you know that we have over 1.8 billion young people in the world between the ages of 10 and 24 and 90 per cent of them live in the developing world?

“There are more young people in the world than ever before, creating unprecedented potential for economic and social progress. Too many of these young people see their potential hindered by extreme poverty, discrimination or lack of information. But with proper investment in their education and opportunities, these young people’s ideas, ideals and innovations could transform the future.” http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2015/04/10-things-didnt-know-worlds-population/

If we don’t invest in the developing world, we will fail to invest in our youth and if we fail to invest in the leaders of the next generation, what will the world look like?

If we fail the world will be at war, economic injustice will breed social unrest, violence and war.

Our spiritual journey begins with FAITH that GIVE BIRTH TO A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS that WORKS AND BEARS FRUIT.

We cannot please God until we believe in Him and humble ourselves to surrender to Him and trust Him.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

Here is the mystery of what I learned over the last fifteen years of striving to walk with Jesus.

I learned that Jesus is the TREASURE IN HEAVEN! Living a life intimately and persistently connected with Jesus bears fruit because He lives in us, works in us and transforms our hearts and our lives and the hearts and lives of those we serve and touch.

If a woman marries a man because of what he can give her, is that true love?

Should the Bride of Christ love Jesus because of what He can give her or because of how much He loves her?

At the beginning of our spiritual journey we may draw close to God because of what He can give us, but that’s not true love, that’s selfish love.

I love this ‘old fashion story’ about true love. Let’s travel back in time to the 1800’s. There was a couple who loved each other very much and they each wanted to give the other a gift except they had no money. So the woman made a sacrifice and she had her beautiful long hair cut off so she could buy her husband a chain for his pocket watch. The husband decided to make a sacrifice and sell his pocket watch so he could buy his wife some hair combs for her beautiful long hair. The day came for the gift exchange. She put on a veil to hide her short hair and both exchanged gifts. She then took off her veil to show him she didn’t have long hair anymore and he confessed he sold his pocket watch to buy her the combs. She in turn told him she sold her hair to buy him the chain. And so what do we have here?

A useless exchange of gifts?

We have a picture of what true love looks like. It’s love that is not selfish, it’s selfless and it’s willing to sacrifice.

We can learn the Scriptures and cite them by heart, but until we live them we won’t experience the joy and peace that comes from loving unconditionally.

All of us have talents. Jesus wants us to use our talents to give Him glory. Some of us take longer than others to receive the gift of faith. Don’t grieve time lost because God has created eternity for the people that love Him. To encourage people who come to serve God later in life, Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 20:1-16 about the workers in His vineyard.

In this parable a landowner (symbolic of God) hires workers to work in his vineyard. Some people arrive late and work only one hour, but the landowner pays them the same reward as those who worked all day. Those who worked all day were angry and said, “These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:12-16

I feel like I am one of those workers who arrived late, so I can understand how people might look down their noses at me. I have been trying to speak to senior members of the Church about a peace movement called A Peaceful Revolution in the Name of Jesus Christ and you know how much time they have for me – None!

Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

I am from the world of BIG BUSINESS and in that world power is made perfect with BIG MONEY. So when God called me to promote a peace movement in His Name I panicked. “Are there no saints available?” I asked God. What I have realized is that all of us are called to sainthood but while “many are called few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14

In the kingdom of God I am about as big as a mustard seed – i.e., very small. But Jesus says something beautiful about the little ones who will trust in Him. “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” Luke 17:6

I believe in this Scripture God is saying something to us about humility. If we recognize our nothingness and deep need for His grace, God is afforded the opportunity to become ALL. The chalice full of evil cannot be filled with holiness. First it must be emptied and cleansed. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”1 John 1:9

Once the chalice is empty and clean, God can consecrate it to Himself and God can fill it with His Holy Spirit. God will not force us to empty our lives of sin; He waits for us to come to Him for forgiveness.

The eternal rewards we will enjoy in Heaven depend on our faith in action. Our eternal reward depends on our relationship with Jesus TODAY. And our joy and peace in this life depend on our relationship with Jesus TODAY.

Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

The world can give us ‘temporary peace’ BUT JESUS CAN GIVE US ETERNAL PEACE.

We can relax and enjoy our homes and money and live in the sin of selfishness but that won’t give us the peace of knowing we are living out God’s divine purpose.

Today rest in knowing Jesus Christ gave up everything to create a place for us in Paradise. Look at your Saviour Jesus Christ dying on the Cross for you! Look into His eyes full of tears and longing and in that gaze of divine desire you will find your true mission.

One day we will all want to hear these words: “’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” Matthew 25:21

All I want now is to please Jesus! I once was lost but now am found! I believe in the power of prayer and on the transforming power of the contemplation of the Passion of Christ to move even the hardest of hearts. That’s why I am promoting The Mercy Movement. It’s because I believe that we can be the ones with the faith that moves mountains. Learn more about this Mercy Movement here.