Freely You've Received Freely Give

Jesus gave these instructions as He sent His disciples out to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. The mandate of New Testament Christianity is we must freely give what we have freely received. The question should be asked what have you received from Christ. Well the first thing we must receive is Christ as Lord and Savior. He must be Lord before He can be your savior. Who is your Lord today? There are many lords in the world today. Even for those who claim Christianity. When Jesus is Lord You are committed to be His disciple and to following Him wherever He would go. The Cost does not matter and obedience is not an option. To have Jesus as Lord is to serve Him and to lay down our lives for Him, for His Body (the church) and for the world. All of this is out of Love and devotion for what He has done for us. When Jesus is Lord of your life the proof of this is that are giving your life to Him, His body (the Church) and to the world that it might be saved. I love the story of the woman in Lk 7:47 who the bible described as a sinner. It seems that she must have been a prostitute. She is the woman that broke the costly oil at anointed Jesus' feet with it. She rinsed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. At the end of the story the religious Pharisees were wondering why Jesus allowed this woman who was a sinner to do this to Him. They were very uncomfortable with this show of love and affection. It's still the same today. Religious and people who claim Christianity but have not received Christ as Lord are very uncomfortable with this type of devotion. He explained that she was doing this because her sins were great and she was showing her love because her sins, though many, were forgiven. He who has been forgiven much loves much. Wow what a picture of what every forgiven soul should be doing. She was giving what she had received. We have been forgiven much so we should be giving much. Scholars say that the oil that she used was very costly but cost didn't stop this woman from loving. What we have been given in Christ is very costly it was given at a very high price. But once we have been forgiven it all belongs to Jesus. In the great throne of Judgement our proof that we were His sheep will be that we freely did things for the least of these. Jesus said as much as you have done it to the least of these my brethren you've done it unto me. As we give to the least of this world, those in prison, the sick,
and the poor and broken we have done it to Jesus we have anointed His feet with the costly oil of our lives and our loving devotion. Hallelujah!!!! Please judge your life by the word of God and not by what you have justified yourself with. Does what I am saying describe your life? Are you giving and pouring out your life to Christ and for Christ? Is it out of a loving gratitude because your sins are forgiven and you've been set free? Jesus said you will know a tree by the fruit it produces? Is this the fruit of your life? Please Judge yourself harshly by the word of God. If it is not than begin to seek Jesus and his word and pray that He will become the Lord of Your life. Become His disciple and follower and He will give you the same devotion and love that this woman had!!!!