DAILY BREAD OF LIFE

(KJV.)  LUKE 14:12-14

(12)  Then said he also to him that bade him,  When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.
(13)  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
(14)  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!

Brethren, in this chapter, Jesus went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on a Sabbath day;  when he entered the house, everyone was looking at him; why?; to see if he will do something contrary to the doctrine of the Sabbath; however, he saw how they chose out the higher seats at the dinner table and arraigned themselves; therefore, he told a couple of parables of feast and table mannerism; the text of today is one of his parables spoken at the dinner table, he said to the host of the dinner, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, brothers or sisters, relatives, or neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid."  what Jesus said, in other words is; it is better to do kind gestures to people we do not know, outside our comfort zones, friends and family circles, than to do things to impress people we already know; for our Father sees our hearts and motives behind our good deeds, and will reward according to our works in his righteousness; for, it is written in the book of Matthew 16:27; "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.; therefore, let us not do good gestures only to be applause by humanity, but do them please Jesus Christ, who called us out of darkness into his marvelous lights;  if we call people we know to feast with us, they may invite us back and by doing so, we have already received our rewards; for it is written, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:10); therefore, let us not do eye service, and selective of people we desires to honor or associate ourselves with resources given by our Father through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but genuinely show kindness to all, and live peaceably with all men,  

Case in point, Jesus said, "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind," we may ask ourselves, why these people?; because these are people who have no regards in society, and Jesus wants believers to take care of them;  the poor, have no means of sustenance or any earthly possessions; therefore, we have to help them food, shelter and clothing; that is what Jesus will do!;  the crippled, the lame are disable, deficient and mentally incapable to do all thing for themselves; therefore, they need our assistance in many ways; let us not ignore them, but rather show that we care about them, their souls are not handicapped, they are our brothers and sisters who need our assistance to make them comfortable and happy; therefore, let us not turn our backs on them, but show our love and compassion by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;   the blind cannot see even when it is daylight, but walk in darkness at all times, without the guidance of others, they are not able to move around freely; fortunately, we do have eyes to see with everyday; they live by the grace of our Father everyday, but, we are fortunate to have eyes to see our ways in this life, work and receive blessings;  therefore, if we who are capable to move around in this fallen world by the grace of our Father, and are blessed with heavenly blessings; when we do good unto the poor, crippled, lame, the blind, or visit others who are incarcerated, we do these kind gestures unto Jesus Christ; for it is written, "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:.Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." (Matthew 25:35-36); therefore, none of our good gestures to the suffering, poor and handicaps are done in vain, but there are eternal rewards awaiting people of compassion in heavenly places forevermore.

Brethren, when we feed the poor, crippled, lame, blind, give to people in needy situations; visit and pray for the sick and people incarcerated; genuinely show kindness to others, not because we want to be recognized by society as rich and famous, or people with higher dignities, to receive praises, and vain glories to ourselves, but because we care about souls and possess the attributes of our Father, his goodness, mercies and compassion; Jesus said, we will be blessed; though they cannot repay us, we will receive rewards at the rising again of the righteous on judgment day; therefore, let us show compassion, uplift others who are suffering, be merciful, for it is written, "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." (Luke 6:36).

CONCLUSION:

Brethren, at times, we feel reluctant to give to the poor, homeless and druggist; thinking that they will misuse our money; Jesus understands our point of view, however, everything we possess, are blessings from him, though we work hard to attain those things, we attain them through his grace, not from our own human efforts; and if he gave those blessings, then we ought to give from what he gave by his grace, to sustain others who cannot fend for themselves; regardless of what they will use the blessings for, once we give out, we will be blessed, and we should not worry; for we did our parts, and Jesus who sees our hearts, will replenish our pocket books with more riches, blessings of promotions, victories, protections, good health and vitality forever and evermore.  Amen and Amen!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

(KJV.)  Luke 14:21  So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things.  Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant,  Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the mained, and the halt, and the blind.