The Judge Returns

Jesus came to die on the cross to save us. When He returns it will be much different. He is coming back to judge the nations.

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ~Matthew 25:31-33

Sheep belong to a shepherd. In fact, they cannot survive without him. They are defenseless and completely vulnerable. On the other hand, goats by nature are independent, self reliant and headstrong. They don't depend on a shepherd to sustain them.

Jesus used goats and sheep in this passage to contrast those who love Him and follow Him to those who don't. The sheep are His. The goats are not. They refuse Him in their rebellion and sin.

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ''Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ~Matthew 25:34

Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ~Matthew 25:41

The passage explains that the difference between the sheep and the goats are their actions. The sheep take care of the "least of these" (the hungry, sick & imprisoned). The goats do not.

The sheep do acts of love out of an overflow of Jesus living inside of them. The goats are self seeking, selfish and self absorbed. Without Jesus, they are incapable of selfless acts of love.

Does this mean that our salvation is earned? No way.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works ,lest anyone should boast. ~Ephesians 2:9

The Bible is very clear that we are saved by grace. However, our actions either show the love of Christ or they do not.

The deeper I go into God's Word, the more I want to change. I am convicted to love more, sacrifice more and give more. I have been working on this blog for over a year now. Where the Lord is leading me with it, I am not sure. I trust, day by day that He is leading me. I have been convicted this week to give away everything that I have listed in my store. I would love to donate these in large quantities. (non profit ministries, churches, homeless shelters, etc.) If you are interested, please email me at carolyn@calmiscalling.com.

Pray with me...

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for loving us with grace and unconditional love. Oh how we fall short, over and over. Forgive us. Lead us in paths of righteousness for Your name's sake. Open our eyes to the needs all around us and lead us in simple, kind ways to love the least of these. Draw near to us and give us hearts of wisdom, filled with Your love and grace. Overflow Your love out of us and unto all those we encounter. Let our lives be marked by love and generosity. In Jesus Name