Make An Impact:  Minister to These

In the hustle and bustle of these busy days, taking care of our family, our home, our job, and serving in our local church, we are blessed to be able to minister in a myriad of ways to others. And there are so many ways, big and small, we can touch lives and share the grace, mercy, and love God has given us.

Yet, in the midst of doing these things, we do not want to neglect to minister to those our Lord has actually commanded us to. We don't want to let our own ideas of 'ministry' usurp His perfect words to us. So we are making His commands our priority - our primary focus - and we are giving them our first energies, because they are what our loving Master has told us to do.

Maybe we can do it all. Maybe we can focus on ministering to those God has specifically and clearly told us to minister to and do lots of other things, too.

But if presented with a choice between what we 'think' we should do, or what we'd 'like' to do, and what He has actually already told us to do - we want to choose His commands first!

Minister to These… (a partial list to get started on)

The hungry - give them food (Mt 25:34-46)

The thirsty - give them a drink (Mt 25:34-46)

The prisoners - visit them in prison, remember them (Mt 25:34-46; Heb 13:3)

The sick - visit them (Mt 25:34-46)

The strangers - invite them in and show true Christian hospitality to them (Mt 25:34-46; Heb 13:2; 2 Jn 10-11)

The unclothed - clothe them (Mt 25:34-46)

The poor, crippled, lame, and blind - invite them when you have a dinner or feast (Lk 14:12 -14)

The fainthearted - encourage them (1 Ths 5:14 )

Those in distress - assist them (1 Tim 5:10 )

The ill-treated - remember them (Heb 13:3)

Orphans and widows - visit them in their distress (Js 1:27)

Brothers and sisters in the Lord - give food and clothing, whatever is necessary for their body (Js 2:15 -16)