The Cry of My Heart

Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25 - "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

***The Heavenly Father hears the cry of His people.

***The gospel story is not just the invention of God, but the incarnation of God.

***God is looking for His children.

***God hears your cry if you are a child of His and you cry out to Him. Do you know how to cry out to God?

***Crying out to God has to do with your heart and you cannot fake your heart. You can't fake being desperate -- either you are or you aren't. Ask God to "Show me what I look like thru your eyes."

***Are you a child of God? When was the last time you cried out to Him?

***Don't keep God at arm's length. Cry out to Him.

The Reality of Eternity

Matthew 25

***Sacrifice is a matter of perspective. Are you seeing your life from God's perspective?

***Evaluate your life and make adjustments to what God has just said -- He only reveals Himself to those He is abou to use!

***The world does not need to merely hear the good news, they need to see it --

James 2:14-20 - "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

***God does not reward the great theologians - He rewards those who do what He says

***Time is short and eternity is long. Do you have eyes for eternity?

***When your spiritual eyes are in focus, eternity is the backdrop of all you see.

***To invest in eternity is to invest in people.

***To invest in eternity is to partner with Jesus.

***To invest in eternity is to receive eternal rewards.