Everyone has problems. It's a troubled world

Everyone has problems. It's a troubled world. What we need to do is commit our troubles to the Lord in earnest prayer, and live above our troubles so that we can be of help to one another (I Pet. 5:7). God only knows that we all need help, not only from him, but from one another as well. The apostle Paul knew the importance of these things, as he expressed to the Thessalonians: "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (I Thess. 5:11). The mind of Christ in those who possess it is always seeking to edify someone else. Jesus had all kinds of troubles on his way to the cross, not to mention hanging on the cross for six long hours being tortured to death. Yet he thought of us all and the trouble that we were in, so he endured the pain and humiliation of the cross in order to get us out of trouble (Heb. 12:2). He could have come down from the cross, or never even gone to it, but he preferred tending to our troubles over his. We owe it to him to give him all our troubles, seeing he has already paid the price to take them from us. We also owe it to him to be there for one another in time of need, seeing he paid that terrible cost to redeem us unto himself and the Father in one body together (Eph. 2:16; I Cor. 12:13). The truth is, if we are not there for one another in time of need, then we are not truly serving the Lord Jesus Christ; or at least not according to his defining of the term: "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (Mat. 25:42-45).

That's the way Jesus sees it. He identifies himself with everyone who has let him redeem them, and he takes it personally the way we deal with any of these. In fact he takes it so personally that this is what happens to those whom he addressed above: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Mat. 25:46). Jesus even told us to do good and help those who have made themselves our enemies, so why do some folks have trouble helping even those who have been a blessing to them? (Mat. 5:44-48) Maybe some people just have too many of their own problems, to be in tune with the problems of those around them. Some are too busy with 'ministry' to minister to the needs of those who are closest to them. They should probably look at God's thoughts on 'fasting' that he expressed through Isaiah: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" (Isa. 58:6). It's easy really, if someone is bowed down under heaviness, lift the burden off of them. We can do that, that is unless we're too bowed down under our own burdens to think about them. The best way to get a burden off yourself is to go lift one off of someone else. It really does work, because God has ordained it to be that way. One more thing of note on the subject: If you're bowed down with care and someone is trying to lift you up, don't turn them away. That isn't natural or beneficial to anyone involved. I suppose what I'm really trying to say here today is this: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Mat. 7:12). And this: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Gal. 5:14). And we don't want to forget this one: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). As Jesus said, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Mat. 11:15).