Where Your Treasure Is

 "Blessed are the clean of heart, 

for they will see God." Matthew 5:8

"Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? 

Or who may stand in His holy place? 

One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, 

who desires not what is vain?" Psalm 24:3-4

I use a lot of hand sanitizer, courtesy of my mom's reminders. 

After holding money, after using the toilet,etc. 

I went through a lot of baby wipes when Josh was a baby. 

If only it was as easy to clean our hearts and hands for God!

In Rev. 7:14, we read, 

"...they have washed their robes 

and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb." 

Jesus' blood is better than any hand sanitizer, 

baby wipes or laundry detergent that purports 

to make clothes whiter than white!

 "When you hold a banquet invite the poor, 

the crippled, the lame, the blind; 

blessed indeed will you be because 

of their inability to repay you. 

For you will be repaid at the 

resurrection of the righteous." Luke 14:13-14

Nothing we can do or give or give up, 

can ever repay Jesus who gave His life 

in the most excruciating, humiliating way, 

just so we could be included in the most 

inconceivable joyous heavenly banquet that lasts forever. 

No one is more generous than Jesus. 

And when we give, we are just responding to His goodness.

Here in Luke 14 He is merely asking us 

to echo His generosity in a small way. 

When we are generous to those who can't repay us,

 we do it to Him as well. (Matthew 25:40) 

Jesus talked a lot about money. 

He said that we should store up treasures in heaven, 

not here on earth where it could easily disappear. 

A building can get burned down, 

stocks could lose value in a single day, 

jewelry can get stolen, 

money even in the bank loses its value from inflation!!! 

Jesus said that where our treasure is, 

that is where our heart is. (Luke 12:34) 

If we want to see where our heart is, 

we need only to look at our checkbook, our bank account.

Perhaps it is time to think purposely 

about where our money goes. 

To put it where it cannot be stolen, 

where it cannot burn, where it will not devalue, or rust. 

I'm thinking inmates in prison, 

a family in a squatter area, streetchildren, 

even the families of our helpers at home 

can be beneficiaries of our generosity and kindness. 

And it's not a matter of how much money we have either. 

As Mother Teresa used to say, 

"If you can't feed a hundred people, feed just one."

"Whatever you did for one of these 

least brothers of mine, you did it for Me." Matthew 25:40

Matthew 25:31-46, Sunday's Gospel, 

makes it quite clear that one of the things 

we need to do to get to heaven 

is to take care of the needs of those God loves. 

Feed the hungry, be hospitable to strangers, 

clothe the naked, visit prisoners. 

Perhaps most of us have done these things, 

especially during times of disasters, 

earthquakes, typhoons and floods. 

But I doubt if Jesus is saying here that 

if we've done it once, we're in. 

It's an attitude of the heart we've got to work on.

 I know, because although I feed the hungry, 

donate clothes, am part of a prison ministry, 

and have welcomed strangers into my home, 

sometimes I just want to get it over quickly! 

I don't get to know and love the 

"least of Jesus' brothers and sisters"! 

Jesus might say to me, 

"Yes you fed me but you did not see my face." :^(

Previous Posts

For my growing collection of 

prompts, inspirations, creative pursuits,

courageous artists and their art,

join me at papemelroti art and faith workshops!

or on Facebook and Instagram

I find a lot of inspiration

visiting here:

So many WONDERFUL blogfriends

to discover!

Jean Ferguson at Soli Deo Gloria

Trusting Tuesdays
What We Accomplished, Wow Us Wednesdays
The Weekly Creative

Funday Monday, Unforced Rythms,  Word Art Wednesday

The Beauty in His Grip, Unite, Counting My Blessings
Weekend Blog Hop, What We Accomplished
Creative Mondays, Gracelaced Mondays

 Tuesday Link Up Party
Titus 2 Tuesdays
Super Handmade Sunday, Sacro Speco
Sunday Snippets