The Desire of All Nations...Accept No Substitutes

Psalm 50: 10
"For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills."

The animal kingdom, just like the masses of unreached humanity who inhabit Planet Earth, all are longing for One Person. They just don't know who that Person is. If they did, they would bow before Him. But Scripture assures us that one day, all people will do so, whether they are in heaven, on earth, or under the earth. For in the second chapter of Philippians, the Apostle Paul tells us the greatness of Christ's condescension. Our Lord, who had always been with the Father in all His glory, at a moment in time limited Himself to come and share in our humanity, not only for time, but for all eternity. After presenting the perfect sacrifice of Himself upon the cross, atoning for the sins of all mankind, He was raised from the dead and glorified by the Father. Paul then says:

Philippians 2: 9-11

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

As I was reading in Haggai the other day, I was struck by one of the many names of our Lord. He is called the Desire of All Nations. Haggai 2: 6-7 says "For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 'and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts."

According to the Companion Bible edited by E.W. Bullinger,(Kregel Publications) the shaking referred to in this verse will occur in the time period known as the Great Tribulation. Already the earth is shaking with more frequent intensity than in generations past. According to this article from the U.K., earthquakes are dramatically on the rise. http://earth.webecs.co.uk/ A chart at this link shows the dramatic rise just from 1973 to 2006. Yesterday, a 7.0 shook near the Aleutian islands in Alaska. It was possible that this quake could have generated a tsunami, but thankfully it did not.

This time of great turmoil is rapidly approaching, but Haggai assures us that people will come to recognize that Christ is the desire of all people. Bullinger says in his notes on Haggai 2:7 that the desire "refers to Him Who alone can satisfy the desire of all nations." In the Septuagint, Jesus Christ in this verse is referred to "the elect of all the nations." He is the only one who will be able to bring true peace to this planet, and restore it, eventually, to a sinless paradise. For one to read this, and not know what the Great Tribulation is, it was described by Jesus in this way in the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 24: 21-27
"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

"See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

Christ warned that "many" would come in His name. But before He actually returns, there will be a false Christ who will say that he can solve all the problems of the world and the world will be amazed by him. He will come in and make a 7 year peace treaty with the nation of Israel. For the first half, 3 1/2 years, Israel will have peace, but it is a false peace. Suddenly, in the middle of this period, this deceiver, called the Antichrist, will break the treaty and that is when the Great Tribulation will break out in full. He will attack Israel with ferocity and finally, all the nations of the world will stand against the tiny land of Israel. Why? In Psalm 2, in its entirety says:

"Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."

What does it mean to Kiss the Son? Simply to believe on Him, that He accomplished the atonement for your sins upon the cross, and that God raised Him from the dead as I Corinthians 15: 1-7 tells us:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles."

Put your faith in the true Desire of All Nations and please remember, don't accept a substitute.

The Exclusivity of Christianity

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

This was and is the core belief of Christians throughout the ages. Believers living in the centuries before us demonstrated great faith as they spread the Gospel across the world. I am amazed at what great faith of men such as William Carey, Charles Spurgeon and Oswald Chambers could accomplish. Do we believe the Bible as they did?

Has the Bible changed? No, not in the original autographs. But modern man can change the Word to fit his own likings, because man is more savvy than the old fashioned God we always believed in. For instance, there are Bibles available for those want God to not be referred to exclusively in the male gender, but either a He or a She. I don't get that. It says what it says. In the days of William Tyndale, just to get a Bible was a treasure. They printed it as it was translated, and did not apologize for hurting people's feelings, not even the King of England's. I wonder what William Tyndale would have thought about all our modern Bibles today, and how they cater to people's sensibilities.

I thought that all Christians believed in the necessary atoning work of Christ upon the cross. But now, there are other more "popular" fads that are in trend. Popular teachers write books that make these beliefs attractive, because it appears to comfort people from thinking about the reality of hell. One of them is Universalism. That is the belief that somehow, all in the end will be saved, no matter if they believed in Christ or not.
I ask you, why then did Jesus come down and suffer upon a bloody cross for us if all will be saved in the end regardless? Christ did not force us to believe on Him. It is our choice. He paid for all sins on the cross, yet there still is one sin that will keep people out of heaven. That is the refusal to believe on Him personally as Savior. Jesus is not just any old god, He is the One True God. I don't have to argue with that, just accept it on faith.

Deuteronomy 4:39: "Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." I wrote this verse in calligraphy many years ago and hung it in my kitchen for all of our eyes to see, including my children's. What an onslaught awaited them in the world. Children raised in Christian homes are abandoning their faith even more so today.

Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus, who came to Him at night: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) Jesus never said there were other ways to come to the Father, a notion that is believed by man. No, there is only ONE Savior and One way to heaven.

1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."

Now that is exclusive, and many turn away at this point. You cannot add Jesus + other ways to heaven. Other cultures did not have the Judeo Christian heritage as we did, but yet Christianity still spreads like wildfire to them who have never heard. Even as we turn away from it, they embrace it.

People who never heard of Jesus before discover that when they cry out to these gods, they do not get an answer, just like the prophets of Baal with Elijah's challenge to the false prophets in I Kings 18:21. He ends up asking the universal question: "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.

I Kings 18: 25-29 continues, "Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention."

Do you see? No answer. But when Elijah prayed, God immediately answered Elijah and consumed his sacrifice with fire from heaven.(I Kings 18:38) Only the True God heard and answered. Do we believe the exclusive claims of Christ, or are there other ways to get to heaven as well? Has "another faith," and "another Jesus" crept in unaware?

II Corinthians 11: 3-4: But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!"

The power of the gospel lies in it's simplicity. Simple for us, because it was very difficult for Him.

John 6: 28-9: Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

The Battle of Prayer

Mark 4:40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

I will be honest, sometimes I get so afraid of the spiritual battle. Do you fear also at times?

Maybe it is because I sense that it is intensifying like never before. There is confusion, chaos, and uncertainty all around us. Nations and economies are crumbling before our eyes while the American family has already been assaulted like never before with broken marriages and broken children. Those marriages that do make it still feel the onslaught of challenges that threaten to destroy...violent images pummeled into children's brains through the media, lack of any norms and standards of right and wrong, and the fact that many don't even receive an education that will enable them to think and evaluate for themselves, without being influenced by the "herd mentality."

Psalm 11:3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?

I never had a broken home and my parents have always had a loving marriage, by God's grace. But I have suffered from all the other present societal conditions and I do not see these trends improving any day soon. Do you?

Sometimes I just weep over the state of the state of things in this world. And then I think about people I know personally. Friends who do not know the Lord, friends in the midst of serious health crises, people who are struggling just to make ends meet and the list goes on. Some believers may not want to even think about this but there are also hundreds of thousands of children all over this planet trapped in the web of human trafficking. ("What if someone did that to my child?") And so my soul cries out to the Lord, for that is the only place I know I will find answers.

In both Psalms 60:11 and 108:12 Scripture tells us: Give us help from trouble, For the help of man [is] useless.

Only God hears. Only God answers.

And so I make my requests before the Lord, knowing that He is both My Rock and my Mighty Fortress, and if I ask according to His will He will hear me.

I John 5: 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Do you believe we can make a difference by our prayers for others, for lost people whom God has compassion on? God Himself proved that He had pity on the ancient pagan city of Nineveh, visited by Jonah the reluctant prophet, so this is proof enough for me.

Jonah 4: 11 "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock?"

Jonah obviously did not want to go to Nineveh. They were a fierce people and enemies of Israel. But God had a different mind toward them. He knew, obviously, in eternity past, that some of them would believe in the True God of Israel when Jonah came with his message of repentance. And therefore He moved with compassion to ensure His servant Jonah would go there, even if he had to spend three days and nights in the belly of a fish first.

I believe that if there is just one little flicker of positive volition in an unsaved person, God will move on their behalf to get them the gospel. (See John 7: 17.) Oh, how great is His love toward mankind. He is waiting for us to ask Him to send forth laborers into the harvest, before the Great Storm arrives.

Matthew 9:36-38: "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

This verse has haunted me since college days, when I would spend time in the urban areas and see masses of people walking around: like bag ladies, the outcasts, and the beggars. I knew that if Jesus Christ were walking in that city with me He would not be passive, He would care. That is the kind of Savior I have. He is not an impersonal God, or detached from the conflict and bloodshed on Planet Earth.

Some people say I get too burdened, not too think about it all so much. But I can't help it. When I pray for people: and also the persecuted church, the trafficked children and my friends with their urgent needs, and my own dear family members, then I get weak sometimes afterwards from the battle. It is then that the enemy can inject fearful thoughts into my mind... But I do know the end of the story. For I have read God's Book and it states clearly that even in the midst of our battle, that Jesus Christ has already won. And so I do not stand in defeat, but in the clearly accomplished victory won for me on Calvary so many years ago.

Colossians 2:13-15 "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

One of the most influential books I ever read on the subject of prayer was Destined for the Throne: A New Look at the Bride of Christ by Paul E. Billheimer. I heard of it way back in my days when I attended Campus Crusade for Christ in college, but never actually read it until I was on a ten hour plane trip going abroad five years ago. I marked up my used copy furiously while the couple sitting next to me probably wondered what this silly woman was getting so excited about. If you long to learn more to read about our privilege of prayer, I highly recommend this old book.

Jesus said in John 9:4: "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work." Night is coming, friends.

Ephesians 6:18-19 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-- and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel...

The Bible Speaks and Stands....Forever

Proverbs 30: 5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Think of it, every single word of God is pure. So we are told in the Word of God. It is a gift, a miraculously provided gift, that has been handed down via the Spirit's breath to sixty-six human authors over thousands of years of time. It still remains on the bestseller list though many attempts are made to squelch it, burn it, and stamp it out. Those who try to destroy it are fighting a fruitless battle, for the Bible will stand forever, unlike other books which will not.

I used to debate whether the Bible was really true, in everything, in my own mind. I never won the argument, and it was no fun arguing with Omniscience, either. One day, somewhere along my path, I came to a realization. God was not kidding. He meant it. Every word was pure.

What a relief! I didn't have to argue with Him anymore! I have things I don't understand, sure, like everyone does. But before, I would let that derail my walk. Only by His grace helping me I have come to the realization it is better just to accept what He says. Then just trust Him that He will reveal the things I do not understand at some later point in my life. I do not know when He will reveal them, but His timing always is perfect.

Just like His Word. Perfect. Pure. Just as He is. Trustworthy and enduring forever.

Let the Bible speak for itself...

Psalm 93: 5 Your testimonies are very sure; Holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever.

Psalm 102: 12 But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

Psalm 11: 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.

Psalm 119: 152 Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever.

Psalm 119: 160 The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

Psalm 135:13 Your name, O LORD, [endures] forever, Your fame, O LORD, throughout all generations.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

Lamentations 5:19 You, O LORD, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.

Daniel 2:20 Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His..."

Hebrews 7: 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

I Peter 1: 22-25 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,because "All flesh [is] as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

The Bible speaks to me daily. Miraculously, He often allows it to bring me just the right verse at just the right time.

How about you?

Returning to God's Garden...

Genesis 3:8-10 " And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where [are] you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Some might say that the day Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and hid themselves from God was the saddest day on planet Earth. But God was not surprised. He knew it was going to happen, since He knows all things, and He had a plan in mind from eternity past. (Acts 2: 23) For Christ would be our sacrificial Lamb, just as sure as Abraham was provided the ram caught in the thicket after being tested by God with offering up his beloved son Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22:13. (This was the very same spot where Jesus was crucified.) Think of it, Jesus was the Ram caught in the thicket for all of us.

But before Jesus came and died for us, God commanded Adam and Eve to leave the beautiful garden of Paradise. Adam was commanded to earn his food and provide for his family by the sweat of his brow. The curse meant no more fellowshipping with Christ in the garden of the cool of the day to be taught by Him. Now Adam and his family must be banished from the beautiful garden, and he must work and toil all his life. Moreover, the ground would not be kind to Adam, for "thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you" is what God told Adam would be the result of his labor in Genesis 3: 16a.

Sweating has been the story of mankind. Men work hard and their fortune can be wiped out overnight. One can break their back for a corporation, only to be let go when the economy declines. Security that seemed unending, gone in a minute. All that sweat, and what a tragedy as we see more and more homeless people who were once middle class. Do you really think this situation this will improve when we are trillions of dollars in debt?

In my reading in Ezekiel the other day, the prophet described the rebuilt Jewish Temple in the time of the coming Millenial Kingdom, when Christ will rule human history from Jerusalem for a literal 1,000 years while Satan is bound in the bottomless pit. (Revelation 20: 3) The Spirit caught my attention with the description of the priest's clothing in this passage, because it also has to do with sweat:

Ezekiel 44:17-18

"And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. 'They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with [anything that causes] sweat.'"

Now I wonder, why would the Lord not want them to sweat as they minister as priests in the Temple? After all, Adam and all his descendants have been sweating ever since that day when he and Eve were banished from the Garden.
Of course, I should know that the answer is found in one of the most important verses in the whole Bible! I like this translation from Kenneth Wuest in The New Testament: an Expanded Translation, because it gives the sense of the verse, and it was written as if it is happening right now, because that is how the Apostle John wrote it.

John 19: 28-30
"After this, Jesus knowing that all things had now been brought to a consummation and stood finished in order that the scripture might be fulfilled says, I am thirsty. A vessel was standing there full of sour wine. Then, after putting a sponge filled with sour wine around a hyssop reed, they put it to His mouth. Then when Jesus had received the sour wine He said, It has been finished and stands complete. And having bowed His head, He delivered up His spirit."

Who was in control there? Jesus was! He knew, at that exact moment, the most important moment of all human history, that all sins had been paid for. It was then, and only then, that the Lord gave up His human spirit. Thus the work was finished. The veil of the curtain in the Jewish Temple was torn in two at that exact moment as well, indicating God's satisfaction with Christ's sacrifice. (Matthew 27:51)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now, there is another tree in the Garden, and it is most wonderful. This tree is now available to us, with no sweating on our part, because of what Christ did for us that tragic but glorious day. This tree is called the Tree of Life. The fruit on this tree is not forbidden, we can partake of it as much as we want! In the New Jerusalem, established after the enemy of our souls is finally banished to the lake of fire, there will never again be a curse, no more death, no more sickness. Can you imagine a world without these things? By faith in what Christ did that day was for you personally and acknowledging that God raised Him from the dead, you, too, can be among those worshipping Him forever.

Revelation 22: 1-3:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Helping the Broken Body

"He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they did not rebel against His words." Psalm 105: 28

Matthew 25: 34- 40 "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: for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when we did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?

And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.' "

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Five Simple Steps to Helping the Persecuted Church

1) Prayer- If you remember nothing else, remember this one. I hosted an outreach to raise awareness of Christian persecution in my local area and the VOM (Voice of the Martyrs) representative told me the #1 request of repressed believers was for prayer.

VOM publishes a full color prayer calendar that focuses on requests for every country that is hostile or Christianity is outlawed. There are many countries, you would be surprised! There is a request for every day of the year. If you go to their website www.persecution.com, you can find out about their free newsletter and it will tell you how to purchase these materials, or you can purchase them online at their online bookstore at the same link.

2) Go- If you have the time and are motivated graciously to help in some way, you can find a way to give of yourself. My sister and her husband are in the medical field and have gone with their church on mission trips to Haiti, for example. But I say this not to rouse a feeling of guilt that you must go, only if the Spirit is prompting by love. You would never would want to do it from a sense of guilt, because all of guilt, shame and blame has been taken care of already at Jesus' cross. This is a "get to," not a "have to." If you carefully examine I Corinthians 13: 1-3, and then verse 13 you will see that only love is the proper motivation to serve on the mission field in any capacity.

3) Awareness- Make yourself aware of what is really going on. Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) has a weekly prayer update that you can print out and intercede for the requests. You can request the free book Tortured for Christ from their website and get their free monthly newsletter. visit www.persecution.com or visit Gospel for Asia's page to learn of their outreach to children http://nolongeraslumdog.org/ http://persecutionproject.org/ (PPF) is another wonderful organization that helps Christians facing genocide in the Sudan and also are commited to providing them with clean drinking water.

4) Educate- a)Teach your children about loving all people groups, and to care about children in other lands who are in need of compassion. VOM has a kids page on their website: http://www.kidsofcourage.com/ and there are materials in their bookstore that you can buy for teaching purposes.

5) Educate- b) Other adults in your circle of influence. A lot of Christians aren't fully aware of what believers in other lands are going through. If I was in their shoes, I sure would hope that someone would care. It is edifying to read some of the biographies of some who have gone before us who underwent severe trials.

A couple books I have read that have really touched my life are: Christ in the Communist Prisons by Reverend Richard Wurmbrand, The Pastor's Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand, Perpetua: A Bride, A Martyr, A Passion by Amy Rachel Peterson, and Watchman Nee, Man of Suffering by Bob Laurent.

One day (maybe very soon) we will all stand at the Bema seat of Christ and we will give account, not for our sins (they are paid for) but what we did with the time God allotted us.
2Cr 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

My conviction is that we should help shoulder the burden of our brethren, if we can, and are motivated by His agape love. God is not surprised if we have neglected this, and He will not condemn us (Rom.8:28) as we confess it before Him.(I John 1:9) He knows that only He can perform anything good in us that has to be done anyway. (Philippians 2: 13) For there is no good in any one of us, sorry to say. (Romans 3: 10) Ask Him to give you HIS love shed abroad in your heart for His broken Body. (Romans 5: 5) If He doesn't work it within us, it will not be accomplished, period.(II Thess. 2: 17)

How gracious our Heavenly Father is to work inside us to love others through us! It's a not a burden, but a joy. "...And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8: 10b