They only asked us to remember the poor– the very thing I also was eager to do.

Galatians 2:10

Upon Paul’s visit to the first apostles, after seeing the mutual grace given to each other, the apostles only additional commission upon Paul was this, that he remember the poor.  As Paul indicates, he was already being led of the Lord in the same direction, for it was the very thing he desired to do.

The Lord is close to the broken hearted, and His ears hear their cry.  If we are to be of the Kingdom, and listening to the voice of the Father, it will invariable lead us to take care of the poor.  It will lead us to men of the highest, and lowest caliber, for the Lord is the Lord of the whole Earth.

The Kingdom belongs to those such as children (Mark 10:14), and the greatest will be the servant of all (Matthew 23:11).

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;  naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

Matthew 25:31-36

The greatest spirituality, while it will always keep the first commandment first (Matthew 22:37-38), will always do the second to the greatest degree (Matthew 22:39), as an unction coming from that place, as an enablement and a requirement.  There is no true spirituality without the helping of the poor, for true spirituality is Jesus Christ, who is the exact representation of the Father.  While not everyone would necessarily have the same means to do it, nor the exact same position in which to enable it, in every walk, God places people in our lives to help (Mark 14:7).

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Matthew 22:40

The greatest in the Kingdom was Jesus Christ, the exact representation of the Father.  He fulfilled all of the law perfectly, by living by the Spirit.  Now, we are called to walk after Him, to walk and to live after His Spirit, and to live as He lived.

It is in the power of the Spirit that Jesus ministers, and He never did anything public ministry without the power of signs, wonders, miracles, and deliverance in His life.  He never sent out a single disciple to preach without equipping them with the same power.

It is to minister in the power of the Kingdom that people are sent out by the Lord, to destroy the works of the devil and to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom.  It is in the power of the Holy Ghost that He worked.

There is no place of spirituality that does not reach out and touch the lowest, but rather, love demands that we do not regard men of high degree nor look down to those of none.  But, as regarding every man as equal, we present the Gospel of the Truth of God, Jesus Christ, to all.

Truly, what we do to the least, we do unto Him.  What we have rendered in service to one another, we have done it to Christ Himself.

The Greatest Thing in the World is the love of the Father, and while it is the walk of faith and hope that lets us walk in His ways, without the love, it is worthless (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

But, it is a practicality led from above.  As the apostles had a list of widows to help, and as Paul wrote that if a man doesn’t work he shouldn’t eat, so too, God helps those in need, not those who want to free-load.  It is wise and innocent (Matthew 10:16).

It is this practicality of the Gospel that sends us out to preach, that teaches us to heal the sick, that compels us to the greatest cost, of laying down our own life for each other.  There is the religious spirit that would attempt to force us into this out of things like duty, obligation, coercion, manipulation, and shame, but these are not of the Spirit, and they will never produce the same results.  Even as Jesus said the Pharisees crossed land and sea to make a single convert, and then made them twice the sons of hell that they were, so too, unless it is born of the Spirit, it can never be anything else.

The greatest practicality in all of life, the way to reach the most and have the most Eternal impact, is to live by the Spirit, in every breath, in every thought, in every moment.  Until we do, we will not be the servant of all, and we will not be made perfect in love, for to see Him, is to love Him, and there is none other.

It is to the Father’s glory that we bear much fruit, and as He was, so are we in this world.