Being Jesus

While reading Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski I came across this event happening to them, and this has challenged me so must in the last hour or so since I read that section that I want to post it for you, and then I would love to get some comments from you on how we can make this practical in our lives…

” It really frustrates me when Christians talk about their faith in Christ but never let the fruit of it grow in their lives,” James said quitely. “True faith is visible.”

“Yeah, us too, believe me!” I said. “But be encouraged. You two are the first Christians in all our time on the streets who have offered so much help, no questions asked.”

James and Russ looked surprised.

“No one?” James asked.

“No one,” said Sam. “Thanks for living your faith. It is powerfull.”

“Well,” said James, “if we don’t, something’s wrong. Jesus said, ‘By your love for one another they will know you are my disciples.’”

How many times, do we rather look the other way when we see somebody in need. We see a person with thirst or hunger, and think we don’t have time now to even just ask what is wrong, or what the person needs. What has become of society, that we started to think about ourselves, and our own material needs, and stopped caring for the needy, as Jesus did, and what He told us pretty straightforward to do.

I am really starting to be moved in the direction of where I am striving to be like Jesus,  but not in the moral way that we think it is, to live sin free and to be a good person, but I want to be a person that makes a difference. Even if it is only to one person out there, I really want to be able to know that I have really blessed that person. I don’t want to preach to that person, but just care for them.

God, Jesus and Holy Spirit

Please enable me as a sinful man to be  able to go out and see the need of your people out there, and through the grace of God be able to make a difference to those people out there.

Give me the strength to go through the questions and the uncomfortable feelings and really stop and listen. To really have compassion, and to sacrifice myself for You, so I may find the better life, promised by You to all of us who would be willing to die to ourselves.

Amen

Action Day #1

OK, so I have been lax in not posting the action day on the day that I was supposed to, but I am struggling to read all the different books, and to keep up with all of them at the same time, but here is some brilliant practical tips to start make a difference to those people in need we encounter every day at the intersections…

Granola Bars and Bottled Water

Buy bottled waters, and the same amount of soft granola bars. Tape the granola bars to the water bottles, and put them in a box in your car, and when you meet a homeless person at an intersection, asking for help, hand them a bottle of water with the granola bar…

Clothing Drive

Get all the excess clothes in your closet, and go and get some from your neighbours, family and friends, and give them to the local shelter for distribution, or go and hand the clothes out yourself, and go and serve the needy, like Jesus did.

Bag of Groceries

Go to the grocery store and buy a bag full of groceries of the stuff that you would like to have. They must, obviously, not need to be refrigerated, and practical foods like fruits and vegetables (canned or fresh) will be great. Go hand this to a homeless person, and serve them with prayer as well.

These might be out of the box things to do for you, but remember, God first loved you, and through His word, He commands you to “go and do likewise” and “love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:25-37)

So, which one of these options are you going to try and do this week? Please remember to also come back here, and give feedback. Feedback of the smile on the face of the person you served, or the smile on your face.

Let us start a movement through this blog, and go out and actually go and make a difference to the people out there.

Being scared

Psalm 118:6 (The Message)

GOD takes the side of the helpless;
when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

Psalm 118:6 (NIV)

The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

Reading today’s section of My 30 Days Under the Overpass, they were speaking about this verse, and how, for the first time, they realised that they were unable to really commit to this verse in their lives on the streets.

This got me thinking…

Do you totally commit your fears to the Lord, and honestly believe that He will keep you from harms way?

I honestly know, I don’t.

Gut Check 1.0

OK, so I read through the introduction and the Gut Check part of the book ‘My 30 Days Under the Overpass (Mike Yankoski)’, and WOW. I am already challenged, without even starting with the devotionals.

Here is an excerpt from the Gut Check 1.0

Flip on tonight’s news or go to a news blog and you’ll learn about the wretched things that are going on in our world – famines, epidemics, earthquakes, hurricanes, rapes, beatings, political chaos, slavery, human trafficking, just to name a few. When you look at all of it, it’s enough to make you feel really, really small, like there’s no way you can make an impact.

well, I want to let you in on a little secret: The world is not yours to change.None of us is big enough, influential enough, or powerful enough to end any one of the world’s major issues. The only person powerful enough to eradicate poverty or cure all disease or stop earthquakes is Jesus. But He didn’t do any of that. Jesus, in His wisdom, knew He couldn’t just come down here and fix everything for us; He knew we wouldn’t learn anything that way. Instead, He showed us how to live by spending thirty years on earth, setting the ultimate example for us to follow. He didn’t end poverty. Instead, He reminded us that ” you always have the poor with you” (see Mark 14:7)

But that doesn’t mean Jesus did nothing to help the poor, nothing to reach out to those whom everyone shunned. Instead, He lived with them, listened to them, ate with them (sometimes He brought the food), partied with them, healed them, wept and laughed with them…

Same with us. Yes, the world is messed up. There are a lot of hurting people and a lot of important issues. You can’t end poverty, stop earthquakes, or feed every person on the planet. But that’s no excuse to do nothing. If you’re a Christian, loving other people is not a “calling” you can patiently discover or wait for God to reveal to you. It’s a direct, non-negotiable command.

Like I said, WOW

Straight to the point, won’t you say.

Now, this book is structured in weeks, with an action day at the end of each week, so what I am going to do, is on every action day that I reach, I am going to blog about the challenges raised during the week, and hopefully, we will be able to get some conversation going on this, as well as, hopefully change some people’s views.