Loving the Lost

     I have been increasingly becoming more sensitive to my Father's heart for the lost.  In that I mean I have begun to see people with new eyes.  I feel their pain as if it were my own and I know the Lord is preparing me for something different. 
     Do we really understand how Father feels about His people?  All of His people which includes every person on the face of this vast world with no reference to race, color, creed or religion. As "Christians" we have taken Biblical truths to beat people up and have shown intolerance for anyone different than us.  The church has certainly missed the boat in that aspect.  Not judging just making a statement.  It's time we get back to the truth and start loving one another.
     I have always been interested in the Justice system, and now with the wonders of television I can watch criminal trials and I am always amazed at the twisted way we can turn the law into what ever we want it to be.  The church for the last 100 years has done that very thing.  We have taken a gospel of good news and love and turned it into rules and condemnation for those that don't follow "our" rules.  We need to get back to the basic simple spiritual laws that God has set before us and stop trying to twist them into something to suit our own selfish needs. 
     My Father has recently opened up my little world, in this little bubble of Reno Nevada to seeing that not every one lives like us. As I grumble about having to sweep all the dirt in my house daily (and there is a lot :)  ) the thought came to me that I could have a dirt floor like many other people live.  I sometimes complain about my transportation and I have come to realize there are people serving God with everything they have in other countries that have to walk miles just to get to their church or to help others and they do this unselfishly and without complaining. We are so spoiled here, so very spoiled. We voice our opinions loudly everyday about the politics of things going on this country and yet we forget to thank God that we still have our freedom to express our opinions and we forget to shut up long enough to actually look around and find someone, a real person, right in our path that we can help. 
     There are so many needs right here right now, right in our faces that we can be fulfilling for people and showing the love of God instead of pointing fingers. 
      I became aware of one particular group of kids that I had never heard about. They don't tell you this stuff on the news.  Once a child becomes 18 and they are in a foster home the foster parents stop receiving funds for the child so they get thrown out to live on the streets.  I was devastated to learn this takes place everyday right here in our community. These children need love and need to know someone cares about them.
     So I challenge you for the next week, step outside of yourself and look around to see what you can do for someone.  It can be as simple as holding the door for an elderly person at the store, letting the guy wash your windows and instead of giving him change, give him a twenty, it won't kill you.  Take the time to smile and start conversations with those in the grocery line, just be pleasant and nice.  Slow down, stop complaining, start thanking the Lord for all the blessings you do have and love on someone and show them who Jesus really is.
    

Jump in with both feet!

    I woke up this morning filled with new life and a renewing of my spirit singing praises to my Father in Heaven and excited that I am chosen to participate in the greatest times of the history of the earth.  There is no question that according to prophets and apostles, church leaders, lay people and everyone else that we are in the last days.  I say Come on latter rain! Let's move forward and come into the place that we were all called to be. 

     It's time to mature and move forward in your own life.  One time I had a revelation about the Holy Spirit and He is the living water flowing all over the earth in streams and rivers giving life to everyone that dare step into the water.  You have several choices, you can stand on the bank and watch it flow by, you can step into it about ankle deep and complain about it being murky or you can jump into the middle where the current will carry you where the Lord wants you to be in your life. 

     Once you are in the mainstream stay there with your praises and your worship to the Almighty Father in Heaven that loves you so much He would let His son die in your place.  If you start to float off into your own thing, you will find yourself caught up in the stagnant puddles left over from past experiences with the Lord, there is no life there, you have to keep in the current. 

     When raging flash floods come don't end up as debris on the banks broken and destroyed, reach out and hang onto the Father's hand as you ride it out and you will come out stronger and more blessed than you will ever know. 

     I challenge you today to move forward into your calling even if its just one tiny step, each step will bring you closer to peace and prosperity.  Start by meditating on this scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to give you revelation of what He has for you today.

 

Ephesians 4:1-16 (NIV) As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Be blessed!