Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
I am continuously amazed at how the Body of Christ can reach out and bless the least expected. As I have shared with you before, when I left for the World Race I had sold just about everything. This is to include my Honda Civic. So returning to the US, I was without when it came to wheels. I have been staying at my mom’s place and helping around with various handyman jobs. Every time I had one of these projects I was having to coordinate with mom to borrow her vehicle. Sometimes it could be a bit of a scheduling issue.
Well the past couple of days have truly surprised me by the generosity of those in the Church community. One of mom’s friends had heard about me running around doing these various day jobs and helping around town. Well this past Monday she surprised me by giving me this Ford Ranger pickup truck. GAVE IT TO ME!!! It used to belong to her son who recently moved to the Houston area. He used in his landscaping business so it needed a bit of cleaning. But who was I to complain, it was FREE. So I have spent the last couple of days cleaning it up and giving it a nice shine.
To the point of the whole story. Since
coming back and electing to live solely on
faith and in service, I am continuously
surprised by how the Lord’s promise of
provision and sustainment.
When I left for the race the scripture
Luke 18:29-30 came to mind.
“Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
Initially I saw it as a pretty good business decision. Give stuff up now and reap the benefits both now in and eternity. I know, I know... how horrible for me to see it that way. Just sharing what was going through my mind. Well for all those of you who are flipping out at my initial motivation, be relieved, I have learned a bit over the past 15 months.
Learning to serve others and trying to live a Christ-like lifestyle has really challenged me to evaluate my every motivation. Being challenged to serve others while expecting nothing in return, and loving others regardless of the response has opened me to helping some of the most unexpected people. I believe this is what Christ meant about living for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
In such, I have had some of the
most amazing opportunities and
have met some of the most impressive
people. I have learned to appreciate
relationships and friendships to a whole
new level. Here is a picture of the
Riverpoint Church Youth group of
Grosse Ile, Michigan. I had
the pleasure of helping Youth Pastor,
Mike Morales take this great group of
young adults to the recent “Acquire the Fire” youth conference hosted in Detroit, Michigan. It is great to be able to help wherever and whenever possible. In short I can say that while I have close to nothing, I really feel, more now than ever, that I have everything. This cliche statement has really become a real saying in my life.
It’s just at that point the Lord amazes me by blessing me with a free truck through a friend of the family. I tell you it just amazes me. So even at the times when I have to ask myself how I am going to make it, the Lord has a great way of reminding me to trust in Him for my everything.
Well, I have written far more than I was expecting to write. I hope that this is an encouragement to you, as we are each challenged to serve one another and live a Christ-like lifestyle in our everyday living.
Again I want to thank you for your continued prayers and support. Your comments and encouragement are also such a blessing.
Be blessed and I pray that the Lord shines His face upon you.