Good morning and happy last Saturday of July. The calendar is on warp speed this year for some reason. I do hope that you are seeing ways in which the Lord is at work in your life even in the midst of all the craziness. If not, maybe it is time for a bit of self-evaluation relative to your spiritual life.
Almost every week I have the privilege of doing a Bible study with the kids at the Life Saver Center Orphanage in Haiti. It is one of the positive ways to use technology. A lot of the other ways aren’t so positive. But using Zoom has been a good way to stay connected with the kids since it is nearly impossible to go visit them. If you haven’t kept up on the news lately, Haiti is in serious trouble. Port au Prince is resembling a war zone. Rival gangs are fighting for territory. Hundreds of people have been killed in the last couple of months, many of them innocent bystanders. Women have been raped, children abused and killed, and whole neighborhoods burned down. Fortunately, the orphanage is located just outside of the city so our kids and staff have been safe. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for brother Jacques and the staff to get the supplies that they need. Of course, prices continue to rise quickly. It is a very difficult time. And yet, in the midst of that, there is a beacon of refuge called the Life Saver Center. The kids are cared for, and they are taught God’s Word. I would encourage you to add them to your prayer list and ask God to continue to protect and provide for them.
The other night I was starting our Bible study and asked a few of the kids to share what they hope to do with the life God has given them. Several answers included becoming an engineer, a nurse, and an electrician. Then another young lady stood up and shared. And her answer was incredible. She said that she wants to start a school and help the very poor. Think about that for a moment. She is around 14 years old and is growing up in an orphanage. And her desire is to help the very poor. Isn’t that incredible? I mean, no one would blame her if she wanted to get an education, get a good job and move away from the poverty. But that is not what her heart desires. She wants to help people. She wants to help those that are very poor. In Haiti, there are a lot of them. Many people live on the equivalent of $ 2 per day. It is subsistence living in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Since I heard her say that I can’t get it out of my mind. I am praying that God will allow her to fulfill her vision for a school and helping the very poor.
Personally, I also find it rather convicting. A young girl in an orphanage thinking about sacrificing to care for the poor to serve the lost and the least of these. Wow. Maybe she has a better understanding of Jesus’ teachings than I do. I have often wondered how much I am willing to sacrifice for the advancement of the Gospel. In this area, God has been working on me for years. Michelle and I downsized a few years ago. We donated, sold, or gave away a lot of stuff. We live in a townhome that is around 40 years old. I drive a little 20-year-old truck. We intentionally became bi-vocational a couple of years ago to bring on additional staff at the church. And yet, compared to most of the world, we are wealthy. We have a nice place to live, food to eat, running water, access to healthcare, and our city is relatively safe. And yet the questions remain the same, “How much is enough?” and “How do we use what God entrusts to us for His glory, for the advancement of the Gospel?” I do know this – there are people dying and going to hell all around the world, and there are people that are desperately poor and in need. Thinking about it in those terms frames things in the proper perspective. Seriously, in light of eternity, our own and the others in this world, our priority should become obvious. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to do something about it.
Consider the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 6:
19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasureson earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life spanby worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of Godand his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
From our neighborhoods to the nations,
Pastor Larry
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