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Broken Hearts In Bucaramanga
He didn’t even lift his head.
As I squatted down next to him and tried to speak kind words, he heard a slight jingle and slowly opened his hand and pointed it upward. The coins that dropped into his grasp, one of them falling to the ground, didn’t even total a dollar, but it was more than he had seen all day.
Then, I slipped a pamphlet out of my pocket and into his hand. “Good news,” I told him. “Maybe a friend can read this to you. It’s a message from the Bible and from a God that loves you.”
He barely acknowledged me.
The smell of alcohol was so strong. Local businesspeople sneered as they looked on with disgust. Why would I waste such a thing? The money, yes, would probably be used for something that would worsen his situation. I wasn’t sure how he would respond, but I couldn’t just walk by. The fact is, I had already walked by several just like him.
People walked by him all day. Hoards of people walked by him. It’s so easy to write this man off as just another waste of space in our society.
But, how long had he been sitting here?
Where does he call home?
Has he been like this his whole life?
How did this situation start?
What does he live for?
Doesn’t he have anybody that loves him?
Family?
Friends?
Fellow citizens?
…Me?
These questions filled my mind all day and my heart has been broken. Tears swell up in my eyes even as I write.
The truth is, people are desperate. It might not always manifest itself like it did in this man’s life, but people have no hope.
They need hope.
We all need hope. We have a void that must be filled.
Some fill that void with religion, but its hope is empty.
Some fill that void with possessions, but its hope is empty.
Some fill that void with bodily pleasure, but its hope is empty.
And some give up. The void remains empty. There is no hope. Why even try?
But Christ, through his mercy, gives us a perfect hope. I love Romans 15:13 that says:
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
That’s what makes us different. That’s why we can have hope. It’s because our hope comes from the God of hope.
And we keep it to ourselves?
What about the rest of the world?
Are we going to hoard our hope, when Christ died for all?
Our hearts have been broken here. I have been begging God to show me how to best make a difference in this country and in the world. I need his help.
Courage to speak.
Guts to act.
Willingness to be used.
Our hearts are broken.
Is yours?
The Book Of Colossians Visualized
The Book Of Colossians
Have you ever noticed how, as you read scripture, certain words receive more prominence than others? I was reading the book of Colossians this morning, and I couldn’t help but to see how much Christ was mentioned. It’s all about HIM and our relationship with HIM! Isn’t it supposed to be that way?
How much do you talk about Christ?
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Have You Considered Adoption?
Image via Wikipedia
My wife and I have been interested in adoption since before we even met. If the Lord sees fit, we would love to be able to adopt sometime down the road, either domestically or internationally. What a wonderful depiction of the Love of God. Just think of how many Bible verses describe His relationship with us in adoption terms:
- “A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains:” Psalm 68:5-6
- “Thou art the helper of the fatherless. LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.” Psalm 10:14,17-18
- “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” Romans 8:14-16
- “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27
Here’s an article from the popular Colombian newspaper EL TIEMPO that relates the need for adoption in Colombia. There are more and more children being abandoned by their families in not just this country but around the world! They need a family. Will you be their family?
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/boyaca/ARTICULO-WEB-NEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-8281940.html
He Cares About Them
2 Peter 3:9
“For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” Ezekiel 18:32
I think we misunderstand God.
We might say he’s a loving God, but somewhere inside i think many seem to think he likes it when the unjust receive their punishment. That he finds some joy when someone “gets what they had coming” as they are cast into a devil’s hell.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Check out the following verses. Ponder them. Let them break you. Let them bring a tear to your eye. Let them show you the God that hurts for the hurting. The one who died to set them free and to save them eternally.
“But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Psalm 86:15
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Titus 2:11
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:10-15
As one man said, we should never speak about Hell without a tear in our eye!
