Since
this blog is being read in over 30 countries, we are greeting one different
country every time a post is written. This week we say, “Bonjour!”
to our brothers and sisters in France.
Je
vous donne un commandement nouveau:
Aimez-vous les uns les autres; comme je vous ai aimés, vous aussi,
aimez-vous les uns les autres. A ceci
tous connaîtront que vous êtes mes disciples, si vous avez de l’amour les uns
pour les autres. Jean 13:34-35
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| Mari! |
2015
New Year
She was nervous – very nervous. On some nights, she had not been able to
sleep. She was about to do something she
had never done in her entire life.
To you and me, it might have been a simple
matter. But, she was going through a
door she had never entered before. Mari said
she would not do this unless the Lord had called her to do it. She felt the calling; the Lord speaking to
her heart, calling her to do something that brought great fear in her life.
Paul didn’t think twice about preaching
the Word to the homeless – neither did Heather.
Mari would say to me, “Jean-Luc, I’m so
nervous.”
It was a big step for her. I understood her fear.
Three minutes later, she would look at me
again, shaking her head, “Jean-Luc, I’m so scared.”
This went on for at least a month, for I
had given her that much time for her to prepare to give her testimony to the
homeless during our end-of-the-month service.
“Mari,” I would respond, “these are your
peers that you’re with every day; the ones you have no qualms about
straightening up when they misbehave!”
“This
is different. I don’t want to make a
mistake – to mess up God’s Word,” she would say. “I’m so scared, I can’t sleep.”
How do you tell a homeless child of God to
die to self and carry her cross? She already
slept in the street (a camp), ate when someone gave her food, and lived in the
cold reality of the dangers of the street.
She trusted God for her salvation, her daily bread and her safety. She
was a hundred times more trusting in Christ Jesus than any involved, card
carrying, Christian church member attending church on Sunday (morning and
evening), Wednesday and Friday evening worship meeting!
Mari already knew the second part of Galatians 2:20:
“The
life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of god, who loved me and
gave himself for me.”
The homeless cannot make it in the street
without this truth inscribed in their inner heart. Now I needed to gently re-emphasize the first
part of that verse to Mari, our disciple in the making;
“I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
She gave herself to
preaching her testimony on December 28th. She had Paul make cards with the Lord’s Prayer
on one side and the “new” command Jesus gave us in John 13:34-35 on the other side;
“A
new command I give you: Love one
another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this all men
will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Mari is handicapped, but
she is full of the love of God. I see
that in her. She is a disciple.
A week before her preaching, she shared
with me, “Jean-Luc, I’m so nervous I can’t eat.”
The morning of the service, having repented
of her sins, she offered to the Lord a sacrifice of praise – she did not drink
(her handicap). She wanted to be sober
to give the Word of God. It was a great
sacrifice on her part! Don’t laugh – it was.
She gave her testimony on the baptism of
repentance. They all listened to her
with rapt attention. When she was done,
they all gave her a rousing round of applause.
She and I have been talking about this “first”
in her life since that day. Mari has
changed a lot in the past two years I have known her.
She wants to preach again, in spite of her
fears.
Fear made her feel uncomfortable, but did
not paralyze her. She overcame her fears
through faith in Christ Jesus. She died
to this world a little bit more, and became alive in Christ just that much
more. Her faith in Jesus grew to the next
level and she now wants to do more to glorify His Holy Name.
How about you?
If a handicapped homeless person can
overcome lifelong fears and stand up to give her testimony, how much more should
you rise up to offer your testimony of Jesus Christ in your life. That’s all that’s asked of you – that you, as
a witness to the goodness of Jesus Christ, should give your testimony to a
hungry, lonely and fearful world. You might
fear, but having been “crucified with Christ” will give you the victory and prevent
you from becoming paralyzed and uselessly sitting on the sideline.
Let this be the year when you boldly proclaim
the Name of the Lord louder than you ever have before. It can start with you saying to everyone, “God
bless you,” instead of, “Have a nice day!”
And it can end with you preaching the Word of God beyond the church
walls… into the street... and to the least of these.
To 2015… The Revival year!
“Blessed
is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he
will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
Good night y’all, and God
bless you.
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| God blesses the animals, too! Leila's dog has a new, homemade, pink collar! |
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