God's Love Never Takes a Vacation
A few weeks ago, DJ and I picked up hitchhiker and we were able to minister to him. I only wanted to add that I had received a prophetic word about him being a survivor and it turned out that he was, indeed, a survivor of a poverty that had killed many in his family. It's a great encouragement when someone confirms the word.
This past week, my family and I went on vacation to Sri Lanka. The first day there, I was so tired from the flight, I didn't have my Kingdom mind on. The next few days, however, proved otherwise. I started asking the Lord what He wanted to say to the people who were on the beach selling their wares. Now, for most tourists, these people (some beggars) become a real hassle and detraction from their vacations. However, the Lord has been dealing with me in this area of judging others based on appearance, socieconomic level, etc. So, I set my mind to see them as real people for whom Christ died. After doing this and by not judging, I would beat them to the punch to start a conversation and this kind of rattled some of them since they were used to trying to get Westerners' attention. One guy told me that his business wasn't doing so well. I prayed for a blessing on him and declared that he would sell more of this stuff than he had ever done before. Now, some might fault me for not buying anything from him, but I think the longterm favor of God on his business would do more for him than me buying one piece.
There was another guy for whom I got a word for a shoulder. He let me pray for it, though I'm not sure how much we actually communicated.
Another guy, Pilak, had no left leg and was begging on the beach. I prayed that his leg would grow back out and that he'd be able to live normally. I didn't see the breakthrough then, but we all have to start somewhere.
A waiter reminded me of a singer, so I told him that he was a singer and he looked slightly surprised. I encouraged him to keep doing it. Again, not sure how much he actually understood me.
Now, back from vacation, I took my kids to the doughnut store and spoke with a man there and as we were eating, I got the word that he was an avid reader. I told him that I would bring him a Bible to read and he seemed exicited.
On the way from the grocery store, I was packing my car and the man who had washed it was still hanging around the same area. When I saw that he didn't look too busy, I started asking the Lord for words and my left elbow started hurting. We communicated the best we knew how, and it turned out that his elbow was hurting. After I prayed, I had him check and he looked mildly surprised that it wasn't hurting-- or that's how I interpreted his reaction.
Now, I've mentioned several different times throughout this post that I'm not sure if the people I prayed for actually understood me-- such is the cross-cultural life. However, releasing the Kingdom is not dependent on one paticular language.
Moreover, as I reflected about what more I could have done for the poor people, it hit me that there's not one recorded instance where Jesus gave money to the poor. There are only a couple of cases he gave them food. No, He preached to them and healed them without medicine and without charge.
There is a place we arrive at where it's us looking to make a difference and then there's another place where we realize He wants the same thing.
Live Kingdom Now.
This past week, my family and I went on vacation to Sri Lanka. The first day there, I was so tired from the flight, I didn't have my Kingdom mind on. The next few days, however, proved otherwise. I started asking the Lord what He wanted to say to the people who were on the beach selling their wares. Now, for most tourists, these people (some beggars) become a real hassle and detraction from their vacations. However, the Lord has been dealing with me in this area of judging others based on appearance, socieconomic level, etc. So, I set my mind to see them as real people for whom Christ died. After doing this and by not judging, I would beat them to the punch to start a conversation and this kind of rattled some of them since they were used to trying to get Westerners' attention. One guy told me that his business wasn't doing so well. I prayed for a blessing on him and declared that he would sell more of this stuff than he had ever done before. Now, some might fault me for not buying anything from him, but I think the longterm favor of God on his business would do more for him than me buying one piece.
There was another guy for whom I got a word for a shoulder. He let me pray for it, though I'm not sure how much we actually communicated.
Another guy, Pilak, had no left leg and was begging on the beach. I prayed that his leg would grow back out and that he'd be able to live normally. I didn't see the breakthrough then, but we all have to start somewhere.
A waiter reminded me of a singer, so I told him that he was a singer and he looked slightly surprised. I encouraged him to keep doing it. Again, not sure how much he actually understood me.
Now, back from vacation, I took my kids to the doughnut store and spoke with a man there and as we were eating, I got the word that he was an avid reader. I told him that I would bring him a Bible to read and he seemed exicited.
On the way from the grocery store, I was packing my car and the man who had washed it was still hanging around the same area. When I saw that he didn't look too busy, I started asking the Lord for words and my left elbow started hurting. We communicated the best we knew how, and it turned out that his elbow was hurting. After I prayed, I had him check and he looked mildly surprised that it wasn't hurting-- or that's how I interpreted his reaction.
Now, I've mentioned several different times throughout this post that I'm not sure if the people I prayed for actually understood me-- such is the cross-cultural life. However, releasing the Kingdom is not dependent on one paticular language.
Moreover, as I reflected about what more I could have done for the poor people, it hit me that there's not one recorded instance where Jesus gave money to the poor. There are only a couple of cases he gave them food. No, He preached to them and healed them without medicine and without charge.
There is a place we arrive at where it's us looking to make a difference and then there's another place where we realize He wants the same thing.
Live Kingdom Now.
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