Runt-Picker

God came. That's what three days from now is. God came to serve us and to save us. God who has been saving us since Genesis 3. God who has been existing forever. The creator of all things. He came. All powerful God, to be feared and worshipped didn't come in a divine way. He came to serve His sheep. He came in absolute humility. Humility that is shown in the fact that God became a man at all, shown in the way He was born, shown in the way He lived, and shown in the way He died. God came to serve us. In John chapter 5 Jesus goes to be with blind, paralyzed, and lame people, He goes to heal them. In the scriptures they are referred to as 'invalids.' In Mark chapter 2 Jesus tells the people that He came for sinners. Jesus touched lepers and prostitutes. He loves illogically in His life on earth just as He always had. An unwedded, young girl gave birth to Him. Untrustworthy and out-casted shepherds were called by an angel to come see His birth. All the way from the get go Jesus is among invalids. He is a runt-picker. He chose random people from random places. He challenged the law makers. He stood up for injustice. He saved all of mankind. Jesus loves people who are invalid.

This Christmas welcome in the fact that injustice is happening all around us in this corrupt world. Don't be afraid to talk about the people who you see are deemed invalid in our society and in our world. Instead of it being a downer let it be encouragement, because God came, and He loves His people. He wants to use those of us who aren't viewed as invalid to be the voice for those who are. Let the impossible love for broken people that Jesus demonstrates fuel you. Let it change your life. Don't let Christmas be about what the world loves to make it about. Be a runt-picker. Look out for 'invalids' because they're everywhere. Love them in celebration of the fact that Jesus came and loves them and because that's what following Jesus is. Serve them before yourself and choose them because even The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and He chose you.

And when you fail don't forget that grace covers everything we do, and that God came. He's here. We're saved. We're free.

Selfless Servants

A group of high school students from my church recently went out to serve the community of Pomona. My group was sent to a grooming shop on Garey. We will all admit, going there we thought we would be working with animals... But we quickly found out we'd actually be doing the complete opposite.
Once we got there we washed down and scrubbed the cement and cleaned the bathroom inside. These tasks aren't things we would normally volunteer to do, but it wasn't about the job, it was about serving the way Jesus does. So after we'd finished, we asked what else we could do.
With the minimal supplies we had, we decided we would wash the staff's cars. As we washed, a couple of us noticed a man who appeared to be homeless behind a dumpster across the parking lot. He had parked his cart of belongings next to the dumpster and as we watched him we thought he was doing graffiti, but we realized he was actually removing it.
Our church was hosting a homeless ministry event that day and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to invite him. We walked over him, introduced ourselves, and asked him what he was doing. He quickly replied "I'm removing the graffiti. People shouldn't be tagging up the city with graffiti, but tagging it up with Jesus".
We hadn't even told him we were apart of a church, but this man we have never even met, stands in front of us, with all belongings sitting in a small stroller, clothes dirty, and hair tangled, showing us what he is doing. Showing the Lord's love to our city. Showing the Lord's love to us.
Serving the way the Lord serves... Selflessly.
This man's name was James.
James is a perfect example of the way Jesus asks us to serve. It's so easy to become wrapped up in serving and how it makes us feel. We forget that the God we should be serving like, doesn't serve selfishly, but with the concern and wishes of others.
So what's keeping you from selflessly serving? Go be like James. Go be selfless servants of the Lord.
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:3‬ ‭

-Dani