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

Please (don't just say) Thank You

Certainly there are a million things to be thankful for. As Christians and non-Christians. As Americans and as people from anywhere else. So don't get me wrong, having a day to celebrate family and all of life's blessings is great. So long as you don't forget to do that everyday. But here is my challenge and my urgent prayer for myself and my family and for you and yours: do something about it. You're thankful for your faith, family, friends, a comfortable home, health, food, pets, a job, your school, your sport, etc.? Please, please, please remember this Thanksgiving that there are people without. Be overly thankful everyday for all of the blessings in your life because God has given you everything and there are people half way across the world and people in your neighborhood who don't have as much. But don't ever stop at just being thankful. Let your gratitude fuel a desire in you to help. Let Jesus fuel a desire in you to care for His lambs. Please. Whether it be relentless and faithful prayer for people who are suffering and barely getting by, or hands on volunteer work, or giving anything you can to help.  Whatever it may be, ask God to show it to you. And then do it. There's no reason not to. Thank you for reading. We love you a lot. Say thank you to Jesus. Then wash His feet.

I Miss Dirt and God Is Good At Loving

So I'm embarrassed to tell you this but I'm going to because it's important. I'm embarrassed because I just now had a realization I should've had a long time ago. But before my realization will make sense I must tell you something very personal about myself. I bare an immense burden. It's the most beautiful burden I can imagine having and I thank God that he allows me to carry it. God has given me a heart for poverty stricken people and for whatever that specifically means for an individual's life. I see videos and pictures and I carry memories of dirt roads, and schools with dirt floors, and homes entirely made from dirt and I weep tears of utter joy. My body aches with longing to be amongst those people, to be in the dirt. I'm physically affected by the amount of love I have for people I've never met. I don't tell you this for my own pride, please don't take it that way. Believe me I've abused this God given, beautiful burden time after time. I tell you this to tell you something greater. Something that points to Jesus. 

Tonight, like so many others, I went through a process of so many emotions felt for people who live in this condition. I realized that I was sitting there overwhelmed because I felt that I needed to somehow 'fix' it. That it was up to me to 'save' them. How ridiculous. If I so firmly believe in a God who provides me with every single thing that I have, why would I worry that he not do the same for others? If I trust that the living God is a good, good Father, why would I limit Him? I constantly have to remind myself how much more He loves His people. I can't even fathom how His heart must break daily for us. How He must ache to help us. How He must ache with love for us. I have to trust His goodness and I have to trust that He knows. That's it. 

-Mary 

Just a Thought

I'm struck by a line in a song called 'Second Chance' by Rend Collective. Please Don't Stop Creating Me. My reflection on this single line has been a long process. I've come to the conclusion that even when we're in a great place with Jesus we should still ask for that line. We should still crave to be closer to Him and want to know Him even better. I'm learning to never and always be content with how close I am with my Maker. Anyway I can have Him is the best, He fills no matter what. But just because I'm filled up or closer to Him than ever before doesn't mean I should stop running towards Him and be content with being in that place for the rest of my life. Does that make sense? Just a thought.  

Beautiful Balance

God is the King of Kings. As a Christian, especially growing up as one, I hear this all the time. But I cannot let myself grow numb to it. God sits on a throne with almighty power. To be worshiped and feared for all of eternity. In perfect holiness He rules over our lives. He is the definition of righteousness. He demands our whole lives. We are to surrender our whole selves. He is the master to our servanthood. He reigns in power and holy perfection. 

God is our good Father. Our intentional Creator. We can't let ourselves forget the intense significance this has in defining who we are. Jesus is the healer to our brokenness. He is the Savior to our sinful hearts. He offers the most precious relationship we could ever be a part of. His character is so sweet and restful. He reigns in love and grace. 

Take one of these paragraphs without the other and you miss who our God is. What a beautiful Father and Friend and Savior we have in Jesus! He comforts us and makes us burst with love. What power we have living inside of us through The Holy Spirit. How aware His holiness makes us of our dirt. He convicts us so that He can make us new. He makes us new so that we can continue to grow closer to Him. He gives us the most redeeming and powerful and beautiful kind of love. 

There is a necessary balance to be found in the character of Christ, and how we as messengers must portray Him to those who don't know Him. It is the most beautiful balance there is. It is the balance that frees me from the world. The balance that causes me to completely surrender who I am to Jesus over and over again. 

Forgiveness

Working with kids never fails to teach me endless lessons. Today I admire their ability to so quickly forgive anyone and everyone. 

Almost everyday one of the kids doesn't give their friend the piece of candy they wanted or doesn't choose them to be on their team. That then results to pouting or tears and that's when I get to involve myself in the situation. Almost daily I get to hear an, 'I'm sorry' and an, 'I forgive you' just moments after the conversation even began. Then five minutes later I get to see the same two kids playing together. It's so refreshing. It's so inspiring. 

Imagine a world where we forgave like this. We would be spared so much hurt, as individuals, as a nation, as a population. It's easy to write all of this off as kids being kids and getting upset over small issues, and in the past I have. But the longer I've been around these kids and observed them I've come to the realization that to them these are some of the things that matter most. To them when a friend flippantly says they don't want to be friends anymore because they didn't get candy is a huge deal. To them they are losing a friend and it's hard to see passed that in second grade.

Picture a world where people so easily forgave the things that hurt them and so easily made amends with the people who did it to them. The way Jesus forgives you and me time and time again. 

Today I am so inspired and challenged by the way seven year olds live their lives, I hope you are too. 

Luke 18:17