Homeless During the Holidays

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ (Matthew 25: 34-45)

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     I'm sitting here thinking about how thankful I am to God for everything He's done for me. As the rain hits the window I think of the many people this Thanksgiving who don't have shelter from the rain.  How easy is it to have faith and know that God is my provider when I am comfortable? And how hard must it be to have faith and praise God when I am trying to pull together my cardboard box for shelter from the cold and rain when it is already too wet to stand up right.  Oh my God I pray that You would move in the lives of those who are going through some very challenging times during this holiday season.  People tend to look on the homeless but if you talk to one you may find out that their story is really not much different from yours.  I have talked with homeless people on several occasions and I have found that many desire to be productive citizens again.  Some have lost jobs through the recession and after 6 months of zero income they find themselves and their families on the streets (I was out of work for a year and a half but thankfully I had somewhere to go). Others have had their bodies ravaged by mental disorders that caused them to lose touch with reality (that's what happened to me but I had somewhere to go when it did). Others have found themselves victim to unfortunate situations where they may have lost businesses after years of thriving profits.  There are even so many who've fought valiantly for a country that has forgotten about them after they returned home.

     The truth is that as we sit in our warm, comfortable homes in our middle and upper class neighborhoods, going to our beautiful churches every Sunday and Wednesday and hang out with our wonderful friends, we never know when hard times will hit us.  So ask yourself this question: How many paychecks can you go without before you find yourself and your family on the street? Your answer, more than likely, will be like a a lot of us.  Most Americans are only 2 paychecks away from being homeless.  So take some time this year to help someone homeless.  You can do it in the smallest of ways.  Pray for them and with them that they accept Jesus.  Go volunteer at a soup kitchen. Donate clothes to non-profit organizations. Visit a homeless shelter and learn some of their stories.  It may help you to have more compassion for those who are going through a storm.  Donate money when you can, even if it is only $1 or $5.  You would be surprised at how much a small amount can bless someone else.  Save up your change and donate it to a homeless shelter.  These organizations rely on donations from the community to keep their doors open. 

     If you can't look on an unfortunate person and not have compassion then I would really have to question whether or not you have truly been touched by God, especially if you are a Christian and a believer.  Help in whatever way you can.  It doesn't have to be a grand gesture.  Just whatever you can do.  Homeless people need our prayers, but they need our love as well.  They need money, food, clothing, and a nice warm bed most of all.

     Say a prayer for someone else today.  Believe me, there were times when you were going through when I promise you someone said a prayer for you.  How else would you have made it out of what you were going through? Think about it. 

God bless you,
Robert T Sells
http://www.robertsellsonline.com/
www.reverbnation.com/theanointedpoet

So God Gave You the Victory, You Gonna Brag Now?

I can remember when my wife and I first started in the poetry ministry the Lord gave us we faced so much rejection. We faced rejection from our friends, some family members, strangers, and even our church including some pastors. This shocked me because I thought that if I was doing what God told me to do then everyone should just fall in line with the program and do what God told them to do. I mean He put this ministry on our heart to do for Him so automatically the whole universe is supposed to line up with God. If they don’t then they are against God! Well that’s what I thought early in my Christian walk. But the truth is the devil is going to use people to get in your way before you can build up the faith to walk in God’s purpose for your life. The devil’s job is to deter you from doing what you’re supposed to do. And what better way to do that than by using fellow believers, even your own pastor, to discourage you.

During your journey on your way to God’s will for your life you will encounter many people, situations and things that will come against you. They’re supposed to do that. In John 10:10, Jesus told His disciples, “In this world you WILL have troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So what Jesus was saying is that because God spoke a word over your life the devil now has the right to come and test you and distract you from following God into your purpose. So now you’ve withstood all of the painful trials the devil took you through and now you’re prospering in every area of your life. God is expanding your ministry into other areas and you’re being called on to go to other countries to minister. Wow!! Here’s the point when the devil can step in. You go back and show that pastor or fellow church members that you made it in spite of what they tried to do to you.

Now you have done 2 things: you’ve opened a door for a haughty or prideful spirit to enter your life, and you’ve also opened a door for an envious or jealous spirit to enter into the lives of the ones you “bragged to”. When God blesses you, don’t go back and brag to others what you’ve done in spite of them. This is not the nature of God. But remain humble and allow God to reveal to everyone what He has done in your life and ministry in His time and His way. God will use the success of your ministry to show others what He can do in your life when you are obedient to Him. But it’s not about getting those folks back for making your path more challenging. It’s about spreading the good news of the Kingdom of God through the ministry that God has birthed in you. Step back and allow God to do what He does best. He doesn’t need your help and you just may open a door to allow curses to be spoken over your ministry if you move ahead of God. When you maintain a spirit of humility, God will exalt you in due time.

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)



© 2010 Robert T Sells – all rights reserved

God Spoke Over Your Life, Now What?

  

     When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become instant heirs of the promise of Abraham. What was this promise? God told Abram in Genesis 12:2-3, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God promised Abram that He would make his name great. He said He would pour out a blessing that there wouldn’t be enough room to receive. Now look at Genesis 13:1-2. Did God keep His promise? It says, “So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.” Read Genesis chapters 12 & 13 at the link below:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%2012,13&version=NIV

     Clearly God had a plan for Abraham to make him wealthy. God spoke over his life when he was 75 years old and told him He would make Abram a “father to many nations”. God kept this promise even though Abram tried to hurry the process along. Since his wife, Sarai, was barren and wanted to fulfill God’s promise she had him sleep with Hagar, his wife’s servant, to give birth to his heir. Out of this union came Ishmael, but he wasn’t the heir God promised. Sometime around Abraham’s 100th birthday God opened up Sarai’s womb (whom He now gave the name, Sarah) and she gave birth to a son and they named him Isaac. This was the child that was truly the heir through which God would fulfill His covenant to Abraham.

     I believe what the Lord is saying here is that we have to cling tightly to the things that the Lord promised us during our times of prayer and communion with God. He is outside of time so when we ask according to His will we immediately receive that thing that we’ve asked for. So just like Abraham (who was named Abram before his established covenant with God) had to leave his people, his family and the things he knew in order to receive his blessing, sometimes God will require us to make a move to get to the place where the blessing is in order to receive it. That may mean leaving a church we’ve been with for years or leaving our parents’ home, even when it feels uncomfortable. God wants to get us to a point where 2 things are happening. First, we trust Him only, which increases our faith; and also because He wants to remove the distractions the devil is trying to put in front of us through our loving family members.

     So trust God and believe He has already delivered the promises He spoke over your life. God answers prayers. And He wants you to operate in the purpose He has intended for your life. But in order to get the promises of God, we have to stretch ourselves by putting ourselves in a position where we have to depend on God and not man. It is then that we will meet the blessings of God in the place where He designed for us to have them. Glory to God!

(c) 2010 Robert T. Sells - all rights reserved