"At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in'
"Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love".
"Naked not only for clothing - but naked of human dignity and respect".
"Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks - but homeless because of rejection".
"This is Christ in distressing disguise"
Mother Theresa
Ever wonder what your destiny is? I often ask myself that question. What is Gods heart for me? What is my ministry to my church family? I have so many desires running around my heart that at times it gets bogged down. Mercy ministry is a huge thing on my heart. I love the poor. I love serving others. Taking care of the orphans and widows greatly affects me. But what is the heart of God for me? What would please his heart? I have a large family that I can minister to, but then I wonder can I do both? Can I minister to the body of Christ and serve God while mentoring my family to be godly? Maybe I need to pray and ask God to put me in a situation where I can teach my kids the love of the father in a very practical way. That would mean more to me than just talking about our Christian walk. These questions greatly affect me. I dont want to live my life working 9-5 building up a nest egg. I want to be out there ministering the love of the father to those who need it. However this scares me as in the past I have gone full tilt only to find myself hurt and confused. I haven't stepped out into faith building ministry for about 7 years now. With that said I still cant get away from the desire to bring the heart of God to people. Not that I would go out of my way to do it right now, but the desire is very strong. There are so many peolpe out there that need to know that God loves them. If I dont tell them then who will hear it. I think as Christians we need to step out of the box we get ourselves into and minister the love of the father to others. I realize that I dont have to go to Africa to minister the love of the father, I only need to minister that love to my neighbors. I have been given so much and I am in essense getting fat on all the nutrients that God is feeding me. Somehow I need to expel the things that God puts into my heart. I think that when I do minister in a way that requires faith to succeed that I would see Holy Spirit power come down to accomplish his heart. I know biblically that God wants me to live a holy and blameless life. It is the practical side that I want to see effective in my life and in the life of my kids.
Tonight I had an excellent time with some great friends. This morning during the message my heart was longing for closer intimacy among the body of Christ. My heart longs for the body of Christ to be the body of Christ and work together and be a true family. This just doesn't happen Sunday mornings. My Sunday mornings consists of getting up, helping my kids get breakfast,Keep them off the gamecube and computer (is that religious?) rushing to church and keeping them at bay so that they don't tear through the church. By the time worship starts,my hearty isn't right anyway.Then it seems that it is a mission to keep your kids still so that they don't 'bother' anyone. I wonder if we don't teach our kids a false perception of corporate worship.
As I was saying I was hungering for greater intimacy one to another. Sunday morning worship needs to precede weekly gatherings.
This evening my family was invited to our friends for supper. To our pleasant surprise they had invited another family over. 6 Adults and 16 childrenin one house...needless to say, there was life there. We fed the kids first, then the six of us sat down to eat. My goodness I don't know if anyone else felt this but that moment brought me close to the fathers heart. THAT was the very thing that I was longing for this morning True friendship happening among friends in a safe environment. For me Church took place when we sat down to eat together. Nothing spiritual, nothing scripted, just being together and enjoying fellowship together. That is the Church I long to see in our midst.
