The less we look to Jesus, the more we are blinded by what we think the world has to offer us.  Instead of seeing the crippled person on the street corner, we’re only seeing the busy schedule ahead of us.  When we don’t see Jesus, we can dismiss the hurting person we share a cubicle with because they’re too loud on the phone or they aren’t friendly in the morning. We can look past people, blinded by our own needs.

There was never a time Jesus looked past a person because He was too busy or had a hidden agenda.  He never turned a hurting person away because He was too busy working or He was late for a meeting…or for lunch.  The substance of His life was all about those people.

When we constantly look to Jesus, in all His compassion and humility, then we can see the people He gave His life to.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:37-38 NLT

Here in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe the team is staying with a family that runs a lodge.  The lodge has separate rooms and a dining area for the guests and the kitchen is the meeting point of the family house and the lodge.  We’ve been staying here for a few weeks and so it seems that we’ve become a part of the family that runs the lodge.

Last Sunday, I stayed behind as everyone ventured out to run errands.  I was so excited to be alone, and all I wanted to do was read my Bible, pray, and play worship music. I decided to go get a glass of water before I started my Sunday morning routine.  As I entered the kitchen, I saw a huge pile of dishes.  Of course, I ignored them.  Then there was this little voice inside me urging me to do the dishes.  Of course, I ignored that voice.  Besides, would God actually want me to give up my time with Him to clean dishes?  How absurd!

Finally, I gave in to that tiny voice inside and did the dishes.  As I started to clean, the daughter of the lodge owner walked into the kitchen with her young baby. She saw me doing this and insisted that she would do it.  But as I looked at her, I realized how tired she was as a result of her sick child and her house guests.

Sometimes I lose focus.

I think the Lord was trying to teach me that doing the thing that please Him is not always about our needs, but the needs of others.  I am not down-playing the importance of getting to the know the Lord more through prayer and reading His Word, yet if we ignore the needs of others because we need to be “closer to the Lord” then we’re being more selfish than spiritual.

I only say all of this because I’ve noticed this behavior in myself; I know I need to change.  My life needs to be more focused on the needs of the people that surround me daily.

Is there anything you can do to promote the needs of someone around you?

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” 1 John 3:16-18

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments.  Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;”

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, his description of love reflects the description of the unconditional love of God.   I’m not saying I would make this a religious text, yet there’s so much truth in this passage.

God’s love does not change; it remains the same.  It’s not moved by what we do, or don’t do. God’s love has always been the same in relation to us; it’s only us who changes in relation God’s love.

Even before we were a thought to any one person on this earth, we were thought of and loved by God.  Jesus came for us, suffered humiliation, died a criminal’s death, and this was all compelled by love.  God’s love has never been conditional.   Just as Shakespeare said, “it is an ever-fixed mark.”

Although Romans 5:8 says it best, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Be encouraged that today God’s love for you is unchanging, unending, and unconditional – it” is never shaken.”

I can’t accomplish what He’s called me to do without His help.  That seems to be an obvious statement, but how much have I tried to do on my own?  The answer – a lot!

I preach about grace, but do I really understand it?  I want to.  I preach about how wonderful it is, how we need it, how it’s available to us, and I even see it at work in my life when I’m ministering to others; yet I keep trying and failing and trying and failing.  This endless cycle is always in the same few areas. I’m in no way in the midst of a moral failure, but I understand Paul’s statement in Romans 7,

“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love God’s law with all my heart.  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This is why we need Jesus, because we can never be good enough in ourselves.  We can strive and strive and strive, but without Him, there is never enough power for us to win the battle within us. We can even say, “But I have faith that can move mountains!  There is nothing impossible when you believe!”  But you’re forgetting one thing…

It’s easier for people (including me) to understand faith because, although faith is a gift, it requires part of us.  We must believe; we must act; we must receive.  Faith moves us to receive Christ, to understand His promises, and to live our lives with purpose.  Faith is a wonderful thing, yet we have faith because of God’s grace (His favor or ability).

Whatever you’re going through right now, or struggling with, quit trying. Come to the end of yourself.  It’s good to be at the end of yourself, because that’s where God can begin.

Grace is the glue that holds us together.  It’s what sustains our lives – both physically and spiritually.  It’s how we become the person God intends us to be.  Only by God’s grace can we do the greater works.  Jesus needed God’s grace.  We need God’s grace.

I wouldn’t be where I am if it were not for God’s grace.  I look at my life and where I was 6 years ago; I was lost, broken and trying to live life without God’s help. There is no way I could have climbed out of that pit of despair if it wasn’t for God’s grace.  I would not have navigated my way to the job I had, the ministry I volunteered in, and ultimately to here in Africa if it wasn’t for His grace.  Sure, faith is involved, but the reason we can have faith in God and His promises is because He has poured out His grace in our lives.

God’s grace is bigger than what we are not.  The smallest measure of God’s grace is much greater than our greatest strength and it is able to overcome our greatest weakness.

I’ve lived without God’s grace, and now, with His grace.  I would never want to go back to a graceless life.  I can’t forget God’s grace.

Can you see God’s grace at work in your life?  If you can’t, realize that you’re alive because of His grace.  Thank God for His great grace in your life.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10

But, I wish they could understand what they really need.

I also see the faces of young people, all over the world, rising up not to bring freedom in the form of a government, but to introduce the world to true freedom.

True freedom does not come through military coups, democratic governments, or a lack of government.  It’s a condition of the heart and it fills our mind with peace even in the face of hardship.  This freedom is one that comes only through Jesus Christ.

Let’s be the face of a different uprising. Let’s continue to use our passion and desire for Jesus to bring true freedom to this world.  Let’s show the world that there is truly hope that can’t come through a new president or a different form of government.

Let’s introducing the world to what they really need.

Jesus.

As you may notice there’s a floating cloud suspended just above and around the top of the crowd.  This is not the glory of God descending upon the crusade – it’s dust! (You may have already guessed, white is not a good color to wear here.)

There are two things that make the dust of Africa gather in the air like a thick mist…car tires and dancing feet.  This dust is what fills my senses, my hair, and even at times my eyes. If you’ve never seen dust gather in the air under the pretense of feet dancing to the beat of rhythmic African music, you’re missing a memorable experience.

To me the dust of Africa is magical in how it shows it’s face in the presence of an African drum beat.  Even though at times I’m coated with a thin layer of dust, for me, it’s usually associated with something good – dancing feet on a dusty soccer field.   And even if others see this dust as a nuisance, it’s a part of Lusaka and Zambia and Africa.

Today I did not feel like….

Getting out of bed….

Greeting my team members this morning….

Doing things for others….

Trying to come up with a blog….

Smiling at the person next to me who was blowing cigarette smoke in my face….

The list could go on, and I’m sure you have a list of things you don’t feel like doing today.  The problem with this thinking is that if we did everything we felt like or didn’t felt like doing, we would be living only for the moment,and our existence would be pointless and shallow.  Basically, we would be living for ourselves.

When we live only for ourselves we let very temporal situations and emotions rule our lives, we treat others based on how they treat us, we might set aside certain obligations in favor of sleep, or we may eat one too many slices of pie.   This is called living according to the flesh which is simply letting our bodies and emotions control our lives rather than what’s meant to control us – our spirit (that part of us that has been remade into His image).

If we can learn to set aside what we want at the moment in favor of what God has called us to do, live our lives for Him, then we can accomplish His will on this earth.

There will always be things you don’t feel like doing, but we have a choice whether our spirit or flesh will win.

What is it that you don’t felt like doing today?

 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. Romans 8:5-8 The Message

I’m in Africa so you might think that every part is impoverished, but that is not the case.  I’m sitting in a café right now and the only indication that I’m in Africa is there are more black people than white.  Drive a few miles and you’re in a township that is built around an open sewage treatment plant.  It does not look or smell very nice, and there are children playing and people living near this area filled with human waste. I drive past this every day, and each day I wonder what it is that I can do to help bring change. Should I do what most white missionaries do?  I could give them some mosquito nets, blankets, or feed them a meal, but I know that’s not the complete answer.

There are needs everywhere I turn, so one day when I was feeling overwhelmed by all this I asked God, “What do you want ME to do?”  Inside of me I knew what the answer was.  He sent me here to give them the truth of His Word, the only true thing that can change their life. Along with this, I knew that I could not neglect the fact that I am blessed to be a blessing.

I think this will explain it best….

Some want to keep the stuff about helping the poor but take hell out of the picture.  Sometimes people even take Jesus out of the picture – fighting poverty, they believe, is an inherent virtue whether or not it’s rooted in the gospel. 

Why do we assume that it must be one or the other?  Let’s keep the teeth of both truths.  There’s a literal hell, and helping the poor is essential.  Not only did Jesus teach both of these truths, He saw them as necessary and interrelated. 

This excerpt is from Chapter 5 of Erasing Hell by Francis Chan.  This is the most thought-provoking book I’ve read in a while.  This chapter has really caught my attention, and these few paragraphs in particular.

Many times as Americans we want to throw money at a need instead of fixing the root of the problem.  There’s many organizations that give material needs, but then ignore what people really need.  People need to hear about Jesus – Period.  When that message does not come along with the humanitarian aid, people are going to hell with a full stomach.  Feed and clothe the poor, but give it along with the one thing that will change their lives and eternity for the better – Jesus.

Are you holding off on your dream because it would demand more of your time, money, resources…your life?  Are you pushing aside your dream because, well, you’re comfortable where you are right now?

If you have a dream and you think you can get away with not sacrificing or changing any part of your life, it’s probably not a dream worth having.

So you’re thinking, “This is coming from the girl who’s a missionary.  I guess we must all have to give up our lives and move to Africa or Mongolia!”  Well, most of the people I know aren’t meant to be missionaries, so no, that is not what I’m talking about.  Your dream might be to stay at home with your children rather than work, but you’re afraid to give up the extra income.  Your dream may be to start a ministry at your church, but well, it’ll take up too much time.  What if your dream is to take that job with a non-profit group that is changing your community, but you can’t justify leaving the “amazing” job you have.  Maybe you have a dream to plant a church, start a business, be a missionary, or…..you fill in the blank.

Changing the world involves changing ourselves first, which will always involve changing some part of our life – sacrificing something that might be dear to us.  The things we hold onto will usually have no significance to us on our death bed, but right now we can’t see past how truly small they are in light of eternity.

The dream that God has for humanity is bigger than any of us could imagine!  God’s sacrifice to the world was Jesus and Jesus’ sacrifice to us was His life! We will never come close to the sacrifice that God gave for His dream.  Every great dream requires an equally great sacrifice.