Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. -LORD God
Isaiah 42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it…
As we celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, let us remember Who gave us life, that we are living, aware, breathing, and awake by the grace of God.
Life is not of ourselves. We are not responsible for our existence. God created.
By His grace, we are all here on this Earth, His creation, He created. God is beyond patient with how we steward His creation. He is beyond patient with how we as humanity treat each other, His children.
Job 34:13-14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
We have life and we should be thankful for our lives.
Romans 14:6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
On this Thanksgiving, give thanks to the Lord. Because of Him, we have this opportunity called life.
Matthew 7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister, Australian Labor Party
Bad move in this hour. The Lord’s hand is in motion and I think the Labor Government in Canberra just signed it’s own job termination letter with this. Former PM Morrison’s folks had better be looking at getting the band back together. Do I write this because Yair Lapid is a wonderful and favored by God? That formulation would be simplistic and more bluntly, silly. I am not going to pronounce on Mr. Lapid’s faith (because I do not know his heart), but by Mr. Lapid’s fruit, Matthew 7:20 for the rest.
The government in Canberra, took the decision under PM Morrison to move the nation of Australia, closer to God’s design and agreement. Which means honoring the covenants God has formed. In the case of recognizing Jerusalem as the eternal capital, it was an affirmation of something plainly evident. It was making right an historical fact, that is apart from the covenantal imperative (the central issue).
Under the dispensation of grace, God will not want the people of Australia to suffer for the decision of it’s leadership especially in the urgency of this hour. Though we ARE in the dispensation of Grace, the dispensation of the law still applies in the conduct of mankind overall.
This period of history is one of an interim judgement.
To make an entire people accountable for the errant decision of it’s leadership, I cannot see the Lord permitting that for very long. The grace that the rest of us are extended (when we make a wicked or bad call) will be given to the Australian leadership. But how long it will remain extended is known strictly to Him.
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Deuteronomy 15:1-2 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed.
In today’s world, the verses above are radical financial and economic concepts. All debt, regardless of size, is forgiven at the end of every seventh year. Imagine, a clean financial slate.
Think about how these verses would influence lending and borrowing practices. Larger loans would occur early in the seven year cycle. Debt structure would not look like it does today. The 30 year mortgage would be toast. Loans would likely be much smaller. Personal savings would be promoted. People would be more inclined to live within their means.
Think of all the debt and credit offering practices: home mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards just to mention a few. Debt is oppressive and restrictive to freedom. Consider how each of the above would be financed or paid if debt was forgiven at the end of every seven years. Consider the change in personal spending habits.
Creditors would be more careful how they loaned their money. There would be less loaning of money. Creditors would likely make less irresponsible loans to customers who do not have the means to pay. If implemented today, debt bubbles would be a thing of the past. At the end of every seven years, everyone would be debt free. If debt payments remained at the end of the cycle, it would be forgiven. Poverty would likely be diminished significantly.
Responsibility would be increased on both the lender and the borrower. These practices would significantly cut into corporate banking profits and affect their stock prices. We likely would not see these behemoth corporate banks that dominate our economic landscape today.
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.
Interest free lending would promote national unity and good will toward your fellow countryman. It is a matter of looking after your neighbor and brother. Financial collaboration would be an outcome. People would be more interested in the success of others.
God does not want us to take financial advantage of our fellow man. These loaning practices were built into society by God. He understands the capacity of greed demonstrated by humanity. Don’t shaft your neighbor.
These financial concepts are nowhere to be seen in today’s economic world. Most people are not aware these statutes exist. Would our lives be economically easier if this were in place today? What a concept, it is a universal blessing from God if one loans interest free to their countryman.
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The ultimate example of God’s release or remission is in His Son. Jesus forgives us of our debt, sin.
John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Our transgressions are forgiven as a matter of grace and mercy. Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
He has paid our debt without charging us. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is His payment that allows us to possess eternity in New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).
Why do we believe the words of those that hurt us, but can’t see what those that love us see in ourselves?
If you think those that are hurting you love you, you need to understand that they don’t know how to love. That’s not love or truth. So many lack confidence in themselves because they only hear about the negative that some may see.
Focus on the good in others & build them up. Believe those that are building you up & try to see just a portion of what they see. Praise the positive you see in them. Give them confidence. Confidence is appealing.
Be confident in yourself…
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those that hear.
…I sat in a meeting listening to their plans to reach out to the community. At last I had a moment to speak. I asked, “What about the homeless, the addicts, and the prostitutes who exist outside here along this street?” And that’s where it began.
We started Brown Bag Fridays. We took sandwiches, sometimes burritos, and sometimes $1.00 double cheeseburgers. We would drive up and down the streets of the area and ask if they were hungry. Rarely did anyone say no! But in the rare event that they did say no, we would say, “You can always save it for later,” and they would take it.
We expanded, collecting coats and jackets and socks. We would go out on Christmas Eve and pass out goodie bags and food. On Thanksgiving, we would put together a hot Thanksgiving meal and drive up and down the streets, giving out hot meals.
This was my passion, my calling. I knew it. I knew in my heart that these folks needed us. They would at least eat when we came through.
I would often meet up with my friends, the people I had coexisted with on the streets. My journey on the streets, through all those years, gave me an understanding of their lifestyle. I could empathize with them and understand their needs. I had walked in their shoes and had survived. Now I was filling a need, helping these people to not feel invisible, the way I had all those years. How many times had I wished, even prayed, for someone to pull up beside me and hand me food, with no strings attached? How many times had I wished that someone would help me without preaching at me first, not turn me away for having no shoes? Now I had this huge passion for acceptance, to see those people accepted right where they were.
By this point I was totally blind, completely without sight. I heard her voice. It was her, my nemesis. On three different occasions with three different pimps, we had both worked for the same guy at the same time.
I thought, What will I do? I am blind. I can’t defend myself! My heart raced.
She called me, using my street name, “Hey, Ellie! I’m so glad to see you. I’ve been waiting for you. I’m starved.”
I handed her two sack lunches, and she said thanks. Then she hugged me and kissed my cheek, and said she loved me. She thanked me again.
This is what I had seen in my vision. Those were the words I had heard 17 months prior. The church, my church, was the very church where I had been invited in all those years ago, the only one of those three churches that never ran me off or made me feel unwelcome.
Again, seeing it all brought full circle as I look back through the years, I see that God was always preparing a place for me. God knew the journey I would take, and He knew how it would be used for His Glory.
No matter what your story, no matter what your past, God is preparing a place for you. He knows the journey you have taken and will take. He knows how it will be used for His glory.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
My blindness proved this promise true in my life. My blindness taught me how God created us to work together as a whole for Him and His work. In no way do I see that as a punishment. I learned to see people without the clutter of visual judgment.
Faith believes in something you can’t see or touch. You just know that you know that you know that you know. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve, and mercy is not getting what you do deserve.
When I was sighted, I lived in such a deep darkness. No words can explain it fully. Today my life is full of light. Do I still have hurt? Yes. But God has taken every experience of my journey—prostitution, addiction, prison time, abuse, violence, all of it—and restored me to such a place that I can now help others. Those very experiences provide me with a point of connection to those trapped in the middle of such lives and those on the other side. I get to help these individuals understand what their lives can truly look like.
God has used all of the trauma and the disparity to shape me in so many ways. He has given me a unique voice to lead others to see the underbelly of our society more clearly and help them find ways to better serve these individuals. He has used my experiences to break my heart for the kinds of things that break His. For that I am thankful.
I have invisible scars I will forever carry, but my God is so amazing that when those things are placed in His hands, He can provide healing, love, and restoration. He can change hearts and mend wounds and hurts. He is far better at it than I am. I mean, let’s look at the gravity of it for real.
God is the Creator of all, the King of the entire universe. If He can forgive my mistakes, if He can wipe my slate clean and see the good in me, if He is for me, then who can be against me? I can’t allow human beings who can’t see me as He sees me to inflict harm to my heart as I follow His path for me. After all, it was not a human being who kept me safe on the streets. It was not a human who recovered me from the hopelessness, disparity, and suffering. It was God. I couldn’t see that while in the middle of it all. But I see it now. He was there. He is why I survived.
Being blind has its challenges. I had to relearn everything I ever knew. However, what I knew was defective; it was broken. I mean, I lived in a park outdoors, digging in trash cans and urinating outside. I slept in dirt and washed with random water hoses as I’d sneak into people’s backyards. So, I missed out on a lot of seeing stuff—like what was in stores, or what “normal” things looked like. But take me to my old hood, and I have the visions engraved in my memory; just as my skin holds my scars, my mind holds my trauma.
Because of many of my experiences on this earth, I truly struggled with hope, love, trust, and faith. However, the loss of my sight is something I see as a tool to draw me closer to God and better understand Him. It helps bring me to a place to receive Him as the guiding eyes in my life.
So my blindness grew me. My blindness helped me see. It truly was a blessing. While it is something tragic to some, something others see as a punishment, to me, it is a gift. I am not saying that living without sight isn’t a challenge. It is a nuisance, for sure. But I have vision without sight. I know many sighted who have not learned to walk in faith, and I know many sighted who have neither vision of hope nor the ability to see. Frankly, it is a much greater travesty to live without the vision of hope than to live without physical sight.
In John 20:29, Jesus said, “So you believe because you have seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” (I really like the way the Message translates this.)
Every day I think of my life and its journey. Every day I am so blessed by God’s amazing grace in my life. I am so humbled by the gifts of His grace in blessings He has presented to me.
In no way am I worthy of some of the gifts He has blessed me with. I have learned that humans continue to judge me by my past mistakes, but my God, who is so much greater, has forgiven me. He has wiped my slate clean.
I once had a conversation with an old friend, a strong believer in Christ. This person asked if I thought that my losing my eyesight and having my eyes removed was a punishment for my mistakes.
I suppose we can look at John 9:1–23 for the answer. This is the story of the man who was born blind. The disciples ask Jesus if the man had been born blind due to his parents’ sins. Jesus heals the man and says that the man was here for this time, to be healed. But it was not about the man’s physical blindness; it was about the world’s spiritual blindness.
Had I not been where I was on my own personal walk with Christ at the time of this conversation, the whole notion of my blindness being a punishment might have taken hold of me in a very negative way. I know many disabled persons, many addicts, ex–felons, former or current homeless, current prostituted persons, many hurting and broken people who struggle with God because they have well–meaning Christians ask such questions. These people desperately need to understand God’s hope, light, and love. To someone like this who doesn’t have a strong understanding of God, well, this kind of conversation can be very harmful. It can push the people who need Him most away from the chance for hope, light and the love of Christ!
Needless to say, I had to pause before answering such a question. I laughed and said my blindness was one of the most amazing blessings I had ever received. It was part of what led me to trust Him. It is what allowed me to trust people as I had trusted no one in my sighted life. When I was newly blind, I had to trust strangers to get me to the bathroom. I had to trust strangers in order to get around as I learned how to navigate the world blindly. I learned to walk in faith. For the first time in my life, I learned to be interdependent with others. I had no choice but to put each step and each day in God’s hands. My blindness brought me to God and taught me about faith.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost But now am found Was blind but now I see. —John Newton, “Amazing Grace”
Are you a glass half full or a glass half empty person? Do you look at that glass and feel panic and awareness that it’s nearly empty, or do you look at the glass and celebrate that you still have half of it left? Perspective is everything.
When we consider the battles we face in life, our victories can often be attributed to our attitude even more than the outcome of the situation. It is normal for some crises to initially overwhelm us, but we don’t have to stay there in that place.
Jesus gave us a perfect example when He faced the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He called out to the Father in anguish, knowing His time was nearly over. He says, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me.…”(Luke 22:42, NIV) He shows us that it isn’t a sin to wish away our circumstances for a moment. However, He doesn’t leave it there. He goes on in the same verse to say, “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” He reconciles Himself to God’s great will for His life, for the sake of all of humanity.
The same is true for you. We may not always understand why something happens, but we can be assured that God has a plan for our lives that includes every circumstance we encounter.
Paul found God’s perfect peace by loosening his grip on every fleshly aspect of life and holding on tightly to Christ alone. In Philippians 4:12–13, he writes, “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (NLT)
At the end of the day, our personal relationship to the One who made us is truly all that matters. God loves us so much that He will allow a shift in our comfort zones so that we might find Him and draw nearer to Him. What will it take for Him to fully and completely win your heart?
First, defining what is not Christian giving is necessary. Christian giving is not tithing. Tithing is the practice of giving 1/10 of one’s income for the support of the Levitical priesthood, tabernacle, and temple system under the law.
The Mosaic Law was given to the Jewish people and this was their guideline for moral living and civic law, as a nation with God as their “King”.If the Law was not upheld, punishment occurred according to the infraction.
These statutes are noted in the first 5 books of the Old Testament, which are also called the Torah (Hebrew for instruction).
This is defined in Numbers 18:21-32 and restated in Hebrews 7:5.
Hebrews 7:5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham.
Under the law, tithing was required of produce and livestock, a currency of the day. Tithing is a statute under the Law.
Along side the tithing system, Israel also gave “freewill” offerings in addition to their required giving as a form of worship to God (Exodus 35:21, 29; 1 Chronicles 29:9, 2 Chronicles 35:8, Ezra 3:5, 8:28). This giving was based on “whose heart moved them” and “willingly”, rather than under compulsion of the Law.
Exodus 35:29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD.
The Law, being given as a part of the Mosaic Covenant, was to be replaced by a coming “New Covenant” as promised by the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Therefore, the law is for a specific time period and a code of conduct which ended with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ instituted this “New Covenant” at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) prior to His death & resurrection.
Romans 10 clearly states the end of the Mosaic Covenant in Christ Jesus. Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Photo: Pinterest
As Christians, we are not required to keep the Law, but rather apply the “Spirit” or the principleslaid forth by the Law.
Romans 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Christian living is not a checklist of “dos & don’ts”. Nor isChristiangiving a specific amount according to a statute to follow. This is legalism.
Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.
Paul chides the Galatians for legalism.
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, (Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree).
A reminder to us all, if you practice the Law, you shall live by the Law (Galatians 3:12). This is a serious standard. Do you really want to go there? Do you even want to try and live by the one standard of a tithe?
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
Translated another way, you break one, you break them all. This is reinforcedby James.
James 2:10, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
We are under grace and not under the Law.
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master of you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.
What is the standard of grace giving? Give as you see fit from the heart. Give in a cheerful manner and because you desire to do as such.
2 Corinthian 9:7 Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Hopelessness, helplessness, and victimization can’t be narrowly defined, as proven by this conversation between two ultimately courageous human beings… These conditions exist across the broad spectrum of humanity, and there is only one place to find peace: from the Prince of Peace. —Mike Low (in response to the social media blurb I wrote about the following experience)
Only our God could have facilitated such an encounter. I think of these moments not only as winks from God, but as confirmation that folks are being reached from both sides. If I had not walked the path that I did, God could not have used me in the way that He has.
I spoke at a statewide summit on recovery practices held at a university. Among the other speakers were some people who were well–respected in my state and nationally. After I spoke, I was moved by the extended standing ovation from the audience. Even today, after having been honored with a number of them, such an ovation causes me to tremble in my soul. It is an extremely humbling and tremendous honor, moving me beyond words.
Soon after leaving the stage, I was approached by a woman. She informed me that she was not a professional but had her own reasons for attending the conference—reasons which she did not, at that moment, disclose. She asked me questions about the years I worked the streets in Kansas City, Missouri. She had seen photos of my mug shots. She shared that she lived halfway down the block of Independence Avenue and Spruce, a corner I had been known for working.
She said she and her son had lived there for a number of years. She described how the traffic from the working women kept her son up many nights. I said I was sorry for that experience for her and her family and her son. I validated her feelings.
She relayed that she hadn’t felt safe there. She went on to talk about the men picking up women, the women fighting with their pimps, the police stings, the beatings from the pimps, the numerous scenes she and her son had witnessed in their day–to–day life. Our trauma had become their demons.
As she spoke, she touched my hands. I rested my other hand on top of hers as she continued to speak. She remembered me very well. She remembered driving past me as she went home; she also remembered seeing me on the corner when her son would be getting off the school bus. She recalled watching me lose weight. She remembered the disruption in their home due to the women working that place we called Hooker Hill.
Then she paused, and I heard her sniffle. She gripped my hand and asked me for a hug. She confessed that she never saw past the prostitutes on that corner back then. She hadn’t understood their lives. While listening to my story and my words and watching the impact it had on the professionals who worked with criminals, she watched the crowd engage with every word. She said she saw hope in their eyes.
She thanked me for showing her that change and hope are possible among a population she had previously viewed as hopeless. She was glad I had survived and made it to the other side. She said she was honored to have met me.
We were each validated that day, but for different reasons. The conversation gave us both a chance to heal. Although I don’t remember her from my days on the streets, I do remember the school bus turning the corner. We would step back from the walkway as children would run past us, staring or calling us names or pointing at us.
There was a clear separation between us and the individuals who lived on the very streets where we had existed for years. Never once did we speak to them, nor they to us. Yet we were an everyday part of one another’s lives.
That day in that crowded university, a small chip of wholeness was restored, I believe, for the both of us. Only God’s divine direction could have facilitated such an encounter. Here we both were, so many years after I had worked that corner. It is almost unimaginable that we would encounter each other, miles away from Kansas City, in the most unexpected of places.
I believe that restoration takes on many facets. Wholeness comes in large pieces and small chips. Each one is equally valuable and necessary. That day I felt a connection to a stranger whom I had lived close to for the eight years she and her little boy lived in that house on Hooker Hill. One more little chip of healing took place.
Never underestimate the value of one small act, one simple glance, or one brief conversation. When God prompts your heart to reach out and touch another, do it. In responding, you might be part of the healing in someone else’s life—not to mention your own.
