How do you view those around you?

This is a Chapter out of my book ive been working on.
I thought it might help someone out.
enjoy!

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Have you ever sat in one place for a long period of time and watched people walk by? Or watched the expression of a person’s face as they sat across the way from you? I’m not talking about 10 or 15 min; though I would recommend trying this some time in short increments. I’m talking about an hour or two. After about 30 min. you will start to wonder what these people’s lives are like; the issues and tribulations they go through. Such an event happened to me while I was stuck at the DMV for nearly two hours:

There! That middle aged gentlemen with the reading glasses on and with the newspaper opened to the business section. Would he be a pleasant conversationalist? What does he do for a career? Hum … the Business section. Maybe he is a business owner. Or maybe he Owens stocks and hes checking how the market did yesterday. I bet you hes excellent with his finances; his loosened, clean cut suit suggests he is.

What if he were a Christian? Then he might understand the Lord’s desire for mankind to be good stewards with the recourses He gives us. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that was his calling? To help people all over the nation, even the world, straighten out their finances. To help people become better stewards with the funds the Lord provides us with. Even to help teach people how to become joyful givers. Oh what an impact he could have in the world for Christ.

Then I’m interrupted by an elderly lady, about eighty years old, passing by right in front of me. She sits down a few chairs down from me. I wonder about all the experiences she has gone through in life. What she has seen, heard, touched. She looks like she could be a grandmother; she walks proudly as a woman who has accomplished much. I wonder what her grandmotherly advice to her children and grandchildren was. “Be careful of men, they are a bunch of hounds dear.”, or “don’t spend it all in one place”. She reminds me of a lady I met in Hawai’i. she was always giving the young women in the church a good story of how she met her husband of 50 years. Or about the time they lost everything they had and had to put their trust in the Lord. Wonderful edifying stories to help young ladies grow to be the jewels God made them to be.

I wonder if this lady next to me had helped any young women in the church with any stories of her own trust in the Lord. I hope she knows the Lord. No disrespect intended, but she will be face to face with Him soon. I hope she knows the Lord. I hope she knows the Lord.

As she gazes up, she snarls at a young Hispanic man in his mid twenties covered with tattoos. The young man had a hat on backwards, a sports tank top on, and grey dickey shorts on. His buddies came in with him, dressed the same. He swore a lot and made quite a few profane gestures. What if he had just recently gotten out of prison? His tattoos seemed more like gang markings then colorful art designs. I can only imagine his life growing up as a kid and the troubles he could have gone through. Did he have any choice in how he turned out? Maybe his parents were gang members too. Maybe he had best friends die in firefights in the middle of the street. I had met a Christian that looked and acted like this young gentlemen once before. However, his actions spoke of love and that of a different life style: Jesus Christ’s.

What if the Lord brought this young man in the DMV line to himself and convicted him? What if later that day this ex-convict, gangster gave his life to the Lord? What an impact he could make on the world. Going into all the prisons sharing the Gospel with those he could relate closely with. What if he was called to hit the streets and was empowered to stop violence on the street in the name of love and Jesus? What an impact.

I had almost two hours to look at lots of people and wonder what their life would be like if they were Christian. What if everybody in this room were God fearing, sacrificial, brotherly loving Christians? After all, the Lord can do anything, right? What would the conversations sound like? Would more people be able to get their transportation documents in order and get in and out faster at this DMV? (Somehow, I doubt it; but I can dream can’t I?)

I wondered why God was revealing these things to me. I hoped for my number to be called soon because I couldn’t bare to see any more people the way my Lord did. Then I remembered a prayer I had prayed a week prior. I prayed that the Lord would open my eyes and show me people the way he saw them. I had no idea that He would allow me to see what He could do through people if only they remember Him, accept Him, and surrender to Him. I was over whelmed at the potential of everybody in the room. What kept them from reaching that potential? Why weren’t they living life the way it was meant to be lived? The Lord whispered to my heart: “Because you haven’t invited them yet.”

I sat with deep regret because I knew the reason wasn’t because they believed themselves to be too good to run to God, or even that they didn’t want to abandon their worldly lifestyles. But was because I hadn’t talked with them yet, listened to their story yet, or even loved them yet.

Somebody in our lives once took the time to ask how you were doing. Took the time to give you a bible or share the Gospel with you. Does God expect the same out of us with strangers? With the sinners around us? Is not reconciliation available to our enemies? How can we offer them reconciliation if we therefore treat them as such? Is not our message LIFE in Christ? I leave you with only one last question. How will you view the next sinner passing by you on the street?


“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

Romans 5:10-11

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Your Brother in Christ,
D.W. Green
Jeremiah 1:12
"I am ready to perform My word." Says the Lord God.

What's in a Name?

"Now if once we allow people to start spiritualising and refining, or as they might say ‘deepening’, the sense of the word Christian, it too will speedily become a useless word. In the first place, Christians themselves will never be able to apply it to anyone. It is not for us to say who, in the deepest sense, is or is not close to the spirit of Christ. We do not see into men’s hearts. We’ cannot judge, and are indeed forbidden to judge. It would be wicked arrogance for us to say that any man is, or is not, a Christian in this refined sense. And obviously a word which we can never apply is not going to he a very useful word. As for the unbelievers, they will no doubt cheerfully use the word in the refined sense. It will become in their mouths simply a term of praise. In calling anyone a Christian they will mean that they think him a good man. But that way of using the word will be no enrichment of the language, for we already have the word good. Meanwhile, the word Christian will have been spoiled for any really useful purpose it might have served." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Preface)

What's in a name? When people say "There goes that christian walking down the street," do they just mean a good person? or do they understand the power behind being called a christian. In these days i think not, and neither did C.S. Lewis. The word, or title, christian has lost its potency to the unbeliever. As Lewis revealed, it has become a dead word; a word that "is not going to be a very useful [or effective] word."

I would love to respectfully prove C.S. Lewis wrong this Thanksgiving. While with your in-laws and loved ones this Thanksgiving, will you be viewed as, christian: The good guy? or christian: The man/woman of God? Do your relatives see the power of Christ in your life? Are you re-defining the word "Christian" to mean what it really means this Thanksgiving?


Your Brother in Christ,
D.W. Green
Jeremiah 1:12
"I am ready to perform My word." Says the Lord God.

Good Questions

"Do you desire to speak for Jesus—how can you unless the Holy Ghost touch your tongue?Do you desire to pray? Alas! what dull work it is unless the Spirit maketh intercession for you! Do you desire to subdue sin? Would you be holy? Would you imitate your Master? Do you desire to rise to superlative heights of spirituality? Are you wanting to be made like the angels of God, full of zeal and ardour for the Master's cause? You cannot without the Spirit"
- Charles Spurgeon; Morning and Evening


These are good questions to ask ourselves, and see where we stand in our relationship with Christ and the world around us. Lets meditate on these questions today.

Your Brother in Christ,
D.W. Green
Jeremiah 1:12

Forgiveness and Consequence

“And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’” - 2 Samuel 12:13-14

First King David became lazy by not being with his army while at war, and staying home; Then He found himself gazing at a beautiful woman; he summoned her, and they both committed adultery together, in which she became pregnant; Then David devised a plan to trick her husband into laying with her so that he would think the child was his; when that did not work, he devised another plan to get him killed. When this had happened, He and Bathsheba got married.

Each sin eventually leads to another, more destructive sin. All of this could have been diverted if he had stuck to his duties as King and led his army into battle, or if he would have just diverted his wondering eyes towards Bathsheba. There would have been no adultery, no deceit, no murder.

However, He recognized all these trespasses and came to the Lord and repented whole heartily (Psalm 51). The Lord forgave him; however there were consequences still to be dealt with. This is a warning to us. Though we know we serve a loving, forgiving God, we must also remember that we serve a holy God. We might still have to deal with the consequences of our sins, forgiven or not. In fact it’s a sign of his continuing love. Like a father to a son, David had to learn a lesson. And so do we. Sin has consequences that we should think about before we jump into any sinful situation. Yes, the Lord forgives us, but lets not let grace abound (Romans 6:1).

Your Brother in Christ,
D.W. Green
Jeremiah 1:12

"... and Moses went up."

“It is well that we accept the hard truth now: The man who would know God must give time to Him. He must count no time wasted which is spent in the cultivation of His Acquaintance. He must give himself to the meditation and prayer hours on end. So did the saints of old, the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets and the believing member of the holy church in all generations. And so must we if we would follow in their train.”

-       A.W. Tozer : God’s Pursuit of Man

Rarely do relationships work out where there is no time spent with each other. In order for a relationship to be strong and unshakeable, one must spend all the time they have with the other. Our Lord longs to spend time with His children, and does not meet us where we are, but rather 50% of the way. We, as children of God, have a decision to make: Do we sit still, pray and meditate, and gather our spirits to the Lord in that holy meeting place? Or do we allow the busyness of the Day and the carnality of our flesh to distract us from ever reaching that point. Is the Lord calling you to climb the mountain to meet with Him?

            Exodus 19:20

                        “Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”

Your Brother in Christ,
D.W. Green
Jeremiah 1:12

RelevanTruth

It has occurred to me that in this day and age that young people need a solid foundation to stand on; a foundation that is lacking these days. It is my intent to provide a resource for those struggling to stay above water. For those who seem to be bombarded from all sides. For those who are looking for a standard to hold onto in this age of relativity. That standard is the Word of God. Join me every morning to grasp onto quotes, teaching of spiritual giants, and scripture that will encourage us throughout the day. I look forward to hearing from all of you. God Bless.

Your Bro in Christ,
D.W. Green
Jeremiah 1:12