The New Testament talks a lot about helping the needy and the poor. I’m usually very good at helping out financially. Yet lately The Lord has been pouring something deeper in my heart.

I’ve been thinking it’s not enough, although it’s a terrific deed, to just write a check and donate it to a need. I want to see it in action. I want to donate myself, my time and my life to a Christ filled purpose.

For a while I’ve been listening to my pastor as he shared his experience dealing and living with the homeless in a nearby city. He lived with them for a week and helped change their lives.

His words really touched my heart. Now when I see a homeless person, I want to pray for them and help them by giving them money, coffee, or food. God is really changing my heart about people.

You see, I was one of those germ a phobics who was afraid to touch things. So I didn’t want to talk to a homeless person or touch them out of fear that I’d catch something. Yet, our god is so awesome and loves to use our fear to move us into victory. So let me share with you one of my victories…..

I’ve been working in an urban area for over a decade. I encounter different homeless people begging for money on my way to work. Once I saw this women who just looked awful. She had a thin frame, gray dirty hair and a face that was exhausted. She broke my heart. She looked like someone on drugs and in bad shape. So I started praying for her. I remember pleading with god to fix her life. Anyway, she’s not the real victory I want to share. I only include her because she was the first I started praying for. I no longer see her so hopefully father god blessed her with a better life.

I met a young man who is homeless and sleeps on the street. I have to say that I need to give Jesus a special thanks for putting up with such a selfish and resistant person like me. The Lord would give me prompts to give this man a dollar or to pray for him. Praying I can do and love to do. But I was hesitant to give him money because I saw him everyday and I felt uncomfortable since in my head I thought he would come to expect this of me every time I saw him and I didn’t want to deal with that pressure, you know. Also, what if I didn’t have cash on me? Would that mean I’d have to go to the bank more often and keep enough singles in my pocket? Too much thinking, too much pressure, too much worrying. My worst thought was what if this man ends up hurting me?

Luckily I found the answers to all the nonsense and distracting thoughts. It was praying and allowing god to guide me. I finally surrendered and told god to help me and to make sure that it was his voice and the Holy Spirit that led me. Of course, god is faithful.

Not only is god faithful, but my dollar and prayers brought back such unexpected joy and I’m discovering a more meaningful relationship with Christ! Glory to god!!!!

You see this man, we’ll call him John, has radiant blue eyes and a face that reminds me of Christ. I was shocked at the resemblance when I first rolled down my window to give him a dollar. ( I secretly hope that I’m one of the few who see Christs’ face in him, call it a special bond that I want to have with Jesus).

So after seeing Jesus face in John, real or imagined doesn’t matter, I was happy… I just felt joy all day ( joy feels way better than happiness by the way).
John continues to be a constant blessing in my life. He asks me to pray for him and shares with me how god is opening doors for him.

Once he was struggling and asked me to pray for him and I said I would. The next day he came to my car so happy and shared with me that my prayer for him worked. I of course told him that Jesus was responsible for answering his prayer and I was just the one doing the praying. I also told him to think highly of himself and that god has bigger and better things for him.

I try to build John up since I got this idea from listening to a radio station. The DJ had a special guest who suggested praying hope and life into a homeless persons life. I knew from listening to the radio station that Jesus was telling me to do that for John.

Lately, god is helping me pick out a book that will forever change John. My prayer is that I gain the ability to hear that still small voice that leads to a blessed life.

So in closing I just want to say that when we open our hearts to Christ, he not only blesses others through us but they can amazingly surprise and change us. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve drove off feeling joy because John gave me a smile, or used phrases like, ” your an angle, hello sunshine, thank you sister,” and so on. I would say to god, ” Lord here I am trying to make a difference in this mans life yet he is the one making a difference in me.” Wow. I can almost here god saying: exactly! Bingo! Ditto! You are getting it.