Are you getting ready for Easter? Me too. We’ve already set a date for our family Easter egg hunt and are beginning to plan our family feast. But my Easter preparation is much more than dying, hunting and making deviled eggs. I am preparing for Easter through an observance of lent.
You, too, might be reading through a devotional during this time. Others are considering how we can love God in a deeper way by denying ourselves – some abstain from coffee, chocolate or fried foods in an effort to draw near to God.
It got me to thinking about how the love of God compels us to give away to those who will never be able to give back to us. That’s just how God gave his son Jesus to us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”John 3:16
God gave his Son, Jesus to us – a gift we didn’t earn, deserve or expect. Yet we were on God’s mind from the beginning of time. From Ashes to Beauty street teams distributed the fifty care and share bags Canyon Moms gave your donations to and your hands worked to prepare. Thank you!
This is Dustin, who had been at the mission for several months before he decided to leave. Current mission program participants, Joe, Marika and Scott knew Dustin and prayed for him to re-join them in the program to complete his healing journey. He received a bag and prayer.
This man is unnamed. But God knows who he is. He’d refused the bag about five minutes prior to this picture, by tossing it and its contents into the middle of Baker Street. I prayed aloud for the enemy to be rebuked, that he would have the mind of Christ and know the truth of God’s love.
After some of the team retrieved the contents and came back to join the group, the man walked up to us and said, “Okay, I am ready to get my bag now – I am sorry my meds have run out.” Our team presented his bag to him and then talked to him about Jesus.
We don’t know what those on the streets have been through. They are someone’s son or daughter. And we know they are God’s beloved children just like us. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
“The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” 2 Corinthians 3:14
