Bless Those Who Curse You
Greetings to our sisters in the Lord,
How awesome is our Father to give us all opportunities to shine His light and truth! We have been busy on the road and praising God for the witnessing opportunities. I thought I'd share some here as an update so you can be edified.
Brother Jim decided that one afternoon we would park at the entrance / exit of a busy parking lot and we would work inside the van, online for a while as it was sprinkling off and on all day. While we were sitting there I said that I was excited to see who God would have cross our path and stop to talk to us. It wasn't long and a car slowly crept up to our open door.
It was a married couple and the man said he saw the signs, had seen us before, and wanted to stop and talk. They have a home fellowship in the area, he and brother Jim had a nice long talk about God's Word. Brother Jim encouraged him to go deeper into God's word as there were areas exposed that they needed to study more and praise God it was a glorifying time. While they were talking there were a group of younger men congregated by their vehicles. One young man was taking pictures of the signs on the van and later on they were talking on their PA speaker, repeating what the signs said. As we were leaving, brother Jim got on his PA and told them to check out dontperish.com and to have a good day...they smiled and waved.
Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God
Psalm 147:5-7
Another morning we decided to work in an abandoned parking lot by a busy intersection with our signs on and once again it was drizzly throughout the day but we left our door open. In between the rain a beggar couple came and sat on the corner with their sign, right by our van, like right outside the drivers door. At one point brother Jim took a couple little bags of food what we make for beggars and went to talk to the man and give him the gospel and see if they are interested in getting off the streets. He was kind and listening throughout the discussion and when brother Jim was leaving the man said 'I thank God every day'. When Jim got back in the van, I was making lunch and he asked if we had enough to share and he would like to offer them lunch, which he did and they accepted. Meanwhile, brother Jim saw that when they would get some money, one would walk across the street to the gas station and get a small bottle of booze, then come back and drink it.
After I cooked lunch, I grabbed a few other things, brought it out to them and the woman was very nice and thanked me. My heart softened in compassion because I used to be a drunk and even though my life was more in order than theirs, I was no better than them and still no better. As I walked away I was thanking God that we got the opportunity to share the love of Christ with them. No, we are not without wisdom when it comes to beggars because we live right next to many of them in the parking lots. We see them use the money for booze or drugs (we never give money just the gospel, food and help to get off the streets) or they lie about their situation depending on who is talking to them, some have nice campers to live in, some have apartments, some live in cars, some have mental issues etc. We see everything that goes on. Anyway we ate our lunch, thanking God to be a light and witness in the world when not too long after the man walked over to the van doors. He was angry! He demanded that we leave immediately because people thought we were with them and we were messing up his opportunity for people to give him money. Brother Jim said that we were already planning on leaving soon, the guy swore several times at him and walked off. A few minutes later he was yelling more curse words through the windows.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
Matthew 5:44
Matthew 5:44
This is the same guy that said he thanks God every day. A beggar yelling at the people who just gave him food. No matter....we were blameless and a light to them but they didn't want it.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Matthew 10:14
It's a different world when you step outside your own life and come live in the midst of the world as you meet all sorts of the 'unseen' people. The ones who the world looks past and it's a world within another world or so it seems. We meet many very 'interesting people' in this life, that we don't normally get the chance to meet. The past couple nights brother Jim has been able to share the gospel with some truckers from across the country who have been having hard times in work that they have had to leave their home state and families to make ends meet.
Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people.
Psalm 96:3
Just today I was in the store after standing out holding gospel signs at a busy intersection and I stopped for a minute to look at my phone and see if I had any produce coupons. I was standing there when 2 very young women walked up and I heard one say 'I don't even know what green onions are.' They were talking about it so I looked over and said 'I can show you what green onions are if you want me to'. They were grateful and said yes. After they got their onions I gave the older one a gospel card and said it was good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ and she looked really surprised, smiled and walked away reading the card. Good timing on my part and no, I didn't have any produce coupons today but even better, an opportunity to share the love and truth of God's Word. While I was in the store, brother Jim was witnessing to a biker in the parking lot. Let the Word go out.
Those are just a few examples that I thought would encourage you, knowing there are people getting the truth, some wanting, some hating and some we have no clue about but they are all in the hands of the Lord and we continue on our way.
Have a joyous evening and here's another pretty picture to give God glory, from a saint afar.
Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people.
Psalm 96:3
Just today I was in the store after standing out holding gospel signs at a busy intersection and I stopped for a minute to look at my phone and see if I had any produce coupons. I was standing there when 2 very young women walked up and I heard one say 'I don't even know what green onions are.' They were talking about it so I looked over and said 'I can show you what green onions are if you want me to'. They were grateful and said yes. After they got their onions I gave the older one a gospel card and said it was good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ and she looked really surprised, smiled and walked away reading the card. Good timing on my part and no, I didn't have any produce coupons today but even better, an opportunity to share the love and truth of God's Word. While I was in the store, brother Jim was witnessing to a biker in the parking lot. Let the Word go out.
Those are just a few examples that I thought would encourage you, knowing there are people getting the truth, some wanting, some hating and some we have no clue about but they are all in the hands of the Lord and we continue on our way.
Have a joyous evening and here's another pretty picture to give God glory, from a saint afar.
