Working among the homeless and those that struggle for over a decade in Springfield I still see many of the same people week after week and year after year seemingly comfortable in the same situation. Sometimes with all the help that is out there it becomes a life of security instead of a means of rescue. Very few are willing to turn to Christ with all their heart and become a new creation, to work hard with their hands and leave their drama behind. 2015 will be a year of truth and action for those that find themselves in hard times. We at Inner City Outreach and Embassy Of Hope (A Center City Campus of Evangel Temple) will continue to show Gods grace but it will be a grace that will give them the time to grow in Christ and become stewards of what God gives them. To learn how to owe no man nothing but to love. To work with their hands and renew their minds in Christ and stop finding security in the help of others and the government. Yes the poor will always be with us. There will always be those that for a season have fallen into circumstances beyond their control and they need our help. But there are way too many who have found a lifestyle of comfort and ease within the borders of their circumstances. It has breed laziness and a certain expectation that society owes them their daily bread. It should be a working poor, a joyful and secure poor, a poor that is content in any and all circumstances. A poor that loves God with all their hearts, mind and strength, and even in their life, living month to month they have learned to stop depending on others for help and are now with joy giving generously out of their own labors to help their brother in need. On the other side, Businesses need to offer work to people no matter what they look like or what happened many years ago in someones life. In the beginning, offer help with transportation and provide opportunity for individuals to prove themselves. Call their Pastors, their mentors and help guide individuals who are truly seeking to work for their basic needs. Business owners invest yourself in individual(s) and help your neighbor out of the ditch. Take chances even if you get burned at times, give and it will be given back to you. Yes, there will still be those that live the rest of their days on the coattails of society, refusing to work and refusing to walk in the footsteps of Christ as Lord. It is not our place to pull the weeds from the wheat, but along with our compassion we must start speaking the truth and actively helping those that want to do what is right in the sight of God. Change the heart, change the man. The first step is for each person to put their hand to the plow and follow Christ as Lord. Then by the grace of Christ we teach them to press on to the upward call of God in Christ. Proverbs 28:19 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:59:39 +0000
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