Compassion for the needy- serving the homeless

Funny how pastor Fred's sermon today was on Compassion for the Needy, acting out your faith, love and care those who are less fortunate, James 1:19-27.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it -- he will be blessed in what he does.  (James 1:22-25)

What a great morning start before the small group of us went to serve the homeless at the downtown park today! To be honest when I first learned of the opportunity, I didn't think we were going to be able to do it so soon, since I know most ppl in our cell group are introverted and don't usually reach out to strangers... and especially to the homeless (impression of smelly people who wants money).  SO PRAISE GOD for moving people to come, even though they might have felt uncomfortable about it... and I'm so glad we were able to pray about it after cell group as well as before we left on Sunday, God was definitely with us today at the park, and moving the Holy Spirit to speak through you all!

Loretta and I served food for about 100 people today, there weren't that much left over after we were done...but we did get some left over for lunch (sorry to the boys who didn't get lunch...)  Serving food doesn't require that much interaction, actually that's how I interacted with the homeless before also, by serving food or distributing clothes at the Beacon, you don't really need to talk to them... however, today the spirit compelled me to pray for those in need. So L and I walked around, introduced ourselves to some people and asked if they needed prayer. And oh boy these people are actually really easy to talk to. They like to talk and share their stories and needs, and they all appreciated the prayers.

Some prayers: 
- Ryan & Joyce- a couple who are struggling and wandering from place to place, often they feel frustrated at life, and they asked us to pray for their mental health and strength to continue, to appreciate what God has blessed them with (at least a blanket, clothes and some food!)
- Andy- black man in his 50s, working but struggling with drug addiction. He would have been in a good place now if he hasn't spent all his money on drugs everyday. He knows what he needs to do but can't do it himself.  Pray for God to give him the will to quit, and perhaps commit to a rehab center.

One thing I noticed from all of our conversations with these people is that we are all weak and helpless without God.  It might be hard to see how you can relate to them because we are living under different circumstances, but fundamentally, we all struggle with the sin that deprives us of God.  For Ryan & Joyce, they don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, they have to rely on God everyday, which is difficult and frustrating at times.  And then there's Andy, who knows what he needs to do to get a better life, but his mind is weak, and he falls into temptations again and again.

How many of us are like Ryan, Joyce and Andy?  We know we need to trust God and depend on Him everyday, but do we really do that?  Or do we rely on our own possessions and abilities out of our pride?  And how often do we fall into temptation and sin, and waste time and resources that we could have spent honoring the Lord?   I find it amazing how much these homeless people actually reflect some parts of ourselves as well,  how much more should we give glory and thanksgiving to a God who has blessed us so much?

Let us thank God everyday for the lives He has given us! And fight the sin of unbelief and pride, ALL of us need God desperately.