Love Does

I want to start this off by asking a question; have you seen Jesus today?
Maybe this is a better question,
Have you looked for Jesus today?
Think about that while I share some statistics with you, ready?
One.  Do you have food in your refrigerator?  Clothes on your back?  A roof over your head?  What about a place to lay your head every night?
If you do have these things you are richer than almost 75% of the world.
Two.  Do you have money in the bank (checking account or savings account)?  A little bit of cash in your wallet?  What about a tray of spare change on your dresser, or even a jar of coins stashed away somewhere?
Get this. You are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest people.
Okay, so pretty amazing statistics right? I would say more humbling than anything else.
So back to my first question(s), have you seen Jesus today? and/or have you looked for Jesus today?  There is a pretty hefty chunk of scripture that I want to refer to, so for the sake of the length of this blog this is going to be on you to read, if you don’t have a bible handy definitely check out youversion.com.  If you have your bible take a look at Matthew 25:31-46, yes, “the least of these”.  Take some time and read it, then come back.
Done?
Heavy stuff huh?  Throughout all of scripture Jesus identified with the poor in amazing ways.  Not only did he identify with them, but he was one of them.  Look at where Jesus was born, as well as his upbringing too.  Jesus was born in a dirty manger, a feeding trough, Jesus, God, the King of the universe could have been born in a palace, in comfort, but he wasn’t.  It says in scripture that there were times when Jesus had no place to lay his head, no place to sleep at night.  When he rose on the third day he rose in cave, not in a palace, not in a place of luxury.  So is it really any wonder that Jesus associates himself with the “least of these”?
What do we do with this?  How do we react?  As Christ followers we experience God’s grace and love, we realize that grace is given as a gift, we respond to grace, we respond to forgiveness, as a response to gratitude, with LOVE, we LOVE because He first LOVED us.
Tom Davis wrote in his book called RED LETTERS:
“I’ve discovered a new way to live.  Every morning when I get out of bed, I look for Jesus.  No, not because I have misplaced Him.  And I am not talking about a feeling I get during prayer, or a revelation that comes to me while reading scripture.  I’m talking about Jesus in the eyes of real people, in the eyes of the poor, the handicapped, the oppressed, the orphan, the homeless, the AIDS victim-the abandoned and the forgotten.”
Jesus is everywhere, in everything, and experiencing him in Ethiopia; on every corner, walking the streets, laughing, smiling, crying; will hopefully open our eyes to see him and experience him more and more back home.
I’m sorry if this seems to be scrambled, or unorganized, maybe just all over the place, but it seems fitting because that is where my heart/mind is as I write this, all over the place.  I’m trying to wrap my head around being able to express
an unconditional love,an unending love,a love that can only come from God.
My prayer is that compassion will flow through us, that our eyes will be opened to see Him face to face, that His love can radiate through us, transforming our hearts and resonating in the hearts of others.
So. How are you responding?  How are we responding?

Dylan

One word that stands out in my mind while being here and most likely when I will look back on my time here in Ethiopia would be the word generosity.  Whether it be the staff at Amazing Grace Guest House or the staff at Bright Hope School generosity has never been lacking.  Today especially our team was shown generosity in a few special ways.    Tare, who is our transportation guy, invited us into his home and also supplied our team with lunch.  It was a special time for our team as Tare is not required to do this for us but was generous enough to open up his home and would not let us pay for our dinner but out of the generosity of his heart gave of his own money and supplied us all with lunch.
Then when we returned home that afternoon the staff at Amazing Grace Guest House had set up a special coffee ceremony, prepared wat for dinner for us, and also gave our entire team gifts of wallets for the guys and scarfs for the girls.
Being shown that generosity from everyone has made our entire team feel so special and so loved.  Our Ethiopian friends have definitely set up such a good example of being generous.  Whether that is being generous in our time, generous in our finances, or showing generosity through whatever gifts the Lord has given us.  Our prayer now is that we take what we’ve learned from our relationships here and bring them back with us and incorporate them into our lives and relationships back home.
Romans 12:6-8  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then phrophesy in accordance with our faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, the give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to how mercy; do it cheerfully.
-Laura Bosma