God´s Way of Teaching Me

Hey again.

So the last couple of weeks Debora and I have had our house pretty full with company. It was my hope to start being able to practice hospitality, but soon after I was tired of people always coming over! It sounds bad, but it was true. However, God had a little chat with me and is teaching me to share.

Just a few days ago I was complaining to Debora and my brother-in-law about people leaving messes in my house and eating my food and expecting to be entertained. I was frustrated and knew I needed an attitude change. I knew God wanted to use me to bless others that don´t have food to eat or a place to stay or anything to do. However, I was too focused on me and ´my´money and my schedule.

Then yesterday God started by reminding me that it´s all His money anyways. And yesterday, I decided to flip open my Bible and I began to read Hebrews 13. First, I saw verse 5: ¨Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.¨ If God tells me to lend a few dollars to someone I should do it with a happy heart. Whatever it costs to make a meal for a few hungry people is worth it. My money is really just lent to me from the Lord.

Then I saw 3 more verses that really struck my attention and spoke into my heart. Verse 16 says, ¨And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.¨ I should be happy to share my food and house. I have the resources to buy more food while others do not.

I also liked verse 2. It says, ¨Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.¨ I was getting annoyed because if I invited just a few friends over a whole bunch more people they knew would come. And with certain people you have to be more aware of your belongings and more messes are made. However, we are told to practice hospitality to people we don´t know.

And lastly, verse 3 caught my eye. It says, ¨Remember those in prison as if you were their prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.¨ Sometimes we would use our leftovers to give to the people in the little jail here. At times I would think about how I could have ate the leftovers the next day and how the people in the jail are bad because they obviously did something they shouldn´t have. This might be true, but the Bible says to remember those in prison... remember the people who aren´t perfect. This gave me the idea to cook more food more often to bring to the people in the jail and show them the love of Jesus through this.

Well, that´s all I have to say for now... pray that God would keep teaching me and working on my character. Peace.