One ministry feeds 350,000 people
Our true identity is defined not by what we do but by what God has done. Our status is found not in our performance but in his grace.
At the same time, however, who we are should be manifested by what we do.
Consider the Dream Center in Echo Park, a ministry run by a large church in Los Angeles. When the center passed the 350,000 mark on the free meals it has provided since mid-March, it made national news.
By feeding multitudes of people, the ministry is reflecting the character of the Christ whose they are (cf. John 6:1–13). When Christians help hurting people, we demonstrate that we are the body of Christ as he continues his earthly ministry through us (1 Corinthians 12:27).
However, to manifest the presence of Jesus, we need the power of Jesus.
It’s not enough to try harder to do better. The key is to be controlled and empowered by the Spirit of God (Ephesians 5:18) by obeying the command to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
How do we do this?
A surprising description of prayer
For an answer, consider Henri Nouwen’s observation: “To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, nor does it mean spending time with God instead of spending time with other people. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts into thoughts about God and thoughts about other things, like people and events, we separate God from our daily life.
“At that point, God is allocated to a pious little niche in some corner of our lives where we only think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings. Although it is important and even indispensable for our spiritual lives to set apart time for God and God alone, our prayer can only become unceasing when all our thoughts—beautiful or ugly, high or low, proud or shameful, sorrowful or joyful—can be thought in the presence of the One who dwells in us and surrounds us.
“By trying to do this, our unceasing thinking is converted into unceasing prayer, moving us from a self-centered monologue to a God-centered dialogue. To do this, we want to try to convert our thoughts into conversation. The main question, therefore, is not so much what we think, but to whom we present our thoughts.”
To whom will you present your thoughts today?
Football and all sports at this time are at the bottom of my list of interests and all the big money being spent on these football players while people are dying and getting sick from the virus. To me it is a shame that these players are getting all these high dollar deals while 27 million Americans are jobless. I beleive we are being shaken as a nation and world. We need to get our priorities straight. We need to focus on God. The news alarm goes off here at FGGAM MEDIA CENTER and sometimes its the latest multi-million dollar contract signed by a football player. sickening. Too me its like a slap in the the face to the millions who are hurting. Pouring salt into the wound. Virus pushes US unemployment toward highest since Depression
