the refuge and weather

Hello, Andrew Terry here for The Refuge Homeless Shelter of Lapeer.
 
This is my third video. I hope you have had a chance to see my previous two videos. If not, you can go to our Facebook page to see our videos.
 
You can also go to www.therefugelapeer.org/blog. There I will be posting all my videos and transcripts for you to see and read. Also, it give you the ability to share the videos on other platforms, like twitter or email.
 
Today I was walking from the Gather Place, our Drop-in and Fellowship center for homeless and displaced citizens…
 
By the way, if you have not liked our page for the gathering place, go to www.facebook.com/colifecenter to like our page.
 
Anyways, I was walking back to this office and it was raining. Nothing to bad, just a sprinkle. The walk was three blocks and I hardly got wet.
 
But, it made me think about all those other times when the weather is bad: when it down pours, when there are high winds, when it thunders and lightening,
 
It I was walking in that type of weather I'd be soaked!
 
Now imagine if you had no car. Everywhere you go you had to walk. Life does not stop because it is raining. People have jobs, doctors appointments, they need to shop for food.
 
Many of the homeless live like this every day. Hey have no car they can drive around. They have to walk everywhere they go. Some have bikes that help them get around. But, that does not protect them from the elements.
 
Think about the winter having to ride your bike to and from work every day.
 
We that do not live in poverty, who have homes, cars to take us to work, and clothes to keep us warm…we tend to take for granted the things we have, and the weather does not affect the way it affects the homeless.
 
We depend upon our things to helps us every day. The people in poverty, the people that are homeless, the people that go hungry, they have nothing upon which to depend on.
 
The only thing, the only person they can depend upon is God.
 
This leads me to a verse in Matthew, it is found in Jesus Sermon on the Mount. In fact, it is very first saying in Matthew 5:3
 
It says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
 
We know that Jesus had the poor in mind when he said this, because the companion verse in Luke says, "Blessed are the poor."
 
Matthew does not over spiritualized Jesus words. Jesus is trying to teach us something about life, and about our relationship with him.
 
You see, just like the poor today, the poor in Jesus time had no one they could depend on. They had only God, and those people who acted like God and helped them. They could only rely upon him.
 
The "poor in spirit" are those who take on the same attitude as the poor, who wholly rely upon God.
 
We tend to rely upon our things, our houses, how much money we have in the bank, and we only run to God when these things go wrong or go broke.
 
What Jesus is saying, is, we need to have the mindset of the poor, in that, we rely upon God for our lives, not the things we have, the money we make, or the homes we have.
 
When we rely upon God, and be "poor in spirit" we learn we don't need all the things we have. We learn we can live with less. We learn we can do without.
 
In turn, when we become "poor in spirit" we learn to empathize with the poor. We see them for who they are, human beings in need of the love of God.
 
We will be moved with compassion and start to give away our things, to see them so we can give to the poor, to give more of our wealth so others can live too.
 
I like how the Contemporary English Verses renders this verse, it says,
God blesses those people
    who depend only on him.
They belong to the kingdom
    of heaven!
 
You may not be poor in reality, but, you can be "poor in spirit" and begin to see through their eyes, and walk in their shoes, and maybe give a little more.
 
So, if your church has not signed up to host The Refuge this season, head on over to our website, www.therefugelapeer.org to sign up. Or call my wife, Tabitha, at 810-356-9880, ext 2 and ask her for more information, or to schedule a time where she can come and talk to your church more about the Refuge.
 
This week's question of the week is: Imagine if you are homeless. Do you think you’d behave “better”, smell “better”, than others? What makes a person “better”?
 
Look for the post on our Facebook page and join the conversation.
This is Andrew, signing off – Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.