Serious, serious food for thought

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Tonight, I began to think of places in the world that are subject to extreme poverty. I have heard stories of children in other parts of the world that live in trash dumps. I have never seen it, but I know that it is there. It is something that we don't like to talk about. I had a cousin tell me recently about his experiences in a third world country. He told me about how people sleep on floors in tiny huts and shanties. Tonight, I read an article about children and families that live in trash dumps. It was written by journalist. He said that he was deeply suprised that the people that lived off of refuse and literally had nothing.... He was surpised that they didn't complain and that they were happy. He said that they were grateful because they got to wake up and see the sunlight. The sun! People living in trash dumps are happy to wake up and see the sun. Lord, may I never complain to you again about my lack. Ever! The journalist said that he went back to his nice hotel and was surrounded by all of these really nice things...but, in truth, he said that he wanted to be back with the people living in the dump. He missed thier positive outlook and thier grateful spirits. He missed thier smiles and their attitudes that seemed to be contagious. What's funny is that so much of the world doesn't have to go without. If every person gave willingly and shared with one another. If love was truly a part of our society, then generous giving would follow.. and I think a lot of society's ills would be erased. If everyone loved according to the capacity that we are called to love, then I truly believe that hunger could be abolished and poverty wiped out.  Am I silly to think this...Especially when I see loads and loads of excess and waste? Yesterday, I read an article about a man who was a troubled teen. He said that he was disallusioned and left empty by a lot of what he saw. Even after going to church meetings, he was still left searching. He turned his heart away from Christ. His parents decided to send him on a mission trip to Peru. He spent a short time there and was invigorated by the gospel upon his return to the states. He had seen true humility played out. He had seen people who lived with virtually nothing who were happy and grateful and satisfied..and, to him, that was the greatest testament of God's goodness. Seeing it truly lived. children grateful for the sunlight, while we complain in our excess  I think the thing that  hurts the most about our lifestyle is knowing that we are called to feed the hungry and yet we waste and throw so much away. Seriously, what are we doing? Why do we let this happen? We seriously need to do something. Look at this baby.  Pictures like these  remind me why we are called to be humble. I know that this kind of problem is so widescale and the problems of the world are magnanamous...ask God what He would have you to do..I think one of the biggest problems of the church today is complaceny. We are content to watch others suffer. We have become numb to it, somehow.. We simply accept that this is the way that things are and this is the way that things will always be. We cling more to the idea of the American Dream of aquiring "things' than we do to the call to carry a sacrifical cross. We can't change things on our own..But a body of believer, carrying a cross...Well, that's another story. The cross is more powerful and deserves more credit than what we give it. Many believe that Jesus was just a man... I know otherwise. To me, is the the powerful son of God..Creator..healer.. He is so many wonderful and beautiful things.. Change comes in and through Him....anything else is darkness and love of self. Do you notice that today one of the biggest problems with society is love of self? Everything seems geared toward pleasing ourselves. I guess it's a part of our human nature. But that is what is so beautiful to me about Christ. He didn't live for himself and in His Word, He tells us to not live for ourselves.. Live for me, He whispers..by serving one another...  Live Holy Lives.. "For you are called to freedom brothers..not freedom to fall back into your sinful nature and desires, but to serve one another in love.." How seriously do we take that verse? Seems pretty important....ummmm, important enough..that if it were actually heeded... IT could change the entire world.. Pretty interesting and beautiful and some serious, serious food for thought  Ironically, several people will tell you that these are the people that  God has punished..People will look you in the eye and say that this is a product of God's wrath. The same people will go on about thier daily lives and live in total comfort. This is not God's will. God's command is for us to give. This picture makes me want to give until it hurts.  Here are some beautiful pictures of kindness played out... Learn from it.  Here is a picture of a tourist in Peru giving his shoes away.. :) This is what love looks like..Notice that he is barefoot now but he is willing to go shoeless so someone else can walk comfortably  I love this :) A girl was winning a race. She saw her competitor had fallen, so she sacrficed the win so that she could help her across the finish line.  Sheer beauty On another note...I want to introduce you to the Laminin... Tell me this isn't amazing This is Laminin. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this molecule, Laminin is the protein that holds human beings together. Do you notice its shape? Isn't it amazing that God would think so far in the future, and make the very thing that makes us think of Jesus, make up and play a crucial role in how we are formed? God formed you to not only live as an image of Christ, but to never escape the fact that you are HIS! We are branded by the Cross! "He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.  ( copied from pinterest) He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. - Colossans 1:17 Of course the sceptics gonna hate on it..but that's ok... I don't even need this to tell me that my God is real. "Seek and you will find.." Yep!