Let's not be a 'passerby' this Christmas

If you were to see a car accident happen would you stop and help the people in the car or would you drive by believing that others will help them and keep going to where you were headed?

This morning I was woken by a request by the pastor in India where we visited three years ago requesting help for the orphanage and daily needs as they were struggling and I thought of the dream I had this morning about a car accident that had happened and those that walked by. For many of us every day things have happened to the people around us that need our help in some way.

The Lord took me to James 2:5 "Listen my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor..... v14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"

What is love - love is both word and action. So how do I love people in need, who, for whatever reason have had an accident and need help getting back on their feet? All of us struggle at different times but if I were in that position would I need someone to help me? If we are Jesus to the people around us, what does that look like? If we are His hands and His feet, Christ in us, the hope to the world, how does love in action take shape?

Every situation is different I believe, there is not a one size fits all, but this is where prayer too is the beginning steps in how we help as the spirit knows what a person needs and perhaps the need we can help with may not be the physical financial support like that in India, but something else.

Pastor Johns Orphanage we visited in Nov 2016

Perhaps a word of encouragement. Perhaps a meal. Perhaps a voucher for a fancy restaurant that would bless them. God knows our needs even before we ask for them, but He uses you and I too supply that need. Let's be a people this Christmas that are not ones who walk on by but help those in need that we come across if we are able knowing that God supplies all of our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

If you can and would like to help our friends in India then please send funds through to the bank account listed on the donations page with India as a reference. Thank you for your support.

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