Little by Little, God Opened Her heart
Agape Street Ministry has neither silver nor gold BUT we have at our
disposal the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Spirit of the risen LORD
JESUS CHRIST.
In Acts 3, Peter & John had the power in Jesus’ name to
say to the crippled beggar, “ARISE & WALK”. Each baptized
Christian has the very same power that can heal the brokenness around
us.
Luke 4:18-19. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me
to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
and to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable
to the Lord.”
Each Baptized Christian has been Anointed and Sent to heal the broken
hearted and proclaim the Good News. This mandate of Jesus was handed
on to us through His Spirit that He sent to us. The question is: DO
I EXERCISE THE POWER AND THE GIFTS THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME?
When Jesus sent his Disciples out, he DIDN’T arrange for food,
luggage, money, extra clothes, transportation or a place to stay,
in fact he discouraged all this preparation However, He DID give them
power, authority, gifts of the spirit and words to proclaim.
Why do we approach Ministry differently? Scripture says that its because
of our hard hearts and lack of trust! No wonder we so often fail to
see Miracles God has for us!
All of the people of this world are part of the Body of Christ. If
one part of the body hurts, the whole body hurts. We have a broken
and suffering world and the Harvest Master is waiting for his harvesters
to show up. The harvesters are already equipped and dispatched but
most of them are not showing up to commence work!
Proverbs 21:13 “He who shuts his ear to
the poor will himself also call and not be heard.”
If we don’t answer the prayers of the poor (physically &
spiritually), the Lord doesn’t answer our prayer. Catherine
Doherty wrote, “Foster the love of God, love for His church,
and the realization that man, if he continues to live without God
in this mad and tragic world, will perish”. The so-called First
World is spiritually depressed while the so- called Third World is
physically oppressed. Mother Teresa said that the learned of this
continent were “spiritually anorexic” and more is expected
of us. Where are the Harvesters of this age? It seems that the vocations
are really coming from the countries that are oppressed! Do we have
to be oppressed before we see that this is the “time of fulfillment”?
A farmer knows the SIGNS of when the grain, fruit or vegetables are
ready for harvest. We, the “HARVESTERS” should know the
SIGNS and be ready go, NOW!
Now is the time! The book of Ezekiel tells of God asking Ezekiel in
chapter 37 to prophesy over dry bones and that He, God, would bring
sinew, flesh and spirit back into the dry bones. In the book of Matthew
he tells us, the Christ-ones, to GO and He will be with us with many
SIGNS.
Acts 2:42-43 “They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking
of bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders
and signs were done through the apostles.”
How do we keep “tuned in” to recognize the signs of the
Harvest? The Harvesters must study scripture and the teachings of
the church, go to Mass or service each day, be a part of the community
of believers and PRAY constantly. Then our hearts are softened and
we build faith in the words of Jesus and we step out to serve HIM
with all our heart, soul, mind, strength and resources. We know that
as HARVESTERS, we have more than silver or gold to offer the world.
We have the BREAD OF LIFE!
Yes, this is the time of fulfillment!
HERE I AM LORD, SEND ME!!!!!
God Bless you all.
Peace of Christ,
Pat
