If we are
thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He
will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.
We sat in that courtroom for what seemed like all
day, but it was only 4 hours. In that
time we heard witnesses about crimes, pain, wrongdoing, personal choices and so
much more. Yet at the end of the day the
young man I came to court with was free.
All charges were dropped. It was
an awesome outcome to what could have been a very difficult set of
consequences.
Let back up for a minute and introduce you to
Matt. I met his family almost a decade
ago when a family member died suddenly.
Since that time there has been lots of water under the proverbial
bridge. I loved these people, but they are
tough at times. Matt and his mom walked
into my office during the summer this year, and Matt began to share about his
life.
For more than half his life drugs had been an every
week norm. His decisions were often
destructive and painful for himself and those around him. This time those decisions and addiction led
him to jail with charges that could mean several years in jail.
Matt didn’t show up the next week or even the
next. But he did show up about 2 months
later in the fall of this year. For the
past 3 months there is rarely a day that goes by that Matt is not here at
church serving others. He volunteers. He longs to help other people whether that is
something big or small. I now know Matt
to be a selfless, genuine servant of God.
Last month we were at a local outreach event where
Matt quoted this verse to me:
Let him that
stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the
thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Yesterday was his court date, and as I said all the
charges were dropped. We got back in my
vehicle to drive back to town, and one of the first items to be discussed was
Matt’s excitement about the Dream Center.
This young man who was under the weight of a load of changes. He went from a taker to a giver. He gets it.
God will use Matt just like He will use you and me.
Let me dream a bit.
I dream of the day when we have a building for our Dream Center where
homeless people can find shelter and safety as well as a few things to show
them there is hope in God. I dream of
the day when our discipleship program at the Dream Center has a place to give
people a 2nd chance in life, a place to live for a while and a place
to learn skills and truth for a foundation of success only God can give. I dream of a day when we are able to feed and
clothe every month more than hundreds but thousands.
That is my Christmas wish. I love this time of year and can’t wait to
spend special time with my family. But I
long for the day when we can fill the Christmas wishes of many more people
because we serve a God who fills dreams and does miracles. I believe that, and I pray you believe that
too.
It is
pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain
them.
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