Who is He??

Who am I?  The question we ask ourselves often….  Who or what do you let define you?

Today Josh went to Sonshine Valley while I stayed home with the kids.  He shared with me his experience about walking down the streets and simply saying hi to people.  Not much activity was going on and he began to ask Holy Spirit why they were there.  The answer became clear when a man began walking down the street looking tipsy with blood dripping down his face from cuts and his nose was bleeding.  Right away they realized the guy was drunk and upset.  Some kids had run into him while sliding on their make-shift skateboards down the streets, and he had fallen to the ground.  They had the opportunity to walk this guy to his home, pray over him and then encourage him to get some rest before he tried to kill one of the children.  Those were his “threats”.  They got to love on a man that felt no respect, didn’t know or had forgotten who he was, and just needed a little “Jesus” love that day.

What’s the point of my story?  As I sat pondering about this man, whom I haven’t even met, how many of you would have taken one look at the man or smelled one whiff of his breath and immediately called him a drunkard?  Be honest now.  Yes, he was drinking.  Yes, he had a little too much to drink.  However, is drunkard or alcoholic who he really is??  I think of him as a man who doesn’t know or has forgotten who he really is – a child of God!  If your first thought was, poor drunkard, stay away from me drunkard, it’s your own fault, you sinful person, you stupid fool, something along those lines, you should think about having a little heart-to-heart time with the Lord and get rid of your critical spirit.  

People turn to things such as drugs, alcohol, sex or other things because they want to bury pain.  When Jesus caught the woman in adultery, He didn’t call her out or label her by her actions because that’s not who she really was.  Yes, she had a lapse of poor judgment, but that doesn’t define who she is, her true identity.  The #1 area Satan will try to kill, steal and destroy from you is in your identity.

As followers of Jesus, our first response to someone who has forgotten who they are or hasn’t realized who they are yet should be – how can I show love and release God to you today?  It will look different every time, but love and the truth of Jesus’s love is what sets people free, and that’s what we should be releasing to the lost, broken and hurting.  Well, to everyone really.  Release the gold and not the garbage!

This is Hans.

I pray this man wakes up realizing he just had an encounter with the Lord through His faithful disciples.  I pray this man comes to know the Lord in a real way and begins to walk it out.  Won’t you join me in prayer?!  This is why we are here – to love God and love others to Him.  Who is he?  His name is David!

Here is a picture of Josh with another man in the township who had a few too many drinks as well.  They worshiped together.  His name is Hans!