The Rich Man and Lazarus. . .

from Luke 16 in the Bible is a story
about a rich man who died and was being
tormented in Hades, and a beggar named
Lazarus who was full of sores and laid
at the rich man's gate just hoping to
eat some of the crumbs from the rich
man. When the beggar died, he was
carried to Abraham's bosom by angels.

It's a story about the difference
between heaven and hell. Read
Luke 16:19-31 to read the whole
story. This was the story Tommy
shared last night as he gave the
devotional after we served food to
the homeless in Pomona. Tommy is
not used to speaking like this but
God is so good. As Tommy stepped
out in faith and got out of his
comfort zone, God showed up in a
big way. The message was clear,
and God's truth was shared.

As we prayed with some of these
people that we served, my heart was
so happy to listen to them share
stories from the Bible that have
impacted them. One of these ladies,
Irma, said, "I like the food you
guys bring, but more than anything,
I come for the Word of God." That
was so amazing! How many people who
are not struggling even take time to
get into God's Word and how many times
do I take it for granted myself? I
love her heart- she doesn't have much
but she has Jesus and she wants more
of God's Word in her! She said she
wakes up every morning and reads her
Bible and she even reads it to her
friend who cannot read. Another
woman, Diane, was telling us that she
had gotten into a fight with her sister
because her sister was being so mean
and back-stabbing her. It really upset
her but as she was coming up to the dinner,
she said she asked God to forgive her
for how she acted. She wanted to respond
in a way that God wanted her to, and not
how she did.

Just like the story about the rich man
and Lazarus, it doesn't matter WHAT we
have or don't have, it matters WHO we
have or don't have. That WHO is JESUS
CHRIST and we need to make Him Lord of
our lives. These 2 women who don't have
homes are encouragements to me as I
hear how they are LIVING out the Word
of God, even under hard circumstances.