Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Challenge: JuSt OnE LeSS

I'm tossing out a challenge to anyone willing to take it!  But it's going to require some SaCrIfiCe!  
 
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers ans sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God: this is your true and proper worship. 
 
What could you do for someone else... with having just one less of something for yourself this year?

   

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This idea came as a conviction, that God impressed upon me after my first trip to Haiti, in 2010.  I was confident that I had prepared myself for the experience to come, in this first trip to a thrid-world country.... But God had something more in store for my walk with Him.  I stumbled upon much more than I could comprehend or consume. I stumbled over myself.  I stumbled, over my-self-ish-ness. My life in America was GoLdEn. Privileged. Blessed. Life as I had always know, was without want or need of anything. It was based on selection, my desires, my convenience. It was based on ME.  I quickly recognized that those are privileges of life, that Haitians do not have.  There is no selection, selfish desires or convenience.  It all comes hard in Haiti; a torn and poverty stricken country, with the need for assistance on every corner and in every family.  I returned home with an astonished heart and mind, over the lifestyle I lived as an American and the drastic difference of life in Haiti. 

Questions overwhelmed my mind and heart.  How could I live this life and not sacrifice something to help others?  How could I continue in my CoMForT, knowing that babies slept cold at night, kidos went hungry most of the time, and physical ailments were taking lives?  God stirred my heart with pain and determination.  That determination was a desperate search to find something that I could do wiThOuT, so that someone else could possibly have something MoRe.  He revealed this to my heart.  There are numerous items and luxuries that I have: selecting one to sacrifice was an easy feet.  God's grace has overflowed to provide my family with numerous blessings, comforts and privileges. I'm sure you can say the same. When God's grace flows into our lives, we should flow His grace into the lives of others!  God pounded on my heart the need to ...sAcRiFiCe!  I'm now committing to doing as He asked.   Sacrifice SoMeThInG, so that someone else can have more.  



 
Here's the idea.  Commit to giving up something 
which uses resource (money) that you would normally
do this year.  It could be something you do weekly,
monthly or annually.  (This would be the perfect time
to give up a habit that costs money.)  The money that you
would normally use for that privelege, goes in a jar.  
So here's what I'm doing without...  I usually
drink 3-4 gourmet coffees a week.  I am doing with J
UST ONE LESS every week for this year.  (With the help of Christ :)  That's a small sacrifice that usually costs about $4.00 per coffee.  The four dollars that would normally be used for the coffee, will go into a jar.  I want to see what that small sacrifice can do for someone else at the end of 2013! 
  

PrAy about this ChaLLenGe and see where God takes your heart! 

Who could YOU help this year with JuSt OnE LeSS!?

 
  
 

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