God's Heart

God's heart is for His people
God's heart is for the lost
God's heart is for the poor

This is another remnant of something God stirred in my heart at AOYC.  One of the things that struck me is that God can so completely have a heart for these areas in concert - not losing focus of the others.  I can't do that.  The area that was really impressed on me was the poor.  There is passage after passage in the Bible of God's heart for the poor and oppressed - if I want to follow Him I cannot disregard this.  But how do I make this a focus in my life - in a real tangible way?  And how do I not lose sight of serving the church, loving my brothers and sisters, reaching out to friends who do not know the Lord?  It is overwhelming to me.  But I want God's heart to become my heart.  And It is just clear to me that I cannot choose one of these areas and disregard the others.

One of the speakers at Convention talked about ideas for incorporating an awareness of poverty and oppression in the world into your life.  Ideas like researching the brands of food or clothing you purchase and boycotting those who do not treat their workers properly, being content with a simple life, living with a consciousness of cultural excess and choosing to not partake of it, contributing regularly to the local food bank, sponsor another child, lend on Kiva, buy things second hand....  My mind has been coming back to these thoughts for the past month and I still do not feel sure of where I am to take action.  Something I want to keep thinking and praying about for sure.