Do you love me? Do you really? The Lord wants to know.

Encouragement for Today
Bible verse: Mathew 25: 34-40
Read it here

A while ago, we were collecting donations for an NGO in Nigeria. It was one that picked children off the streets and housed them. Not only did they do that, they sent them to school and changed their lives forever.
These were children who had run away from home, some had been sent away by relatives who couldn't care for them anymore. Life had happened to this children in the worst kind of way.
While we raised funds for them, a woman sent me a generous donation. My heart was moved and touched so much that I wept and I'll tell you why.
This woman wasn't even approached. She was an atheist who just happened to hear about the collection.  I called her to thank her profusely for her kind generosity and while we spoke, I noticed she was quiet for a while. As I brought the call to a close, she spoke to me in an emotionally laden voice saying,  "I have known lack and I have suffered bitterly, there have been times when I had no food, no clothing, but people extended their hands and blessed me, so who am I to shorten my arms rather than help, I am simply paying it forward." I cried even more because, I was able to decode what she had left un-said.
Have you known suffering and lack? Have you experienced what it is to be mother and fatherless, to not be able to eat or to be clothed? To be forsaken by people who should love and protect you?
Have you?
The experiences and turmoil of those who suffer such fates among us is better imagined than experienced.

Daily, girls are raped and while some of them are rescued,  they go on to bear children that they cannot take care of properly because they themselves are malnourished. Do you ever think of those babies who don't even have the strength to cry out for their mothers milk? Or do you think of the mother who has been abandoned with her children and can hardly afford to feed them let alone her self.
How comfortable are you in your current position that you have forgotten that God has blessed you so that you may be a blessing to another?
Today I believe the Lord wants us to get out of our comfort zone and begin to be a blessing to those in need. People are truly suffering, children need love, they need your help and together we can make a difference. Please be encouraged to help someone in need today.

It is interesting how generosity has blessings tied to it, there's a Nigerian proverb that talks about giving. When you hands are closed, that is in refraining from giving, you cannot receive. When they are open in generosity and you give out, those same open hands, receive more blessings.
Proverbs 11:24 says: One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
Proverbs 19:17 takes it to another level when it says -Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

What a statement! Do you understand what it means to lend to the Lord? If you knew you would bless someone every time you had the opportunity to.
God wants you to give not because of all these attachments to the blessings, but from a cheerful heart.  1 Chronicles 28:9b says The Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. He wants you to give because you are compassionate and because you love people, the way He has asked us to love our neighbors.
Who is your neighbor? Your neighbor is not just the person who lives next you, your neighbor is mankind. The man at the gas station, the old lady who begs for alms near your house, your cousin who's family is going through a tough time financially, that child beggar who shows up every now and then on your street. The lord is calling you to be his soldier in the blessing ministry, please hear His gentle voice and answer Him today.
You don't have to be a millionaire to be a blessing, tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean. No matter how little you are able to give, it is your heart and the thought that goes into it that moves and touches your maker.
There are countless NGOs that you can support all over the world, Just find one that is true and one that is accountable. You can also choose to have blessing plans, they can be monthly, quarterly or yearly. Let it be as your spirit is being led.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." John 21:15
If God asked you that today, what would your response be?
I pray that the Lord will touch you and minister this message to you in a profound way, filling you up with the goodness and compassion of the good Samaritan and on that day when you stand before Him, may He welcome you with open arms, remind you of your loan to Him and bless you mightily for your kind deeds.

Pictured above is a Danish worker in Nigeria who supports the unprivileged children. We have no contact with them,  but this is a useful link: Danish/Nigerian Organisation