Soup Kitchen for the Soul. Renee Crosby

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СКАЧАТЬ to ask what it is that we have forgotten in our modern faith walk and how do we reclaim it. I also hope by now that you are beginning to wonder how to answer the questions of how do we function in this world for Christ, and where is our mandate to do so? Where in the Bible can we find directives on our missions for God? What exactly are we supposed to be doing?

      How do we come to learn how to live our Christian lives, and is it as God intended? Is what we have learned about being a Christian correct? Is what we have learned about God correct? How do we know it’s correct? Where are the answers? All of our answers can be found in the Bible. Within these pages that we’ll share together I’m honored that you’ll allow me to share with you my heart-changing experience in the soup kitchen in which God taught me about how to have a meaningful Christian walk beyond what I thought possible!

      Ah, how did He teach me these things in the soup kitchen? I’m not sure I can fully explain that as it is the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. I felt the truths first. I lived them. I experienced them in my heart, in my spirit. I didn’t see the truths with my mind, but saw them with my heart. Then after the patient waiting, the pertinent scriptures for each of the key truths that I learned were revealed and fell clearly into one of two categories.

      The first type of scriptural truths were revealed as promises that I either missed the meaning, or that I never claimed as my own. The other key truths that God revealed fell into the category of defining moments, or defining characteristics of living my Christian life as God designed. It is my desire to define or redefine the promises and identify the defining moments and characteristics of our faith walk that will lead to a more meaningful, relevant walk rooted in our Christian heritage and legacy. I will count on the Holy Spirit to make them yours.

      One of the reasons I had not been moving in the world as God designed was because I didn’t understand the way God designed us and our social structures and how we should function within them for Him. These are the truths I “hold to be self evident,” ¹ and I hope you will come to see these truths as self evident when you go into the world to experience and claim these promises and defining moments.

      I had to experience them first and then find the answers to the questions that I didn’t even know I had. You on the other hand get to start by journeying with me into the Biblical truths that provide answers to questions we should all be asking, and then seek to experience them in the world by seeking out God.

      I pray that these promises and defining moments come alive for you and speak to your spirit so that you can go and connect in the world as God designed. The result will be living a Christian life with authentic and truthful meaning and purpose, bringing great glory to God.

      Let’s pray before we begin our journey into the scriptures, shall we?

      Dear God, you are an amazing God of grace and love with promises so concrete yet mysterious and profound that we sometimes cannot comprehend with our human hearts and minds.

      We want to see these truths spoken to us spirit to spirit so that we can claim them with a hungry soul and a longing heart. We ban the enemy any access to our minds and hearts as we allow you to awaken our souls to reclaim sleeping promises. We pray that as we are awakened to radically new-old ways of experiencing and doing God in our world, through these truths revealed in the scriptures, that we will recommit ourselves to have, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven”(Matthew 6:10). Amen.

      QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

      1. What if the people of _________________________ (insert your church name) weren’t here anymore? Would the community around you notice?

      2. Is our church a visible reminder of an invisible God besides the four walls that make up the building?

      3. Are you a visible reminder of an invisible God?

      4. If you were asked as a Christian what the purpose or meaning of life is, would you be able to give an answer, and what would your answer be at this point?

      5. If you were asked what the missions of God’s people were, would you be able to answer the question or know where in the scriptures to find the answers or refer someone to? If you can’t do this yet–don’t worry. Hopefully by the end of the book you will have a clear vision of our works for God and where to find our key missions laid out in the Bible.

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      DEFINING MOMENTS: THE

       CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE

       REVEALED IN THE PASSOVER

       STORY

      When someone asks us why we are here, we need to fully know the answer. We need to understand what it is that God directs us to do. We need to understand where in the Bible to refer in order to gain an understanding of our mission. Ultimately, we need to evaluate and focus on seeking, finding, and living a life worthy of glory for God. We need to constantly re-evaluate how we are walking. Are we walking on the path God laid out for us, or have we gone off the path with a small wrong turn in the woods? Until we know what path we are to be walking on, how will we ever know we may have taken a wrong turn?

      To help realign God’s people with a fuller and more meaningful walk with God, I start with what I have come to see as two main building blocks that make up the foundation of our Christian experience. Our heritage, relationship and mission with God are established in the Passover and the Red Sea experiences. Every day I have been blessed as I review these two essential building blocks. I love to linger in the stories and their meaning.

      These are the truths revealed to me in the soup kitchen that connect us with our basic path for Christian living. Within these two linked stories, God reveals a path for our Christian experience that is so relevant for us today, that it takes my breath away! Let us embark on the journey with one of our ancestors as they experience the Passover and the Red Sea first hand long ago.

      THE STORY

      My story goes back to my forefathers, the Israelites that came to fill the land of Egypt as foreigners. The sons of Jacob all came to live in Egypt through Joseph their brother. Joseph was a great Israelite who held a high position in Egypt during his day, second only in command to the Pharaoh himself. When Joseph was reunited with his family, they all moved to Egypt. But those days are long ago. Joseph and all of his brothers have passed on since then, but left a legacy of many descendants.

      My ancestors may have been respected and worked in harmony with the Egyptians, but that is not so now. It is apparent how different we are today. The Egyptians are a people with deep cultural roots. They worship many gods and are great builders. You should see these pyramids that they built. But we on the other hand have the hearts of wanderers which is why many of my ancestors were shepherds, not builders. And though they worship many gods, we worship only one. We don’t even really live among them as we reside in Goshen and they don’t. This separation of ways and place only lends to more tension and disharmony. We have felt the strain of being foreigners here since we don’t even have the rights of the native Egyptians in recent years, but it has gotten much worse.

      This new Pharaoh that rules knows nothing of the days of teamwork between us and them. This king sees us only as a threat because there are so many of us. We heard rumblings that this Pharaoh thinks that since our numbers are so great we might organize against him and try to take over the kingdom. So, to remove that threat from his reign, he forced us into slavery to oppress us and kill our spirit and our growth. He not only stripped us of our freedom, but of our dignity. We are the underclass, the lowly, СКАЧАТЬ