"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water in my name..."

Hello! Well, I am discovering why this place is called the windy city! It is frigid cold, and walking around in the blowing snow is not at the top of my list of things to do on an afternoon. the other day, one of my roommates (debbie) and I went to Jewel(a grocery store nearby) to pick up some stuff we needed. It was so cold, and we bought more food than we could carry...so we asked if we could borrow a cart to bring the food back (Jewel is like 4 or 5 blocks away) They said yes! So we started pushing our cart of groceries back, but the sidewalks were to slushy and snow covered, so we ended up having to carry all of the bags back...needless to say, it wasn't much fun.
Yet, I should not be complaining...i have a warm room to come back to, blankets, food...and there are many who do not even have a place to sleep-unless you count the bridge where there are roads stacked upon roads- a giant cement structure that is only meant for traveling through...some men call that thier home. Last night we (some of our bro-sis) went down to the bridge and passed out hot-dogs, water, socks, and hot-chocolate to some of the homeless men who stay down there in the winter. We were only there for a few hours, and my hands and feet were so incredibly cold...they have been there for several months. We walked along the sidewalks and stopped at mounds of blankets, giving water in Jesus' name and in this case, hot-chocolate as well...It is crazy that people live like this--one man, Arnold, we were talking to-he had a Bible passage taped to the wall- Part of Luke 12.
"And he(Jesus) told this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, 'this is whatI'll do-I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.....But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Then Jesus said to his disciples:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or what you will wear. Life is more than food and the body more than clothes. consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

In Galatians, Paul is writing to the church there...basically getting up in their face and confronting them about things-accepting false teaching-putting too much emphasis on the law. Along with that, Chapter 2:10- he adds this. "They agreed that I should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continueto remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

Have we gotten so comfortable in our Christianity that we have pushed aside the most obvious and important command? Love God and love your neighbor. And a heart that is truely loving God will produce fruit-that will be seen as an overflow of thier life. When we have gotten to the point of stagnancy-and seeking our own personal comfort and convienience- we have gotton to the point were we are decieving ourselves.
I can spend all week drawing from the well-taking these amazing classes from amazing profs, reading my Bible every day-praying, journaling...but faith without deeds is dead. If you take a cup and fill it with water and just allow it to sit there-it is going to get gross-water that is not moving is never safe to drink-it is often poisonous...we need to be constantly pouring out-because unless we are, our lives will be but stale, dim and fruitless.
I so often get caught up in my "ministry..." or "Christian stuff" that I forget the greatest commands of Christ. How will people known us as followers of Him? By our love.
It was so incredibly convicting to walk around amongst those men who have nothing. So I give this challenge to myself and everyone else- Share the well.