I remembered the day when, as a young Christian, I had become frustrated with some issues in my life. I went into the middle of a battlefield park near my apartment and determined that I would wait until the Lord spoke to me. As I sat reading my Bible, i was caught up into a vision, one of the first ones that I ever had.
In the vision, I saw a man who was zealously serving the Lord.
He was continually witnessing to people, teaching the Bible, and visiting the sick to pray for them. He was very zealous for the Lord and had a genuine love for people.
Then I saw another man, named Angelo, who was obviously a tramp or a homeless person. When a small kitten wandered into his path, he started to kick it but restrained himself, though he still shoved it out of the way rather harshly with his foot.
Then the Lord asked me which of these men pleased HIM the most.
The first, I said without hesitation.
NO, the SECOND, He responded and began to tell me their stories.
He shared that the first man had been raised in a wonderful family, which had always known the Lord. He grew up in a thriving church and then attended one of the best Bible colleges in the country. He had been given 100 portions of HIS LOVE, but was only using 75.
The SECOND MAN had been born deaf. He was abused and kept in the dark, cold attic until he was found by the authorities when he was 8 years old. He had been shifted from one institution to another, where the abuse continued. Finally he was turned out on the streets. The Lord had only given him 3 portions of HIS LOVE to help him overcome all of this, but he had mustered every bit of it to fight the rage in his heart and keep from hurting the kitten.
I now looked at that man, a KING SITTING ON A THRONE FAR MORE GLORIOUS THAN SOLOMON COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED. HOSTS OF ANGELS WERE ARRAYED ABOUT HIM, WAITING TO DO HIS BIDDING. I turned to the Lord in AWE. I still could not believe he was real, much less one of the great kings.
Lord, please tell me the rest of his story, I begged.
Of course, that's why we are here.
Angelo was so faithful with the little that I had given him that I gave him 3 more portions of MY LOVE. He used ALL OF THAT TO QUIT STEALING. He almost starved, but he refused to take anything that was not his.
He bought his food with what he could make collecting bottles, and occasionally he found someone who would let him do yard work.
Angelo could not hear but he had learned to read, so I sent him a gospel tract. As he read it, the SPIRIT opened his heart and he gave his life to ME.
I again doubled the portions of MY LOVE to him and he faithfully used all of them.
He wanted to share Me with others, but he could not speak. Even though he lived in such poverty, he started spending over half of everything he made on gospel tracts to give out on the street corners.
How many did he lead to You? I asked, thinking that it must have been multitudes for him to be sitting with the KINGS.
ONE, the Lord answered, In order to encourage him, I let him lead a dying alcoholic to Me. It encouraged him so much that he would have stood on that corner for many more years just to bring another soul to repentance... BUT ALL OF HEAVEN was entreating Me to bring him here quickly, and I, TOO, WANted him to receive his reward.
BUT WHAT DID ANGELO DO TO BECOME A KING HERE? I asked.
He was faithful with ALL that he was given. He overcame all until he became like ME, and he died a martyr.
But what did he overcome, and how was he martyred?
He overcame the world with MY LOVE. Very few have overcome so much with so little. Many of my people dwell in homes with conveniences that kings would have envied just a century ago, yet they do not appreciate them.
Angelo, on the other hand, would so appreciate even a cardboard box on a cold night that he would turn it into a glorious temple of My presence.
He began to love everyone and everything. He would rejoice more over an apple than some of MY people do over a great feast. He was faithful with all that I gave him, even though it was not very much compared to what I gave others, including YOU. I showed him to you in a vision because YOU passed by him many times. Once you even pointed him out to one of your friends and spoke of him.
I did?? What did I say???
You said:
There is another of those Elijahs who must have escaped from the bus station. YOu said that he was a religious nut who was sent by the enemy to turn people off to the gospel.
THIS WAS THE WORST BLOW I HAD SUFFERED YET IN THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE. I was more than shocked, I was appauled. I tried to remember the specific incident, but couldnt-simply because there were so many others like it. I had never had much compassion for filthy STREET Preachers, considering them tools of satan sent to turn people off to the gospel.
I'm sorry, LORD. I'm really sorry.
You ARE forgiven. He quickly responded. and you are right that there are many who try to preach the gospel on the streets for wrong or even perverted reasons. Even so, there are many who are sincere, even IF THEY ARE UNTRAINED AND UNLEARNED. YOU MUST NOT JUDGE BY APPEARANCES!
Angelo died everyday because he did not live for himself but for others.
Wisdom is to see with MY eyes, and not to judge by appearances.
Always remember that compassion will remove the veils from your soul faster than anything else...
**exerpt from THE FINAL QUEST by Rick Joyner
Page 57/113
Love never fails.
No comments:
Post a Comment