Open your eyes.

Do we really see the people around us? Do we really know what's going on in people's lives? Especially the ones closest to us? I am reminded by something a pastor once said...that if someone has done us wrong, or dropped us, or whatever you want to call it...maybe it's nothing personal against us, they're just going through a lot at the moment. Which is hard for me to really grasp, because I am a selfish being and I tend to think of the situation as them just hurting me and how bad of a person they are. Guess it's that whole learning to be selfless thing.

Sometimes I don't realize just what people are going through. Even my closest friends! And then when they happen to share, I am completely blown away and heartbroken for them.

So here's the thought that spurred all of this on:

We are called to go unto the nations and proclaim the name of Jesus. Fact. But, aren't we also called, as a body of believers, to reach out within our own family, and pick up the broken? Those within our family who are hurting and struggling, and desperately need our help. Community. Isn't that our job, too? Let me tell you, I do not do that enough. It is such a slap in the face when you find something out about someone that you had no clue of. You think, "How could I not have seen that?" Hint: It's probably because we have our head up in the clouds. And not in the clouds that we share with every other human being, but our own clouds, made within our own selfish world.

I share this because I think we should all look around with new eyes. Even if a brother or sister isn't struggling that much, still reach out a hand and help them. Encourage them. Call them up...ask them out for coffee. We have got to start learning what true community means. It's definitely something I'm going to work on. I don't think anything else in this world matters, except to glorify God, magnify His name, and love each other. Everything else fades away. Everything else is irrelevant and disposable. But if you want something real, something tangible, something important! It's God and people. That's it.

Acts 2:42-47:

They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added to those who were saved.

Acts 4:32-37:

The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn’t even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, “That’s mine; you can’t have it.” They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them. And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person’s need.

James 5:13-20:Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.



---That last part of James gets to me. If you know people who have wandered off from God, go after them! Never give up on them. Try even harder!

Make me selfless, Jesus. Help me to see Your people through Your eyes. For my eyes continually fail me.

My prayer is that we are not so focused on the lost, that we leave those in our family in the dust. Lord, help us to find the balance between the two.