The Privileged Minority

Homeless abode...Munich, Germany.

Children happy with their homemade toys...Taveuni, Fiji.

Man at work...Cuzco, Peru.

Those of us in the US of A are part of the privileged minority. No matter if we earn minimum wage, live in a rented room, ride a bus or the trolley to work, or bring a sack lunch to save money instead of going out to a restaurant with the rest of the gang...

Raul and Ruben, street children -- "my orphans" -- Cuzco, Peru.

We are part of the privileged minority when we can finish secondary school without paying for our education, if we even own one phone or TV or car (let alone 2 or 3 or more in one family), have computers and laptops and libraries and Walmarts and Starbucks and Pizzahut... And...and...and...

Peruvian mother with her twins...sewing to support her sons.

As CHRISTians, what are we going to do about it? As a believer, what are you going to do about it? As a fully devoted follower of JESUS CHRIST, what am i going to do about it?

But the poor will always be around, JESUS Himself said...So what then is more important? What is even of a higher priority?

Mother with four children, selling hand-puppets to tourists...Peru.

This: to share the privilege of knowing GOD.

But how can one know GOD, for He is beyond human comprehension, way beyond the grasp of the finite mind, no matter how high the IQ. How can the finite know the infinite? It's like asking the man born blind -- do you know light?

Outhouse of my childhood home...Philippines.

The only way to know GOD is to know JESUS, the Person. When one knows JESUS, He knows GOD Himself. GOD accomplished His will through Moses and Abraham and David, as He did through His prophets and kings and judges as recorded in the Old Testament -- but did they have a personal, one-on-one relationship with Him? Moses did. GOD spoke with him as a friend...and Moses wrote that GOD has promised that One would come after him. The nation of Israel looked to the promise -- and that promise, that hope, did not become reality until GOD Himself became manifest in the flesh, as JESUS, the CHRIST, Son of Man.

Naselesele Village kids...Taveuni, Fiji.

Most people may believe that they know GOD because they have accepted certain information about Him through hearsay at schools, or from church-going, or from the media; or have read enough of the Scriptures (Old or New Testament) to get a deep enough understanding of Who He is...but unless the Holy SPIRIT is in the person, the Holy Scriptures will remain a mystery to him/her. Only by the indwelling Holy SPIRIT of GOD will the reader receive true revelation of what the Word of GOD is all about -- and the Holy Scriptures is all about CHRIST JESUS.

Little girl in Western garb...Peru.JESUS gives to anyone who believes in Him the gracious privilege of knowing GOD, the Father of all, Creator and Sustainer of all. And because as born-again CHRISTians (whether of this or that denomination -- Methodist, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Assembly of GOD, Pentecostal...), we can never ever give enough or do enough to thank GOD for His gift of grace, salvation through CHRIST -- so the most important work is to share the Word of Truth -- JESUS. For In CHRIST, is GOD Himself, by the indwelling Holy SPIRIT. Whoever has CHRIST abiding in him/her, also has the Almighty Father of all Creation, by His Holy SPIRIT.

So the poor will be with us always...it is the love of CHRIST working through us which will cause us to reach out to them and help them in material ways if need be. But even in more dire straits than the poor of the poorest third-world country are the lost souls who don't know GOD. Whether they be millionaires or blue-collar workers, without CHRIST, they are destitute indeed.

My Cuzco orphans...dessert and goodbyes.They may have all the material comforts at their disposal, or they may be in debt up to their ears, or merely eking out a living, or even begging for a hand out -- without peace with GOD, their Creator, they are living in poverty -- living with unquenchable thirst, gnawing hunger, living in a famine that only GOD Himself can satisfy.

Hired Launderess...Philippines.

Man is spirit clothed in flesh...GOD is SPIRIT, and spirit finds true life only by abiding in the SPIRIT. True love and communion is experienced only when spirit bows down to SPIRIT, the SPIRIT of GOD. And the Way is by the blood of CHRIST...by His Cross alone can a person come to the gracious privilege of knowing GOD. There is no other way.