Faith That Moves began ministry at the Davidson County Crisis Ministry Center in Lexington, North Carolina in April, 2022 and the Bethesda Center for the Homeless in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in June, 2022.
While making connections and providing Biblical instruction with individuals in homelessness, the process of disciplemaking was slow and generating support from the Christian community was slower. In prayer to God I spoke to Him that I knew eradicating homelessness in this area of North Carolina is what He wants to do, but seeing how things were going I asked Him just how is He going to do that?
In January of 2023 Phil Wickham performed the first night of his Sing-A-Long tour sponsored by Compassion International, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Performing with Phil Wickham were Matt Maher, Taya Gaukrodger, and Leeland. As a sponsor of a child through Compassion International, I volunteered to pass out information on children in need of sponsors for Compassion International at this concert. As God would have it, there was larger reason for me being at this concert.
Taya and Leeland had just written the song “Heart and Flesh” and before Taya and Leeland sang this song, Taya took her Bible and walked us through what God is communicating to us in Psalm 84. I invite you to read Psalm 84 for yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you (because that is what He does; John 14:26) what He wants you to know concerning Psalm 84.
Psalm 84 is about how lovely is the presence of the LORD and the blessing to those who live in the presence of the LORD, the strength that the LORD gives to the person whose heart is set on being in the presence of the LORD (Zion or Jerusalem in verse 5 denotes the presence of the LORD), and the effect an individual has on where they walk toward the presence of the LORD in their daily lives, as well as the LORD God being a sun and shield to those in His presence.
God used the teaching on Psalm 84 to answer to my question; He wants people who put their faith in Jesus Christ to live in His presence because it is the presence of the LORD that brings life (Psalm 16:11) and freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). The presence of the LORD will be where Christians are living in the presence of the LORD.
Just recently the Holy Spirit taught me why the area in which we walk to be in the presence of the LORD needs to be turned into a spring in the first place. The prophet Isaiah explains in Isaiah 14:16-17 describing the fall of Lucifer (now Satan) to earth and how he turned the earth into a wilderness or wasteland (a desert or sterile, sandy country in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament).
The picture of Psalm 84:6 and the Valley of Baca refers to a place that is gloomy and sterile. So Christians walking to be in the presence of the LORD on a daily basis bring rain to make the gloomy, desert, sterile land, which represents our broken society and communities, a place of refreshing springs.
The bigger picture then is that the solution to the destruction we see in our society and communities, which homelessness is part, begins with those who call themselves Christians.
God’s presence indicates His rule!
To be continued…
