Feed Them! Show Them! Actions Speak Louder!

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,  “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”


...When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so...The people ate and were satisfied. [Mark 8:1-3, 6, & 8]


If you are already a believer in Christ and feel the strong gift of love that God has deposited in your heart for other people, then like me, you possibly have a heart to see "the lost", "found"...to share the hope of a life in Christ to someone who has yet to discover it...to experience hurting souls, saved, and people giving their lives to Christ.  


And in order to spread the Gospel to those who are still in darkness, sometimes we will go to all sorts of lengths to win people over to Christ...
~preach to them about their destiny with Hell unless they surrender to Christ and get saved...
~buy them a bible for their birthday or the Christmas holiday...
~invite them to Sunday service and every other event that the church has planned...
~recommend a great Christian book you just read and buy it for them to read as well...
~send them a link to read a great devotional/blog you just read (or that YOU wrote)...
~tell them your testimony and how God saw you through...
~and preach, and preach, and preach, preach, preach...some more...


...AND STILL with all those ways and methods we used to witness and to win souls for Christ, we are still left with friends, family members, and strangers that just do not seem interested enough to take that leap and surrender their lives to the lordship of Christ and salvation.


What's a believer to do???

FEED THEM!  CLOTH THEM!  SHOW THEM!  

Sometimes our actions will speak louder than our words and methods of preaching!

In reading the 4 Gospels of the Bible, I found it interesting as I decided to trace Jesus's years of ministry and His methods of evangelism.  Of course we know that Jesus spent a lot of time speaking in parables, preaching about the Kingdom of God, and offering an alternative lifestyle of freedom and forgiveness to those that were "lost" and hurting, but Jesus equally (if not more so) spent a lot of time in ACTION:  HEALING those that we physically ill, demon possessed, or even dead; FEEDING the hungry followers that desperately went everywhere that He went; and LIVING A LIFE that was PURE & BLAMELESS...being a walking example of all that came out of His mouth.  For Jesus, it was of grave importance for "the lost" to be "found", and to save lives for eternity, but He was also wise enough to know that most often human nature responds to their physical needs being met.  And with that, often the actions and behaviors that someone observes in us on a daily basis, are more profound and lasting than any words or preaching that we could ever do.

The Bible even calls us to do more than just open our mouths to talk and preach a word to someone; but to reach-out and do something...something to fulfill others' immediate and physical needs...something that will SHOW them (not just our lip service)...

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? [James 2:15-16]

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth. [1 John 3:17-18]

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'...“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ [Matthew 25: 35-36, 40]

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. [James 3:13]

 Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in your speech, conduct, love, faithfulness, and purity. [1 Timothy 4:12]

In closing, let me share a few excerpts from a phenomenal book I am reading, Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick.  Pastor Furtick's testimony is a powerful example of ministering to others and saving souls through our ACTIONS...and not just our words (I have added bold, italics, and underlining for emphasis):

I had a passion to see them give their lives to Christ, but nothing in my win-people-to-Jesus playbook was working.  I invited them to church, Bible study, and prayer meeting...

One night I had a revelation...If you feed them, they will come...

I immediately got in my Toyota Tercel and hit the closest grocery store, which was twenty minutes away...I filled the cart with groceries and almost emptied my bank account to pay for them.  It was good stuff too-Little Debbie. Oatmeal Creme Pies. Honey Buns. Nutty Buddy Bars...About a hundred bucks in groceries.  That's a fortune for a college student...

I hustled back up to the third floor, cleared out the top of my closet, and stocked it like a pantry.  Then I went door to door, only this time, instead of inviting the guys to church, I invited them back to my room.  To eat my food.

A few nights later...someone knocked at the door...But this guy didn't want food.  He wanted to talk about Jesus...

"Ya'll are crazy."..."I mean, I've been at this school for three years now.  Everybody has tried to tell me I need Jesus.  But nobody has ever just given me their food.  Ya'll are crazy.  And being around ya'll crazy white boys, I'm starting to see it.  

I need God in my life."...

Pastor Furtick's actions of freely blessing and feeding his fellow college dorm members, through his stock-piled pantry of sweet, junk food, spoke louder and accomplished more than any words or evangelistic method he could have ever dreamed of.  He fed them and acted, and so should we!

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 

[Luke 6:31]

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. [Proverbs 11:25]

Well done is better than well said.  ~Benjamin Franklin

Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions.  You may have a heart of gold - but so does a hard-boiled egg.  ~Author Unknown

FEED THEM! SHOW THEM!  

LET OUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN OUR WORDS!

Mad Luv~Teri