Awake and Aware

The documentary was a look into an ugly side of America, the sex trade that flourishes in and around our cities, using girls that are literally slaves. Preying on young women who are looking for love, who run away from abusive homes, or who just who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the pimps beat and rape the women, cowing them into silence and then sell them on the Internet. Often a young woman can produce $1000 per night. It’s a life of degradation, sorrow, usually accompanied by addiction and disease. Suicide is common. When a young girl is no longer marketable, she is dumped onto the streets. Usually she is too ashamed to seek out family help and therefore, remains alone and frequently homeless. Most Americans have no idea this is happening! Truthfully, I would rather not have watched the two hour program either. It left me sick at heart!

Disciple, are you willing to let God break your heart with the things that break His?
Are you willing to see the world as it is; the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly?

The sad faces of those young girls who are used and abused by men without hearts have filled my mind for the last two days! My prayers are stirred and God only knows (literally) what else I could or should do in response to this. We are sent into the world to change it, disciple. We cannot allow ourselves to become isolated behind our community walls, our eyes carefully averted from sin and suffering, our hearts protected from pain, our tranquility preserved by refusal to look at the world as it is!

John tells us that when Jesus was among His disciples after the Resurrection, He said "Again Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:21-22, NIV) The Father sent the Son from the glorious sinless perfection of Heaven into the grim, gritty world of broken lives. Jesus became the friend of sinners. He brought them the good news of forgiveness, the hopeful word of restoration, the corrective word that pointed them to the abundant life, and the promise of eternal shelter in the Father’s house! He engaged Himself with the least, the lost, the outcast, and the sorrowful. In the same way, He sends us! No wonder, He follows us by giving the gift of the Spirit! As Paul says, "Who is equal to such a task?" (2 Corinthians 2:16, NIV)
Do you want to be a joyous disciple, one who leaves a legacy, who knows the smile of the Father’s approval? Then become awake and aware. What you see will be disturbing! It’s not a pretty world where sin reigns! Move comfort and safety down the list of your priorities and present yourself to God, at the ready to do what He asks, to be who He asks. Can we who have been given the gift of life refuse to share it? Can we accept the blessings and not, in turn, invite those who are not yet at the table to come and be part of God’s family?
Here’s a word from the Word.

"But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ  to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them;
to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior  be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord,  before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 20-25, NIV)

________________