Living Out James 1:27

James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." 

Since returning from Bosnia, I have a redeemed view of this verse. 

The Orphan: 

The majority of the city where we served were orphans. They have earthly Fathers but they are missing the intimacy with their true Abba Father, God. 

The Widow: 

The majority of food distribution visits were to the widows. Our first and last visit was to a woman named Safa. During the war, she cried so many tears that no more tears will come. Her tear ducts are dried wells. When she feels sadness or pain, her face scrunches but no tears come. When her husband died, her eyes were dry. She couldn't find tears. Others thought she wasn't sad that he had died and were disappointed with her. She wants to cry, to have tears, but she has used all of them. 

 My prayer is that as Safa sits, unable to stand from her intense kidney problems, waiting for another visit, that in her struggle to cry, she would look to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and as she accepts Him as her Lord and Savior that she would find tears. Not tears of mourning or loss but tears of pure and devout joy as she finds the peace that she so desperately desires. 

Keeping Oneself Unstained by the World: 

I love Jesus. I have committed my life to Him and the Great Commission. I still struggle- A LOT. The temptation that I struggle with the most is sexual temptation. From addictions of my past, flesh memories, years of impure thoughts, secrets kept, things done, it has been hard for me to come clean. Turns out I can't. It is only Christ's death on the Cross that has washed me clean and forgiven me of my sins. 

If you haven't experienced freedom from this area let me tell you...                   Satisfaction from sexual addiction is shambles next to the ecstasy of liberation that God provides. 

On missions trips it is easy not to be tempted in this way. I'm not home alone. I'm not by myself. People are around me 24/7. Halfway through the week in Bosnia, the name of a porn site was chalked on the sidewalk outside of the place where we were working. No one else noticed it. No one else said anything. 

This shook me up a lot. I prayed a lot to figure out why it was there and what it meant.  The Lord told me two things: 

1) "You can't hide your past. I know what you have done. It doesn't bother me. I'm not ashamed of it. I died for it. I still love you. I've redeemed this in your life." 

2) "The entire world is enveloped in spiritual warfare, you know this. You also know that I'm victorious over all of these things. When I died on the cross and rose again, that was it. I am present in this city just like I am present in your life. I have put these people here for my purpose and for my plans. I've allowed this to be on the sidewalk outside of the fence where you are working to show you that, Satan can't touch the work for my Kingdom that is being done here. You've chosen the side of victory. You've chosen the side of purpose, the side of life. I love you and you love me." 

It didn't stop there. 

When Michael asked me a year ago how I felt about putting together a trip to Bosnia, I asked him if there was going to be any anti-human trafficking work because I knew that a lot more people that I knew would be interested in going on the trip. He said no, that his connections work more with food distribution and ESL and I said okay. The last night of the trip, we stayed in a hotel in the capital of the country. In the rooms surrounding our rooms, men were bringing prostitutes for the night. This is the second time this year that I have seen results of sexual exploitation up close and God spoke to me again. 

 3) "Look this IS happening here. Just like you saw it in NYC, just like you will see it in France, it is here. So am I. So are you. Because of your past self, because of the previous experience I have given you with NYCUP, you know what exploitation looks like, you know what to do. Pray." 

A lot of you reading this probably didn't even know I struggle in this area. My SG Leader, Nate Smith, said at the beginning of this school year (his last leading us) that his desire was for us was to love God as much as he does.  

In my pursuit of intimacy with Christ, I've realized something I knew all along. That by allowing God in, by being vulnerable with my friends, the guys I lead, you the reader, by showing what Christ has done in my life, by sharing my testimony, the Gospel becomes so much more real.  The gift of eternal life becomes so much more than an escape from hell- it becomes the greatest act of love ever done.

"Visiting orphans and widows in their distress, and keeping ourselves unstained by the world," that is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our Father can only be realized through relationship and intimacy with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.