This morning during my personal devotional time I took several books out on our front porch to read, hoping to greet our neighbor that we have been reaching out to, as he walked by our house on his way to work. (Btw – the companion devotional books mentioned are “A Journey With God” and “A Road Trip With Jesus”, written by my brother-in-law Jack Swartwood. These are excellent books! If you would like them, let us know and we would be happy to help you order them. We are in the process of translating them into Tagalog.)
Sheep
I was surprised when another neighbor from the other side of the street walked by first, on his way to his classes. He’s from Nigeria. He’s from a minister’s home. He seems to be distant from the close relationship with the Lord that he used to have, and we have been encouraging him to return to the Lord. He seemed so sincerely happy to see me, and we talked briefly together about him coming over this week for a Bible study. Lord hear our prayers.
Shortly afterward, our other neighbor walked by on his way to work, and we were able to share friendly greetings together, as well. He is from Nepal, and has a Hindu background. As I came back into the house, Colleen playfully talked about our black sheep. That is with all due respect and appreciation. God loves us all, whatever color, shape, design, background or nationality. He is not willing that any perish. We hope and pray that the Lord can help us influence our neighbors to whole-heartedly love and serve the Lord. It is so important for everyone to receive the Lord, our good Shepherd, and become part of his flock.
