![\"img_1544\"](\"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/img_1544.jpg\")
<\/a>At the corner of Euclid and Moreland in Little 5 Points, I peered down a deserted street. When I looked the other direction, Jim appeared in the middle of the road walking toward my car. \u201cPull in here, Dana, Digger really wants to see you.\u201d He led me to a porch where Digger and three others had settled in. \u201cMerry Christmas,\u201d I said, handing Jim the box. \u201cI thought you\u2019d be asleep this early in the morning.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve not been to bed yet,\u201d Digger replied. Jim introduced me to the three I didn\u2019t know and we all talked a while before I departed.<\/p>\nHillsong’s lyrics \u201cYour love\u2019s too good to leave me here\u2026\u201d were playing in my car as I drove through Atlanta. These words reflect God\u2019s heart as He \u2018desires no one to perish\u2019… but He will not take away \u2018choice.\u2019 Jesus will not force us to follow Him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.\u201d But just a few sentences later, the apostle wrote: \u201cHe came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.\u201d (See John 1)<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you \u2013 they are full of Spirit and life\u2026\u2019 From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. \u2018You do not want to leave too, do you?\u2019 Jesus asked the Twelve.\u201d (John 6:63-67)<\/p>\n
I think Jesus wants us all to respond the way Peter did. Like him, we do not understand everything\u2026 but: \u201cLord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.\u201d (John 6:68-69)<\/p>\n
When family members or friends or strangers do not choose life, we are still to care and pray and love. Jesus tells us His Father waits for the prodigal with open arms. We should remind the wayward, the trapped, the lonely, and confused of such a Lover of souls\u2026 One who has the power to rescue, cleanse, and restore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he came to his senses, he said, \u2018How many of my father\u2019s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.\u2019 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.\u201d Luke 15:17-20<\/p>\n
Lyrics from Hillsong United: \u2018As You Find Me\u2019; \u00a92018<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Susan put together a good-sized box of food and I gathered some clothes to take to Jim Christmas morning. I learned later that the Lord put it on the heart of another couple to take him a few Christmas presents in the afternoon. I think God really loves the homeless. At the corner of Euclid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3224,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions\/3224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}