The Giving and Loving Jesus. Hesed.

These past few weeks I have seen people coming together in extraordinary ways. From assisting a man who can no longer speak as dementia takes hold, to caring for a young woman and her children whose husband and father passed away weeks before they broke ground on their dream home. I've watched groups provide for our community’s foster children, support a young woman as she battles breast cancer, and help a woman who was paralyzed in a horrible fire.

Above are just glimpses of ways this Riverbend Community has come together to care for one another. 

Last Sunday we read in Proverbs 3:27 “do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor 'come back later; I’ll give it to you tomorrow'- when you now have it with you.”

In the New Testament, Matthew chapter 21 we see Solomon's advice lived out by a man who gives his donkey and its colt to disciples of Jesus. The man did not ask for them to come back later. For Jesus, there was no later, for at the end of the week he would be crucified on a cross.

We are called by God to freely give what He has blessed us with to those in need, in order to glorify Him who is the giver of all things. Jesus came gentle and loving as he gave his life so that we would be deserving of all that God has for us in Heaven and Earth. May we be givers and receivers of mercy and grace that surpasses all understanding. May we receive Jesus!

-Nikki Fiedler