You are not your face and you are not your resume. In this life, we constantly bombarded with messages that say that we are what we look on the outside or we are what we have accomplished. We must be constantly and prayerfully on guard not to fall for this deception that would have us view our identity and the identity of others from a surface level. Our face and our bodies are just shells and our accomplishments don’t mean a thing in the context of eternity if they were done for self glory. Who we are is the inner person that only God can see.
1 Samuel 16:6-7 6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The sorrows of Skid Row and the emptyness of Beverly Hills, although differentiated by class these two seemingly opposite communities hold a lot in common. Under the luxury of the gated home with the sercurity cameras sits a girl whose nightmares are exactly the same as the boy trying to survive the cold mean streets of LA. There is the woman driving a Range Rover who has to pull over because the tears of betrayal are blinding her. There is a man driving a cart, looking for his next fix and just trying to survive one day at a time. They seem so different but I tell you, they have so much in common. There is the man who is on top of the world on the outside, but on the inside his life has been shattered into a million pieces. What does he have in common with woman who never went pass the 10th grade and her life has been marked by abuse beyond words can say. I tell you that they have a lot more in common then you might think.
The crack addict has a lot more in common with the shopaholic then meets the eye. The difference between the rich and poor is really not as big as their common desperation for something beyond the here and now. This is why I tell my testimony about how Jesus transformed my life in a real and profound way.
The video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responding to his critics who urged him to “stick to civil rights” after he publicly denounced the Vietnam War. The video below is his inspirational response;
This is the video clip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking the night before his assassination about not fearing death because his eyes had “seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
This is the video clip from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. funeral. His family requested that they play this audio of him speaking about what he wanted to be said of him at the funeral.
Kaká, the athlete whom Pelé described as “the outstanding talent of the moment” and who was named in Time Magazine 100 most influential people in the world, is less concerned with what people think of him and more on what God thinks. The title of best fútbol (”soccer”) player on the planet is not as important as the title he has proclaimed to the world ”I belong to Jesus”.
The Brazilian soccer legend in the making believes in the importance of sharing the love of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Kaká has become the “Ambassador Against Hunger” for the World Food Program of the U.N. as he has actively worked to uplift those who are struggling in poverty all over the world. As a believer in Jesus Christ he understands that faith is not just manifested through words but also through action as Jesus said of the righteous “I was hungry, and you gave me food.”
In a world that glorifies the rich and famous, it is refreshing to see Kaká has not become caught in the trap of self importance but instead has pointed the direction on the one who deserves all the glory, Jesus Christ. Kaká states in an interview with Atletas de Cristo;
“To those who already have Jesus: you have made the best choice and are in the best team. Go ahead. Do not give up. The fight is great, but we can only win being on Jesus’ side. To those who have not yet surrendered their lives to Jesus: What are you doing being outside of this team?! Come to learn the Word of God, come to know who God really is. Stop eating cookies, while God offers us a banquet.”
There is a great pressure that we all face to live our lives by the expectations of others and to be politically correct by blending in. But Jesus says in Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Kaka, my dear brother in the faith of Jesus Christ, I too belong to Jesus Christ. He changed my life, put my feet on solid ground and gave me the peace that passess all understanding.
In my life, I have been face to face with what so many people spend their entire lives chasing after; I have seen those with wealth that is astronomical, fame and power that is consuming and I count all of these things as nothing compared to the awesome gift of knowing Jesus Christ, who is ”Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6
For the reader who is reading this blog and does not know what I am speaking about, I want to tell you that it is not by accident that you are reading this. God has a purpose for your life that is beyond what you can imagine for yourself, family traditions or society pressures. God loved you so much that he sent Jesus (his only begotten son) to die on the cross that through faith in him you might be saved. ”Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8).
John 17:1-3 1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
After my speaking engagements at Harvard University and Yale University in early December, I joined a group of children from Rwanda who were on a hope tour across the United States as they shared the message of hope through songs, dance and drumming. These children were given diplomat to travel to the United States as cultural ambassadors and representatives of the nearly 1 million orphaned and abandoned children in Rwanda from genocide, poverty and disease.
In Connecticut on the hope tour with the children.
