Philly Jesus

(Me and Philly Jesus)

I am very good at overwhelming myself. In less than two months on my "summer off" as a teacher I managed to take all my real estate classes, pass my license exam, sell my car, buy another car, teach summer school, be a camp sports counselor and I am currently in the process of buying my first home. See what I mean? Overwhelmed! I get stressed, distracted, I lose sleep and I lose focus. I'd be lying if I said all the things I listed above didn't strain my relationship with God. I began giving other things more focus then Him. I replaced my evenings researching the housing market or studying rather than reading my bible and praying before I went to bed. I know this because my heart grows weak. I thirst for Gods Word and when I begin to distance myself from Him, my anxiety increases, my attitude shifts and I become greedy and self-focused. How do you get back to that place of peace, that feeling of being on fire for God. I still pray, read His word and do my devotion but that fire...theres no feeling like it. Well I experienced it the other day.

My work sent me to a four day teachers conference in Philadelphia and I volunteered to go with a few of our other teachers. I spent the whole ride there talking to one of my fellow teachers about God and all He is showing us and our struggles.. One thing I noticed our first night was how many homeless people there were in Philly. It was heartbreaking. After our second night there I woke up that morning, thinking about all the homeless people, all the people who need help and I couldn't help but feel fortunate. All that God had blessed me with and I forget to stop in my tracks and thank him, I selfishly think I did it on my own, what a fool I can be. That morning as I read my Bible, I stopped to pray the most dangerous prayer you can pray "God use me" this is the one thing we as Christians should always pray because God will always respond. At that moment I felt the Lord tell me I would be preaching on the street of Philly that night, I began wondering how, where and what I needed to do to prepare myself.

That night we had an amazing Italian dinner, afterwards me and my fellow teachers decided to go walk to the LOVE park  downtown. As we were walking there, we passed a man picking through the trash, looking for something to eat. I noticed him first and kept walking, a fellow teacher of mine didn't even hesitate and walked up and gave her food away. At that moment I realize how hardened my heart has become lately. A year ago I wouldn't have even hesitated but now I have trained myself to just walk by and justify not lending a helping hand. We stopped off at a fountain to take pictures. I sat on the park bench alone, surrounded by homeless people sleeping on the benches beside me and in the grass. I asked god to soften my heart, once again I prayed for him to use me. I left my left over food by a homeless mans backpack and walked away in shame.

As we were walking back to the hotel I couldn't help feel like I let God down, I wanted to be a light for him that day. I prayed for him to use me and now the night was over. Funny how God shows up when you ask him too. As we were walking back we passed the LOVE statue and there was a man dressed like Jesus. We passed this man earlier but like most people I thought he was probably a religious nut screaming in peoples faces to repent and condemning them to hell (just being honest I thought the worst). I was curious to what his mission was so I walked straight up to him while was ministering to the youth. There was about seven African American teenagers surrounding him as he told them about Jesus Christ and how much God loves them. He then told them all they needed to do to get right with God was repent of their sins, declare him as Lord and savior and give their lives to him. After the kids walked away I introduced myself and told him I was a follower of Christ and just wanted to hear more about his ministry.

He told me a year ago he was a drug addict, stealing from people and living on the streets. He said everything caught up with him and he ended up in prison. He told me his life hit rock bottom and that's when he prayed the prayer I hear so many people who come to faith say "Jesus if you are real, show yourself to me." He said God hit him like a ton of bricks and began pouring love over his body in that jail cell, to the point where he couldn't control it. He said he started reading the Bible and for the first time it started to make sense. He said he gave his life to Christ and when He got out He devoted everything he does to point to Jesus. He said he felt called to dress up like Jesus and visit  LOVE park to share the love of Christ. He said he wants people to see him and just think about Jesus, "if people just see me and begin thinking about Jesus my job is done." He has had many encounters of people coming up and asking to take pictures with him and then he begins sharing the Gospel to them. At that point people began gathering around us, apparently a Jesus look alike is rare now a days.

At that moment a man walked up and interrupted us, "Hey I got a few questions". We smiled at each other than looked at him, "whats up man". He began asking questions about why he needs to believe in Jesus to go to Heaven. Philly Jesus then started explaining to him that if God is a holy God, one who is perfect, then how can we, being imperfect be in his presence. "Only through the blood of Jesus was this made possible, that our sins are washed away." he said. The man began asking more questions about the Bible and why God would come die for us. I suddenly had a bolt of excitement hit me and began sharing my struggles with him, how I struggled with alcohol in my early twenties and how only through the power of God I have overcome those urges. I told him that Jesus came to make our relationship right with God and conquer the things of this world that are not of God.  He quickly switched and asked why he had to go to church. I laughed out loud (not trying to be rude), "brother we are at church, look around, we are talking about God, we are praising all he has done and we are gathered here together, we are worshipping. That is all church is." He told me he was never going to go to church again, I reaffirmed him that he doesn't have to go to church to believe in Jesus. A relationship with Jesus is the only thing that matters, not a building. But I encouraged him that God wants us to be around fellow believers because they will lift you up and encourage you to be closer to God. He then told me the Bible was written by man and not God. This one always takes time to help people digest. I explained to him just as we were standing there and communicating back and forth, God does the same thing with those who talk and listen to him. If God is about relationship, then you can hear him and respond when you spend time with Him whether it be in prayer, worship or through fellowship. We asked him he knew all these things about Jesus to which he said "No but this is good news." Amen brother, it's the only good news!

Philly Jesus asked him if we could all pray together. We prayed and while in prayer I felt God ask me to extend him an invitation to enter his Holy Kingdom. I asked our new friend and with a tear in his eye he said He wanted to accept Jesus as his Lord and savior. I hugged him goodbye and he promised to return the following day to the park so Philly Jesus could bring him a Bible. God is so good. I walked home that night overjoyed and thankful that God felt I was worthy enough to use that evening. If this story taught me anything it's that I must be committed to be still and listen. I fill my schedule and day so much that I forget to walk humbly in the path that God has created for me day to day. If God is speaking for you to do something, I ask that you do not delay, pursue what He asks and God will reward you! If you want to follow more of Philly Jesus ministry you can check him out on Instagram and Twitter @PhillyJesus

Thank you for reading and God Bless!!

Zach

Please feel free to share on Facebook or email to friends and family. My hope is that my writing will help bring people to know God and encourage their walk with Jesus!