So, this bum tries to beg off of me at Walmart today

[Nick]

Here is my thought on the subject.....if the Holy Spirit tells you to give someone some money it is not up to us to make sure it is used for good. It is up to us to obey the Holy Spirits call. Maybe they will buy drugs or alcohol with it maybe they will buy food or clothing. It is not our money anyway...it is Gods money..have faith that God has a reason for giving to that person. The Holy Spirit urged you to give to them for a reason. Who are we to judge the will of God?

If the Holy Spirit is not urging you then don't give....you could actually cause them more pain by trying to please yourself by giving.

Let us all keep our hearts open to the call of the Holy Spirit....I pray that everyone who reads this will be sensitive to the gentle whisper and we will have the faith to act when we are moved.

Important point.

Although I'm not sure what it was that I said that indicated that I wasn't being led by the Holy Spirit.

 

[a wretch like me]

You are so right Nacho, in my case it really is a gentle whisper. I couldn't have described it that well, but you indeed nailed it. On more than one occasion that whisper has been a negative, I'm guessing in that case a little personal lesson was being taught to that individual. Now I am certain I have been scammed at one time or another, however, we never know God's intentions so I just follow his lead.

On another occasion not long ago as I came out of a convenience store, a girl in her late teens or early twenties pulled up and stopped, blocking me from my pickup. She was driving an ancient Nissan/Honda which was really in bad shape. She leaned over and through the passenger window said she needed help. I remember thinking how pitiful the car was. Almost no seat covers remaining and the dash was falling apart.

She said she needed to get back home to Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix some 30-50 miles away. She was almost out of gas and said she had no money. I heard that gentle whisper urging me to help. I immediately thought of my own Granddaughter who was about her age.

I couldn't help but offer a gentle warning about taking chances like this, not planning ahead and stopping and talking to strange men. Not everyone has her best interests in mind, you know the story you give your kids. She smiled, listened, agreed and said something told her I would help her.

Well, I did help her. She pulled up to the pump and I filled her tank. And with prices the way they are now it turned out to be a chunk of change. I did what I would want someone to do if it was my Granddaughter. She was in tears as she thanked me and I again warned her about thinking ahead in the future.

It makes my day worthwhile when I hear that gentle whisper and follow through. I am happy to be able to prove to my Lord that I deserve some of those blessings He sends my way daily.

 

[Lewis]

This is a true story, I had a friend named Julie, that I use to get high with and everything else get the picture. Now when I got clean and sober Julie had got to the point where she was begging on the streets, and I would avoid her, or when I could not, I have got nasty with her, meaning nasty attitude. Well on May the 6th of 2011 someone killed her in an abandoned house and set her body on fire to cover up the crime. And because I don't live in that part of the city anymore, I am just finding out about this, this past Monday. I feel so bad because I did not talk to that girl when I would see her on the streets, where was my Christianity, she has been on my mind all week. I could have treated that girl with love, instead I would run from her. I did not run from her when she had a apartment and I was getting high and doing other things with her all those years ago. Julie was on the streets, and I did not treat that girl right and I feel so bad. And that idiot who ever he is, did not have to kill her, if he raped her he should have just let her go, he did not have to kill her and then set her on fire. It is to late for me to say here Julie, here is 5 bucks, I know you are hungry, I would give a stranger before I gave her, and I don't understand why I treated her that way. Now it is to late for me to say anything and I feel real bad about that. Just typing this has almost made me cry.

 

[handy]

This is a true story, I had a friend named Julie, that I use to get high with and everything else get the picture. Now when I got clean and sober Julie had got to the point where she was begging on the streets, and I would avoid her, or when I could not, I have got nasty with her, meaning nasty attitude. Well on May the 6th of 2011 someone killed her in an abandoned house and set her body on fire to cover up the crime. And because I don't live in that part of the city anymore, I am just finding out about this, this past Monday. I feel so bad because I did not talk to that girl when I would see her on the streets, where was my Christianity, she has been on my mind all week. I could have treated that girl with love, instead I would run from her. I did not run from her when she had a apartment and I was getting high and doing other things with her all those years ago. Julie was on the streets, and I did not treat that girl right and I feel so bad. And that idiot who ever he is, did not have to kill her, if he raped her he should have just let her go, he did not have to kill her and then set her on fire. It is to late for me to say here Julie, here is 5 bucks, I know you are hungry, I would give a stranger before I gave her, and I don't understand why I treated her that way. Now it is to late for me to say anything and I feel real bad about that. Just typing this has almost made me cry.

This is sad Lewis. It really is.

 

[Lewis]

Dora, I think that I was judging her, and I was angry at her for not getting herself together. I was wrong for that, because I was getting high like that at one time. But who am I ? I fell down to many times to count before I got sober. I had no right to judge her that way.

 

[a wretch like me]

Lewis, that was a deeply touching story. Your pain may be overwhelming but be assured the story has touched those that read it, and maybe it will cause someone to change their attitude now before it's too late. I'm sure many people hold family and friends to a higher standard and it may not be justified. I know I've been guilty of that myself.

Life is such a fleeting thing, I know I will take time to hug my family tonight and tell them I love them. And hopefully your pain will lessen over time, I just sent prayers for your relief, I'm sure others will as well.

 

[Riverwolf]

Thanks for sharing to everybody.

To Lewis, man, that is tough. It may never go away for you.
At Christmas 1995 I watched my wife pull the trigger, she died several hours later.
It's complicated but I tried but could not stop her.
She was a meth addict.
I stayed drunk for most of ten years, but never touched drugs again.
I rarely drink anymore, but sometime I feel dead too.

I did not expect this thread to turn this way.

 

[Lewis]

River I am glad that you created this topic, I needed to talk about it, and man you really went through something man with the wife, wow man. What you went through will always stay with you. I am a former intravenous Meth user, so I know what that is about, I shot Meth for I guess about 15 years with breaks for a year or 2 here and there until I stopped using Meth.But Julie was a crack addict and so was I at one time. And because of crack she is dead, on top of that she had mental problems, that required medication. And i know that she was exchanging sex for crack and something went wrong, and he killed her.