Oswaldo

Oswaldo Calixto grew up in Via El Salvador of Lima, Peru in poverty. Traumatized by a mother who exposed him to witchcraft and constant family conflict, at the age of 14, he fled home to live on the streets with his friends.  Oswaldo became a thief and robber to survive, scrounging whatever he could to survive. Many times he risked his life through ​

his dangerous behavior.  Later, when his friends joined the military and he was not able to, he felt alone and empty.  Once he was about take his life with a knife but was saved by his older brother. In November 1996, two of his best friends invited him to a church meeting where he met a Christian woman who shared the gospel with him.  He gave his life to Christ and his whole life was transformed.  Soon he was reaching out to gang leaders with the gospel. Today, this single, young man is the leader of Teen Challenge in Peru.  He along with his recruited team are making a big difference ministering to gang members, prostitutes and troubled youth that are in desperate need of the Savior.  I met Oswaldo in Lima. His love for God and giftedness as a leader is inspiring. 
         
Meditation
Galatians 4:8—But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. 
 
One of the main reasons people don’t become followers of Jesus is simply because they are enslaved.  As long as Satan is the prince of the earth, this will be true.  People are bound to many things:

• The need for belonging
• The need for attention or popularity
• The need for power or control
• The need for happiness or satisfaction
• The need for approval and love
• The need for possessions

The sad truth is that without Jesus, none of the above is fulfilling—each may meet an immediate need but the end result is always emptiness. The second sad truth is that we are often ineffective in following Jesus because we struggle to let go of what enslaves us.

The kindest action we can take for enslaved people is to share the freedom we have in Christ.  The best thing we can do for ourselves is to trust God and be set free of our obsessions. Jesus said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed . . .” The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:1,“Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  Let’s be free!
 
Inspiration

​God who made the birds never made birdcages; it is people who make birdcages, and after a while we become cramped and can do nothing but chirp and stand on one leg.  When we get out into God’s great free life, we discover that that is the way God means us to live “the glorious liberty of the children of God.”—Oswald Chambers in The Moral Foundations of Life
 
©2018 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)