DOING GOOD

Come with me To a third grade classroom..... There is a
Nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of A sudden,
there is a puddle between his feet and The front of his
pants are wet. He thinks his Heart is going to stop because
he cannot Possibly imagine how this has happened. It's
Never happened before, and he knows that when
The boys find out he will never hear the end of
It. When the girls find out, they'll never speak
To him again as long as he Lives.
The boy Believes his heart is going to stop; he
puts his Head down and prays this prayer,
'Dear God, this Is an emergency! I need help now!
Five minutes From now I'm dead Meat. ' He looks up
From his prayer and here comes the teacher with
A look in her eyes that says he has been Discovered.
As the Teacher is walking toward him, a class mate
Named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is Filled with
water. Susie trips in front of the Teacher and inexplicably
dumps the bowl of water In the boy's Lap. The boy
Pretends to be angry, but all the while is Saying to himself,
'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a Sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule,
The boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher Rushes him
downstairs and gives him gym shorts To put on while his pants
dry out. All the other Children are on their hands and knees
cleaning Up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful.
But as life would have it, the ridicule that Should have been his
has been transferred to Someone else -
Susie, She tries to Help, but they tell her to get out. You've
done Enough, you Klutz!'
Finally, at The end of the day, as they are waiting for the
Bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on
purpose, didn't you?'
Susie Whispers back, 'I wet my pants once Too.'
May God help Us see the opportunities that are always around
Us to do Good..
Remember.....Just going to Church doesn't make you a Christian
any more Than standing in your garage makes you a Car.
Each and Everyone one of us is going through tough times Right
now, but God is getting ready to bless you In a way that only He
can. KEEP THE FAITH!
Prayer:
Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those
That I care deeply for, who are reading this Right now. Show
them a new revelation of Your Love and power. Holy Spirit,
I ask You to Minister to their spirit at this very moment.
Where there is pain, give them Your peace and Mercy..
Where there is self-doubt, release a Renewed confidence
through Your grace. Where There is need, I ask you to fulfill
their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their
Goings and their comings.
AMEN

SIT AND BE STILL

Scripture:

"Their is to sit still". (Isaiah 30: 7 KJV)

Reflection:

I have come to the realization in my life
that inner stillness is an absolute necessity
to knowing God. I remember learning this
during a time of great crises and turmoil in
my life. Everything in me, my entire being,
seemed to throb with anxiety, and the sense
of need was immediate and powerful action
was absolutely overwhelming. Yet the
circumstance were such that I could do nothing
to overcome my crises.
This is when I discovered that to overcome my
crises I needed to be still in my spirit and "rest"
in God. It was during this crises I effectively
learned that my "strength is to sit still"
You see there is perfect passivity that is not
laziness. It is a living stillness born of trust
in Christ. I YEARN FOR THAT STILLNESS,
I LIVE FOR THAT STILLNESS, I HAVE
RECEIVED THAT STILLNESS THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST.

A MIRACLE!

A little girl went to her bedroom and
pulled a glass jelly jar from its
hiding place in the closet..
She poured the change out on the
floor and counted it carefully.

Carefully placing the coins back in
the jar and twisting on the cap, she
slipped out the back door and made
her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store
with the big red Indian Chief sign
above the door. She waited patiently
for the pharmacist to give her some
attention, but he was too busy at this
moment. Tess twisted her feet to make
a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared
her throat with the most disgusting
sound she could muster. No good.
Finally she took a quarter from her
jar and banged it on the glass counter.
That did it!

'And what do you want?' the pharmacist
asked in an annoyed tone of voice. I'm
talking to my brother from Chicago whom
I haven't seen in ages,' he said without
waiting for a reply to his question.

'Well, I want to talk to you about my
brother,' Tess answered back in the
same annoyed tone. 'He's really, really
sick....and I want to buy a miracle.'

'I beg your pardon?' said the pharmacist.

'His name is Andrew and he has
something bad growing inside his head
and my Daddy says only a miracle can
save him now. So how much does a
miracle cost?'

'We don't sell miracles here, little girl.
I'm sorry but I can't help you,' the
pharmacist said, softening a little.

'Listen, I have the money to pay for it.
If it isn't enough, I will get the rest.
Just tell me how much it costs.'

The pharmacist's brother was a well
dressed man. He stooped down and
asked the little girl, 'What kind of a
miracle does your brother need?'

' I don't know,' Tess replied with her
eyes welling up. I just know he's really
sick and Mommy says he needs an
operation. But my Daddy can't pay for
it, so I want to use my money.'

'How much do you have?' asked the
man from Chicago .

'One dollar and eleven cents,' Tess
answered barely audible.
'And it's all the money I have, but
I can get some more if I need to.'

'Well, what a coincidence,' smiled
the man. 'A dollar and eleven cents---
the exact price of a miracle for little
brothers.'

He took her money in one hand and
with the other hand he grasped her
mitten and said 'Take me to where
you live. I want to see your brother
and meet your parents. Let's see if
I have the miracle you need.'

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton
Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in
neuro-surgery. The operation was
completed free of charge and it wasn't
long until Andrew was home again and
doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking
about the chain of events that had led
them to this place..'That surgery,' her
Mom whispered. 'was a real miracle..
I wonder how much it would have cost?'

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how
much a miracle cost...one dollar and
eleven cents...plus the faith of a little
child. In our lives, we never know how
many miracles we will need.

A miracle is not the suspension of
natural law, but the operation of a higher
law.

A MIRACLE FROM GOD!

LOVE THE LEAST

Who is "the least" in your life?

I assure you, when you did it to
one of the least of these my brothers
and sisters, you were doing it for me!
Matthew 25:40 NLT

Loving the Least

I remember a poster on a dorm-room
wall during my days in college. The
poster was a picture of a homeless
man lying in a dirty gutter holding a
bottle in a paper bag by his side. The
inscription on the bottom was a quote
from Mother Teresa. It read, "You love
Jesus only as much as the person
you love the least."

For all we don't understand about the
life of Jesus and the true nature of God,
there is one truth that he made
completely clear. The Christian faith
is about service and humility. It's about
helping those who can't help themselves.
It's about loving others more than we
love ourselves—even the most unlovable
among us.

What is the sign of true followers? Is it
the amount of knowledge that we have?
Is it the money we give to missions? the
degrees we've earned? the number of
people we've preached to? the hours
we've spent worshiping in church? the
books we've read or written?

According to Jesus, the sign of the
saved is their love for the least.

It is said that when Francis of Assisi
left his wealth behind to seek God, he
stripped naked and walked out of the
city. The first person he encountered
on his journey was a leper on the side
of the road. He first passed him, then
turned back. He embraced the leper in
his arms before continuing his journey.
A few steps down the road he turned
and saw that the leper was gone. Until
his dying day, Francis of Assisi was
convinced that the leper was Jesus.
Even if he was wrong, he was right.

(I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER
MYSELF!) AMEN

adapted from Embracing Eternity by
Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and
Frank M. Martin,, Tyndale House
Publishers (2004), p 3

THERE IS AN ANSWER

Scripture:

1 Peter 5:10 (New International Version)

10And the God of all grace, who called
you to his eternal glory in Christ, after
you have suffered a little while, will
himself restore you and make you
strong, firm and steadfast.

Reflection:

I remember when I was a kid,
I was always assigned to the
back seat of our car whenever
we went on a trip. I was very lucky,
I had a patient father because my
favorite pass time was asking him,
When will we be there? or Is it
much further? or How many more
minutes till we get there. And Dad
would always patiently respond,
"Just a little longer....not quite yet....
a few more miles."
You know children tire quite quickly
during long trips, (actually not such
long trips), just as children of God
tire quickly of the troubles of the
world. But as a Christian I have to
ask myself, What is suffering for a
little while in preparation of the glory
that is to follow. Because this time
I already know the answer to my
questions, to my sufferings. It is
God's grace and His eternal glory.
What a goal to look forward to.

Prayer:

Oh Lord thank You for giving me the
answer, Your Son Whose death and
resurrection saved me, and
Who is coming soon, a goal I am
looking forward too.
In Jesus Name AMEN

THE BAR ACROSS THE STREET

Mt. Vernon, Texas : Drummond's Bar began
construction on a new building to increase their
business. Across the street, the local Baptist
church started a campaign to block the bar from
opening with petitions and prayers. Work
progressed right up till the week before opening
when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the
ground. The church folks were rather smug in their
outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the
church on the grounds that the church was
ultimately responsible for the demise of his
building, either through direct or indirect actions
or means. The church vehemently denied all
responsibility or any connection to the building's
demise in its reply to the court. As the case made
its way into court, the judge looked over the
paperwork. At the hearing he commented,
"I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but
as it appears from the paperwork, we have a
bar owner who believes in the power of prayer,
and an entire church congregation that does not."