INSPIRATIONS, STORIES AND WORDS TO LIVE BY

[tipay]

"The Storm" (Sacrifice)

After a few of the usual Sunday hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon that evening, he briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

 "A father and son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast," he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized." The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story. "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life - to which boy he would throw the other end of the life line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out, "I love you, son!" he threw the life line to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered. By this time, the teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth. "The father, he continued, knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend.

How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us. Our Heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line He is throwing out to you." With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room.

The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it was a very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face. He once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son for me. You see, I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend."

[tipay]

HE TOOK MY WHIPPING FOR ME
Reverend A.C. Dixon, a Baptist preacher who was born in the mountains of Virginia, relates the following:

Years ago, there was a certain school in my area which no teacher could handle. The boys were so rough that the teachers all resigned. One year a teacher applied and the director, after a quick scan of the young man said, “Young feller, do you know what you are asking? An awful beatin’. Every teacher we have had for years has had to take it.”
“I’ll risk it,” the teacher replied, and on the first day that he was to teach one of the bigger students, Tom, whispered, “I won’t need any help, I can lick him myself.”
The teacher began, “good morning boys, we have come to conduct school. Now I want a good school, but confess I do not know how unless you help me. Suppose we have a few rules. You tell me what they should be and I will write them on the board.”
One fellow yelled, “no stealin’.” Another yelled, “be on time.” Soon ten rules appeared.
“Now,” said the teacher, “a rule is no good unless there is a penalty attached. What shall we do with the one who breaks a rule?”
“Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,” said a student.
“That is pretty severe boys, are you ready to stand by it?” The boys yelled wildly in the affirmative.
One day, “big Tom” found his lunch was stolen. Upon inquiry the thief was located—a scrawny kid named Jim, about ten years old. The next morning the teacher announced that the thief had been found and that he must be punished according to the rule—ten stripes across the back! “Jim, come up here.”
The little fellow, trembling, came up slowly with a big coat fastened up to the neck. Jim pleaded, “teacher, you can lick me as hard as you like, but please don’t make me take my coat off!”
“Take the coat off. You helped make the rules,” the teacher replied.
“Oh teacher, don’t make me!” He began to unbutton the coat, and to the teacher’s great dismay, the lad had no shirt on. “How can I whip this child?” thought the teacher. “But I must do something to enforce the rules.”
Everything was dead quiet, and the teacher asked, “how come you came to school without a shirt Jim?”
“My father died, and my mother is very poor. I have only one shirt, and she is washing it today, so I wore my brother’s coat to keep warm.”
The teacher, with rod in hand, hesitated. Just then “big Tom” jumped to his feet and said, “teacher, if you don’t mind, I will take Jim’s lickin’ for him.”
“Very well,” said the teacher. “There are laws that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?” Off came Tom’s coat, and after five strokes, the rod broke! The teacher bowed his head in his hands, and thought, “how can I finish this awful task?”
The entire classroom was sobbing, and when the teacher looked up, what did he see? Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around the neck. “Tom, I was awful hungry. I’ll love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I’ll love you forever.”
We have all broken many rules for which there is a price to be paid. But Jesus Christ took your scourging for you, died in your stead, and now offers to clothe you in His garments of salvation. Will you not fall at His feet and tell Him you will love and follow Him forever? “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

[tipay]

THE OLD FISHERMAN
 
Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the clinic.
One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. "Why, he's hardly taller than my eight-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face -- lopsided from swelling, red and raw.
Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I've come to see if you've a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus til morning."
He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. "I guess it's my face... I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments . . ."
For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: "I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning."
I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. "No thank you. I have plenty." And he held up a brown paper bag.
When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury. He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to God for a blessing.
He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going. At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch.
He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, "Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair."
He paused a moment and then added, "Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind. "I told him he was welcome to come again.
And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.
In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.
When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!"
Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.
Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse, As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket.
I thought to myself, "If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!" My friend changed my mind. "I ran short of pots," she explained, "and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden."
She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. "Here's an especially beautiful one," God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. "He won't mind starting in this small body."
All this happened long ago-and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.


The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
(1 Samuel 16:7b)

[tipay]

THE HOMELESS MAN

 
It was a cold winter's day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked in the church.

As I got closer I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet, with holes all over them, his toes stuck out. I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church.
We all fellowshipped for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man laying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me. A few moments later church began.

We all waited for the Preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces.
He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit where he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. There stood our preacher...he was the "homeless man."

No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on his stand. "Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today." Makes you think, doesn't it.
--

[tipay]

GRANDPA'S TABLE
 

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. However, the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.

"We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. " I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor." Therefore, the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in, when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work. The parents were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening, the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days, he ate every meal with the family. Moreover, for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth became soiled.

Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes observe, ears listen, and minds process the messages they absorb. If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere for family members, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives.

The wise parent realizes that every day the building blocks are being laid for the child's future. Therefore, let's be wise builders and role models!

[tipay]

F A M I L Y

 
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please," was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."

 
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said good-bye.

 
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

 
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

 
While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
     
Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

 
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

 
I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
 
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

[tipay]

The Businessman And The Fisherman

 One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf.

He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family.

“You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman, “you should be working rather than lying on the beach!”
The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”
“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer.
“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling.
The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat which will then result in larger catches of fish!”
“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.
The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions.
“You can buy a bigger boat and hire some people to work for you!” he said.
“And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.
The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!”
Once again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”

The fisherman, still smiling, simply looked up, nodded and said: “And what do you think I am doing now?”

[tipay]

THE UNEMPLOYED GRADUATE

An unemployed graduate woke up one morning and checked his pocket. All he had left was $10. He decided to use it to buy food and then wait for death as he was too proud to go begging. He was frustrated as he could find no job, and nobody was ready to help him. He bought food and as he sat down to eat, an old man and two little children came along and asked him to help them with food as they had not eaten for almost a week. He looked at them. They were so lean that he could see their bones coming out. Their eyes had gone into the socket. With the last bit of compassion he had, he gave them the food. The old man and children prayed that God would bless and prosper him and then gave him a very old coin. The young graduate said to them 'you need the prayer more than I do'. With no money, no job, no food, the young graduate went under the bridge to rest and wait for death.

As he was about to sleep, he saw an old newspaper on the ground. He picked it up, and suddenly he saw an
advertisement for people with old coins to come to a certain address. He decided to go there with the old coin the old man gave him. On getting to the place, he gave the proprietor the coin. The proprietor screamed, brought out a big book and showed the young graduate a photograph. This same old coin was worth 3 million dollars. The young graduate was overjoyed as the proprietor gave him a bank draft for 3 million dollars within an hour. He collected the Bank Draft and went in search of the old man and little children. By the time he got to where he left them eating, they had gone. He asked the owner of the canteen if he knew them. He said no but they left a note for you. He quickly opened the note thinking it would lead him to find them. This is what the note said: 'You gave us your all and we have rewarded you back with the coin,' signed God the Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. 1 Kings 17:10-16; Matthew 11:28-30


PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, most Gracious and Loving God, I pray to you that you abundantly Bless my family and me. I know that you recognize, that a family is more than just a mother, father, sister, brother husband and wife, but all Who believe and trust in you.
Father, I send up a prayer request for financial blessing for not only the person who sent this to me, but for Me and all that I have forwarded this message on to. And that the power of joined prayer by those who believe and trust in you is more powerful than anything. I thank you in advance for your blessings. Father God, deliver the person reading this right now and those who will
read it in the near future from debt and debt burdens. Release your
Godly wisdom that I may be a good steward over all that You have given me Father, for I know how wonderful and mighty You are and how if we just obey You and walk in Your word and have the faith of a Mustard seed that You will pour out blessings. I thank You now Lord for the recent blessings I have received and for the blessings yet to come Because I know You are not done with me yet. In Jesus name, I pray, AMEN.

[tipay]

Throwing It All Away

"He who neglects the present moment throws away all he has." That observation by Johann Friedrich von Schiller, a great German historian and playwright, holds much truth for all of our lives.

Early one morning fire broke out in a house on a narrow street. The fire spread quickly, and flames were leaping high into the air before the fire engines could get to the scene.

A young man appeared at an upper window in his pajamas. Firefighters quickly placed a ladder against the burning building, but the man refused to come down. Instead, he yelled that he had to get dressed first. The firefighters pleaded, "Come as you are! Come as you are!, butto no avail.

The firefighters tried to climb the stairs from below, but they were turned back by the flames. When a rescuer tried to enter through a lower window, the heat and smoke forced him away.

Suddenly the walls and roof fell in. The man waited too long, and was buried under the ruins.

How Does This Apply to Our Lives?

The man refused to immediately do what was best for himself because of what someone might say about his appearance later. Thus, the young man literally threw his life away.

We can make the same foolish mistake. I read about an experiment in which a rat was placed in a box and shocked until it huddled in a particular corner. To avoid future shocks, the rat soon learned to run to that corner as soon as it was placed in the box.

How much of your life is spent avoiding the disapproving "shocks" of those around you? Do you disregard your own beliefs, and compromise who you are as a person, so others will like you?

That is easy to do, especially in matters of faith. Many people do not live according to their beliefs because they are concerned about what others will think or say. If that includes you, then in effect you are throwing away the most significant part of yourself--your spiritual life.

Instead of trying to become someone others will like in the future, focus on God's love for you right now. Live each day according to God's standards, no matter how people may react. Because some things are too important to throw away--including yourself..

"Your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth."
Psalm 26:3

[tipay]

One of the most special Christmas Stories ever:

In September 1960 I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket.   Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.   Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.   Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds.   He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries.   Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either.

If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.   I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress.   I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job.   The seven of us went to every factory, store, and restaurant in our small town. No luck.   The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whoever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything.   I had to have a job.   Still no luck.

The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop.   It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift; 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night.   I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people.   I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep.   This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal. That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job.   And so I started at the Big Wheel.   When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money -- fully half of what I averaged every night.

As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage.   The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak.   I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.   One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat.   New tires.   There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires.   Had angels taken up residence in Indiana?   I wondered.

I made a deal with the owner of the local service station.   In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office.   I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.   I was now working six nights instead of five, and it still wasn't enough.

Christmas was coming, and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants, and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump.)

It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car -- or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what.

When I reached the car I peered warily into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There was candy, nuts, bananas, and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items, and there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll. As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December . . . . and they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.

[tipay]

Marvelous Loveby Bill Bright 


On a cold Christmas Eve in 1952, when Korea was in the throes of civil war, one young woman struggled along a village street, obviously soon to deliver a child. She pleaded with passersby,

"Help me! Please. My baby."

No one paid any attention to her.

A middle-aged couple walked by. The wife pushed away the young mother and sneered,

"Where's the father? Where's your American man now?"

The couple laughed and went on.

The young woman almost doubled up from a contraction as she watched them go.

"Please . . ." she begged.

She had heard of a missionary living nearby who might help her. Hurriedly, she began walking to that village. If only he would help her baby. Shivering and in pain, she struggled over the frozen countryside. But the night was so cold. Snow began to fall. Realizing that the time was near to deliver her baby, she took shelter under a bridge. There, alone, her baby was born on Christmas Eve.

Worried about her newborn son, she took off her own clothes, wrapped them around the baby and held him close in the warm circle of her arms.

The next day, the missionary braved the new snow to deliver Christmas packages. As he walked along, he heard the cry of a baby. He followed the sound to a bridge. Under it, he found a young mother frozen to death, still clutching her crying new born son. The missionary tenderly lifted the baby out of her arms.

When the baby was 10 years old, his now adoptive father told him the story of his mother's death on Christmas Eve.

The young boy cried, realizing the sacrifice his mother had made for him.

The next morning, the missionary rose early to find the boy's bed empty. Seeing a fresh set of small footprints in the snow outside, he bundled up warmly in a winter coat and followed the trail. It led back to the bridge where the young mother had died.

As the missionary approached the bridge, he stopped, stunned. Kneeling in the snow was his son, naked and shivering uncontrollably. His clothes lay beside him in a small pile. Moving closer, he heard the boy say through chattering teeth:

"Mother, were you this cold for me?"

That story reminds me of another mother and Son who sacrificed so much. One winter night, Jesus left his home, His glory and the warmth of heaven to be born in a stable to an unwelcome world. Just before He was born, Mary, His mother, was not welcome in any of the cozy inns in Bethlehem. Instead, she delivered her baby in the darkness of a cold stable. Th e Creator of the Universe, the Perfect Judge who could destroy the world with a single word, was willing to endure this inauspicious beginning for you and me. That is unconditional love!

We who have experienced God's unconditional love are commanded to share that love with others. John writes in 1 John 4:11,

"Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other" (New Living Translation).

God wants us to express His supernatural love to others. We become examples of God's love to the world as we love our neighbors through the enabling of His Holy Spirit.

My prayer for you is the same as Paul's prayer for the believers in Ephesians 3:17,18:

"May your roots go down deep in to the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is" (NLT ) .

You may confess, "I don't have that kind of love to share with anyone." To experience God's supernatural love, claim it by faith. We have the p****tial to love anyone God puts in our path. One of the greatest lessons I have learned in my Christian life is "how to love by faith."

When we by faith invite God's unconditional love to flow through us, we will discover a rekindled love that is alive and well. That is true for an "unlovable" spouse, boss, employee, or anyone.

Nothing breaks the hardened ground of unforgiveness and bitterness like sincere acts and words of love. Sometimes you and I, by faith, must take the first step of restoration. A positive response may not be immediate, but keep on loving and reaching out. There is no power on earth stronger than God's supernatural love.

~~~~~

Would you like to know Jesus?
You can have peace and find hope and know forgiveness through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here's a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask You to come in as my Saviour and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Bring peace to my world this Christmas. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, pray it right now and Christ will come into your life as He promised. If you invited Jesus Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life.

 

[pekdot]

"The Greatest Mystery" by Gertrude McCarr

The greatest miracle I know
In heaven above or earth below
Is that encountered everywhere
When humble souls seek God in prayer.

The greatest mystery of all
Is why the force that crumpled up the mountains
Or flung the stars across the sky
Should stoop to see afallen teardrop
Or listen to a whispered sigh.

[tinkerbell]

Dont w8 until evrythin' s jst ryt.it wl nver be perfct. Dr wl always b challnges,obstacles & less dan prfct condtions. So wat? Get started now,with each step u take,u wl grow stronger and stronger,more and more skilled & more and more confident & more and more successful - Mark Victor Hansen