Look Around

Luke 3:11(NIV)

John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."


The other day I was listening to Joyce Meyer while driving to work. She was talking about blessings. She said something to the effect of: Look around your house, you have things there that you hardly ever or never use. Take those things and give them to someone who needs them or will use them, be a blessing to someone today.

As she was talking about this, a particular item I own and who I should give it to came to mind. I bought it a couple of years ago on impulse. I didn't need it at the time and I never really used it either. So yesterday I packed it up and took it to church with me to gave to a talented young man who will use it. He didn't have one but he really should for the type of work he does (he has been borrowing one from other guys for a while now).

When I gave it to him he was in disbelief, he thought I was joking at first. The joy on his face was beautiful. He thanked me and asked why I had done this. I told him that I bought it a couple of years ago and don't ever use it, and God told me (through Joyce Meyer) to give it to him.

Blessing a friend this way is good for the soul, the joy on his face warmed my heart.

Please understand that I'm not telling this story to blow my own horn. I'm sharing this because I feel that we as Christians need to bless each other, love each other, share with each other.

Look around your house, bless someone today.

Psalm 19:12-14 (NLT)

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Ahh the weather is great

Wet and heavy April snow did a number on the big maple tree in my backyard. Around 2:30am the electric went out in my neighborhood, so it was really quite in the house. I was trying to fall back asleep when I heard what sounded like an earthquake. I looked out the window and found the tree had fallen. It broke into three pieces, one fell in the yard, one hit my house and the last one hit my neighbor's house. I went out to check the damage just as he was coming out too. It looks like he has more damage than I do. I feel really bad about it. But the good news is that no one was hurt.

Faithfulness Pays

Deuteronomy 11:12-14(NIV)

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.

God has really blessed me. As most of you know I have a 12 year old son that lives in Orlando FL with his mom. He spends 6 weeks in the summer and a week at Christmas time in South Bend with me and my family. But I've only been able to go there once in the 8 years they've lived there. I haven't been able to afford go there until this year. With the winter being really cold and long I had to work a lot of overtime which provided me with the funds to make the trip this year.

I've really tried to be faithful to the Lord, and he has provided for me in so many ways. Having the opportunity to spend time with my son has been the best.

Me Too

I've been reading Rob Bell's book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, and this caught my attention.

Me Too.
When you're struggling,
when you're hurting,
wounded, limping, doubting,
questoning, barely hanging on,
moments away from another relapse,
and somebody can identify with you-
someone knows the temptations that are at your door,
somebody has felt the pain that you are feeling,
when someone can look you in the eye and say, "Me too,"
and they actually mean it-
it can save you.

When you aren't judged,
or lectured,
or looked down upon,
but somebody demonstrates that they get it,
that they know what it's like,
that you're aren't alone,
that's "me too".

Everyday Actions?

Have you ever been shopping for something and as you're looking around something else grabs your attention? You end up buying the thing you came for and the other thing too. Then after a few days you realize that the thing that you bought on impulse was really meant for you to give to someone else. You give it away to someone that needs it more than you. In a couple of days that person comes back to you and tells you that the gift touched their heart so much that they shared it with someone else. Something like this just happened to me. I bought a book to read because the subject matter seemed interesting. I read most of it when I realized that someone I know needed it more than me. Pretty cool.

I think this is one of the ways God works through us to reach those around us. If we pay attention when he's talking he will work wonders through our everyday actions. How cool is that?

Wow

I saw this on Bryan Nelson's blog and thought it was pretty cool. Enjoy.