From: "Dwayne Savaya" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> God's Work Ministry E-mail
Dear Friend, The main thing this world is lacking is love between fellow human beings. There are many people in this world who are down and discouraged and need a helping hand to get back on track with life. We should never become so involved with what we are doing that we fail to notice those who are hurting around us. We are to shine our light and allow the love that we have in our hearts to permeate and positively influence those who are feeling less than whole. We each have the ability to be encourager's, so let us use this gift to make our world a better place one soul at a time. I hope this message encourages your heart to make yourself available when the need arises to minister to someone who is feeling down and discouraged. A NICKEL'S WORTH What a scared little seven year old boy I was when the orphanage finally let me out of that dark closet, after two days. I took my bath, brushed my teeth with soap and dressed myself for school in the clothes that the matron had laid on my bed. Clothes that were always too big, or too small for me. When I reached Spring Park Elementary I just kept walking past the school building because I was so afraid the other kids in my classroom would make fun of me because of all the black and blue marks on my legs where I had been whipped with the polo paddle. I walked and walked for what seemed to be hours. Finally I came to this great big wide street which was at the end of Spring Park Road. I had never seen a street that big before and I had never seen so many cars in all my life. Across the street was a big brick store and the sign on top said Preston's Drugs. There was also a sign in the window that read "Everything you'll ever want is here." It took me almost an hour to get across Atlantic Boulevard, because I was so scared. But finally I ran across the road as fast as I could and none of the cars hit me. Then I walked into the large Preston Drug Store and noticed people sitting at a counter drinking drinks with ice cream in them. I had never seen anything like that before. I don't think I ever had ice cream before, but that is not what I was looking for anyway. The sign said they had everything that you would ever need, in the whole wide world. I had heard about something very special and I wanted to buy one if they had it. I looked, and I looked, and I looked but I just could not find the thing that I had heard about on the television movie. Finally this old man grabbed me by the arm, and it scared me real bad too. "What are you doing in here, boy?" he yelled at me. "I'm looking for something special," I told him, as I backed against the wall. "Are you stealing stuff?" he said as he pointed directly at my nose. "No Sir, Mister," I said. "I'm not a stealer." I was taken into the back office and a policeman came and asked me why I was not in school. I didn't tell him anything because I was afraid that he would take me to jail for running away from the orphanage. So I just started crying really loud. After the policeman left the room this old lady, about twenty-five years old, came in and sat by me. "Were you stealing?", she asked me. "No ma'am. I was just looking for something special," I told her. "And what might that be?" she asked. "Do you have a 'hug' in this here store?" I asked. "We always have hugs for kids in this store," she said as she stood up, wrapped her arms around me and squeezed real tight. She smiled, walked out of the small office and when no one came back for a long time I looked out the office door and saw that the back door of the store was open. I quickly walked out of the back door and I ran all the way back to school. When I got back I found out that I was only 20 minutes late. I was the only kid in my class that day that did not have the five cent milk money for lunch. But that was OK, because I had laid my nickel on the man's desk at the Preston Drug Store to pay for the 'hug' that the lady gave me. It really was the store "that had everything in the world that you would ever need," and nobody can ever say that I stole it either. By Roger Dean Kiser Read and meditate on these scriptures: Psalm 37:7-9 "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth." Psalm 34:11-16 "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." Psalm 37:16-20 "A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous. The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Psalm 37:3-5 "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: YOU ARE IMPORTANT Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem134.htm Today's Selected Testimony: LOOKING FOR MY FATHER Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony138.htm ============================================== From: "Dwayne Savaya" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> God's Work Ministry E-Mail Dear Friend, The Lord has amazing ways of using us for His purposes if only we make ourselves available to Him. Many times we have our own thoughts of how God can use us, but if we change our thinking and allow God to do as He pleases, the Lord will do extraordinary things with the most ordinary of people. I am a living witness to this fact. (1 Corinthians 1:25-29) I encourage you to make yourself available to be used of the Lord. God is infinite in His wisdom and unchanging in His love so you trust Him to lead you onto the best path for your life. The Lord is seeking surrendered vessels so you be encouraged and allow Him to bring greatness from your vessel. I hope this message encourages your heart to seek the Lord's will for your life and allow Him to use you all the days of your life. You truly haven't lived until you've lived for the Lord. MAGNOLIA I spent the week before my daughter's June wedding running my final trips to the caterer, florist, tuxedo shop, and the church about forty miles away. As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle... so many details, so many bills and so little time. My son Jack was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old! To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church. After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years. The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bride's maids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim, walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died. I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding. Tim turned to me. "Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements." I mumbled, "Sure," as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links. Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. "Lord," I prayed, "please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!" I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds. As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house...no dog in sight. I knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good...no shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed, "I'd be happy to!" He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today." "No, Ma'am," he said. "You don't understand what's happening here." "What?" I asked. "You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday." He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "On Wednesday I buried her." He looked away. "On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left." I nodded. "This morning," he continued, "I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who needs an eighty-six-year-old worn-out man? Nobody! 'I began to cry louder. 'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, "'Sir, I need you.'" I stood with my mouth open. He asked, "Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room" I assured him I was no angel. He smiled. "Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?" "No." "I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard. I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!" I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, "Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today." But God found a way. Through dead flowers. "Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference." By Edna Ellison Read and meditate on these scriptures: Hebrews 13:1-3 "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." Romans 12:15-18 "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Philippians 2:3-7 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." Galatians 6:2-4 "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another." All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: REACHING OUT Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem153.htm Today's Selected Testimony: CARRIE'S TESTIMONY Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony79.htm In Christ's Service, Dwayne Savaya God's Work Ministry Please feel free to visit the Website to read more Encouraging and Inspirational stories, poems and testimonies. Our E-mail Archives are available as well to read the messages that have been sent in the past. You can now hear our stories and poems right on our website. Volume One contains 15 messages that can be heard and enjoyed at Godswork.org. To hear our messages, please click on this link: http://www.Godswork.org/Audio.htm You can also send Free E-cards to friends and loved ones with the many choices available. You are also welcome to post your prayer requests in our Prayer Forum. All this and more available at --- http://www.Godswork.org You can also send prayer requests to --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Add your E-mail address if you'd like correspondence with the prayer partners.
