From: "Dwayne Savaya" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> God's Work Ministry E-mail
Dear Friend, It is in blessing others that we are blessed and it is in helping others that our hearts become full with joy. One truly hasn't experienced the fullness of joy that is received in one's heart until they do an unselfish act of love towards someone else that is in need. Jesus said freely we have received and freely we should give. When we came into this world, we came with nothing and when it comes time to leave this world, we will also leave with nothing. The only thing that we will have to show for our life is what we did to be helping and caring towards those who were in need around us. (Philippians 2:2) (Matthew 10:8) (1 Timothy 6:7) (Galatians 6:10) Jesus left us as His example on the earth to do good works and glorify our Father in heaven. Be encouraged to take the initiative to be helping towards those in need around you and you will see how God will reward you in kind and fill your heart with joy that is unspeakable. (Matthew 5:16) I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to show the same love and care towards those hurting and in need around you. LUTHER'S LUMBER Luther had been home from the war nearly four months, now, and worked at the Carnation Milk plant in Mt. Vernon where his wife, Jenny, worked. This morning he was in the little Miller cafe next door to the post office waiting for the mail to be "put up". Sitting across from him in the booth was his old friend, Fred Hill. They were discussing the war which was still going on in the Pacific Theatre. Recruitment posters still lined the walls of the little cafe. Fred had not been in the service, because when the war started in 1941, his parents had been in very poor health; his father with a bad heart, and his mother with cancer. He was needed at home to care for them and operate the farm. His parents had since died, and the farm was now his -- his and Maggie's. When Luther, Fred's best friend since childhood, had flown over Miller in the B-17, and when the bodies of the Hobbs boys and Billie Martin had been shipped home, and when Perry came home with hooks where his hands should have been, Fred felt guilty. He felt he had not done his part for the war effort, and in his own eyes, he was diminished. But today, it was Luther who seemed depressed. Fred asked him what was bothering him. "You seem down in the dumps, today, Luther," he said. "I can't see what could be botherin' you. You came through the war without a scratch, you got a beautiful wife and a baby on the way, you got a good job, what's the problem?" "Jenny's mother is in bad shape," said Luther. "We're going to have to take her in, and with the baby coming we don't have the room." "Can't build a room on?" asked Fred. "No lumber available," said Luther. "I've tried here, Mt. Vernon, Springfield, Joplin, and there won't be any more shipments for the duration. Who knows how long that will be?" "Tried Will's sawmill?" "Yeah, but he just saws oak, and it's green. The bay will be here in August, and we can't wait for the lumber to dry. Besides, you can't build a whole room out of oak, anyway." "Wouldn't want to," said Fred. "Reckon the mail's up?" "Probably." The two young men left the cafe and went into the post office next door. Buford Patten, the postmaster, had raised the door to the service window, signaling that the mail was in the boxes. Luther and Fred retrieved their mail and left -- Luther to work at Mt. Vernon, and Fred back to the farm. That evening, Fred finished the milking and sat on the front porch with Maggie. "Days are gettin' longer," he said. "Man could get half a day's work done after five o'clock." "Better put your Pa's car up," said Maggie. "Radio says rain tonight." Fred's father had bought a new 1941 Ford just before his first heart attack, and the car was now Fred's. He had built a new garage for it just before Christmas, and tonight he congratulated himself on getting it built before the lumber ran out. He didn't even know it had, until Luther told him this morning. Fred drove the car into the new garage and latched the door. He walked back around the house to the front porch. Something was nagging at his mind, but he couldn't define it. He shook it off and sat on the porch with Maggie until darkness fell. They could see heat lightning in the West, and the wind started to rise. They went in the house to listen to the news of the war on the radio, and shortly went to bed. The next morning, Fred again drove his pickup into Miller for the mail. The air was fresh and clear now, the rain having washed it clean. The sun was shining, and he felt good. When he reached the cafe, Luther was there ahead of him. "Still haven't found any lumber, I guess?" "No, I asked everybody at work, and nobody knows of any. I don't know what we'll do." Now the nagging in Fred's mind defined itself. "I found the lumber for you," he said. "You did? Where?" Luther was delighted. "Fella I know. He'll let you have it free, you bein' a veteran and all. He doesn't seem to want you to know who he is, so I'll have to haul it in for you. It's good lumber, fir and pine, cut different lengths and got nails in it, but that's no problem. Tell you what, you get your foundation poured, and I'll bring you a pickup load everyday and help you build it. We'll have it done before the baby gets here." "That's a friend for you," Luther said to himself, as he drove to Mt. Vernon. That evening he came home with sacks of cement in his pickup. Luther dug and poured the foundation, and when it was ready for the footings, he told Fred. "Fine," said Fred, "I'll bring the first load over and be there when you get home from work." Fred appeared every evening with a load of lumber, and the two men worked until it was too dark to see. Sometimes Maggie came too, and the women sat in the house listening to the radio or talking about babies or Jenny's ailing mother, their sentences punctuated by the sound of the hammers outside. Over the next few weeks the new room took shape and was finished and roofed. "Where did you get the shingles?" asked Luther. "Same fella," answered Fred. "He's got all kinds of stuff." Luther didn't push. Lots of older folks liked to help out the young veterans anonymously. It was common. It was done! The women fixed the room up inside, and moved Jenny's mother in. The men went back about their business. At supper one evening, Luther told Jenny he would like to do something nice for Fred and Maggie, since they had been so helpful with the new room. "I know," said Jenny, brightly. "Maggie likes those big wooden lawn chairs like Aunt Birdie has on her lawn. Why not get them a couple of those?" "Good idea," agreed Luther, and the next Saturday he bought a couple at Callison's hardware and loaded them into his pickup. When he got out to Fred's farm, there was no one home, Fred and Maggie having gone into Springfield, shopping. "That's ok," Luther thought, "I'll just put them in the garage in case it rains." He drove around the house and into the driveway that led to Fred's new garage. The garage was gone. Only the foundation remained to show where it had been. Luther put the chairs on the front porch and drove home, tears in his eyes. The two men are now in their mid-seventies, and are still the best of friends. They never spoke of the incident. How could they? There was nothing to say. By Joe Edwards Read and meditate on these scriptures: 1 John 3:16-18 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." 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." 1 Corinthians 12:26-28 "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: EVEN IF Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem186.htm Today's Selected Testimony: SAVED IN CHILDBEARING Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony111.htm ========================================= God's Work Ministry E-mail Dear Friend, We should never forget how favored and truly blessed we really are. I believe that it is in looking at the difficulties of others that we see how minuscule our troubles are and how much we have to be thankful for. When we focus on our own issues, it is easy to get down and discouraged and think the weight of the world is on our shoulders, but if we change our thinking and look at the greater difficulties of others, we will soon find that our troubles cannot even compare. Be encouraged to train yourself to look at the good in your life and make it a habit to be thankful for everything God has given you. It is in our praise and thankfulness to the Lord that our own hearts become full with peace and joy and a knowing that All Will Be Well. (John 13:34-35) (1 John 4:10-13) (Acts 20:35) (James 1:22) I hope you are encouraged by this message to be thankful for every blessing that is in your life and to appreciate every gift that you've been given. MY CUP RUNNETH OVER Needing to get something laminated I headed down to Staples Office Supply. Getting out of my truck I saw a Coca Cola stand set up in front of the store. Written on the side was a hand printed poster which read "Need donations badly for a heart lung transplant for Mark." I smiled at the two women as I passed them by and entered the store. "Well, hello Roger," said Celeste, as I held out a 12X14 poster which my three-year-old Granddaughter had made for Judy and I for Grandparents day. "Like to get this laminated," I said, as I laughed and pointed at the masterpiece our granddaughter Madison had made. "That's darling," she said. While waiting to get the poster laminated, I stood looking out the window as people would buy a coke or hot dog and hand the two older women their money to help Mark. "Here you go," she said as she handed me the finished poster. After paying her, I looked at the poster as I walked out the door and headed to my truck, my heart filled with joy the entire time. The temperature must have been 98 degrees and the humidity was somewhere around 110. As I pulled out of the parking space, I once again looked at the two women running the small coke stand. I reversed the truck, pulled back into the space, and turned off the ignition. I got out of the vehicle and walked over to the stand. "Can I help you today, sir," said one of the women. "Are either one of you the Grandmother of Mark?" I asked. "Yes, we both are," she replied. I stood there wondering what I should order. I took out my wallet and looked inside. All I had was twelve dollars. I took out the money. "What would you like?" she asked again. "Believe it or not, all I want is an empty cup," I told her. Slowly she reached over and handed me a small empty coke cup. When I held out the twelve dollars she, looking puzzled, reached out and took the money. "Happy Grandparents day and tell Mark hello from Roger and Judy and that he is in our prayers." The woman covered her face and turned away. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said. "No, thank you for being such wonderful Grandparents to Mark," I replied. I turned and headed back to my truck. Sometimes in our own joy we forget just how lucky we are. By Roger Dean Kiser Read and meditate on these scriptures: Hebrews 10:22-24 "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." Romans 12:9-10 "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." 2 Corinthians 4:6-10 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." 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." Revelation 22:12-14 Jesus declares "And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: POOR YET RICH Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem140.htm Today's Selected Testimony: I ALMOST DIED IN SIN Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony185.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.
