From: Naomi HS "The apple of His eye"
Something for all of us to think about... A group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding. ALL BUT ONE !!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd s whirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, 'Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?' She nodded through her tears.. He continued on with, 'I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly.' As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, 'Mister. ...' He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, 'Are you Jesus?' He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: 'Are you Jesus?' Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day. You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit. Please share this, if you feel led to do so. Sometimes we just take things for granted, when we really need to be sharing what we know... Thanks. ============================================== From: Bayo Afolaranmi Dearly Beloved, WHY ARE YOU THERE? "The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there" (Acts 19:32, NIV). The gospel ministry of Paul was flourishing in the then Asia Minor. The Bible says, "God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul" (Acts 19:11, NKJV). This led to the conversion of many people to the new Way. The new trend was a threat to the once blooming business of some silversmiths especially Demetrius who made silver shrines for Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians. He called his colleagues in the business and intimated them about the danger the new Way might cause them and their business, as well as their esteemed goddess. When the other silversmiths heard this, they began to protest in defense of the goddess. This private protest led to an uproar in the city of Ephesus. Two of the companions of Paul were arrested and brought to the theater where they intended to punish them. The whole crowd that gathered at the theater was confused; some were shouting one thing while some others were shouting another thing because most of them did not actually know why they were there. They just joined the multitude. No wonder, they were all dismissed without accomplishing anything (see Acts 19:8-41). Many people today are like that crowd of Ephesus. They are in a cause without knowing the real purpose of the cause. They see other people in it, and they joined them doing it. Many are in a profession because their friends are doing it. Many are in a political party without thinking whether their ideologies are in line with the ideologies of the party. Many even hold certain religious beliefs without personal convictions about such beliefs. Inasmuch as the beliefs are popular in their locality, they can die for the beliefs. This ought not to be so! Have you ever asked yourself why you are where you are? Do you have a personal purpose for doing what you see other people doing? Have you ever thought of what would happen to you personally if you are to defend yourself for the action you join others to do? Why are you doing what you are doing presently? Why are you in that particular place now? The Bible says, "For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God" (Romans 14:10-12, NIV). If this is so, you as a person need to know distinctively why you are doing what you are doing. Why are you there? In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). NB I have just created a Yahoo group for sending of inspiring quotes/ prayer wishes everyday! This is different from the weekly devotional messages that you have been receiving from me. If you want to be part of this, do any of these two options: a) visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritualdigestdaily/ and join the group; or b) send an empty mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and reply the confirmation mail that comes after that. WARNING: if you would not be reading your mails everyday or constantly do not subscribe to this group! The reason is that the messages may be too much for you by the time you open your mailbox after a long time. If you have inspiring quotes/ prayer wishes, you can send them to me. They will add to my reservoir of knowledge and I may be led to use any of them one day. God bless you! ============================================ From: Fandi Who is Jesus? HE IS JESUS. WHO IS HE? IN CHEMISTRY, HE TURNED WATER TO WINE. IN BIOLOGY, HE WAS BORN WITHOUT THE NORMAL CONCEPTION; IN PHYSICS, HE DISAPPROVED THE LAW OF GRAVITY WHEN HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN; IN ECONOMICS, HE DISAPPROVED THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURN BY FEEDING 5000 MEN WITH TWO FISHES & 5 LOAVES OF BREAD; IN ME! DICINE, HE CURED THE SICK AND THE BLIND WITHOUT ADMINISTERING A SINGLE DOSE OF DRUGS, IN HISTORY, HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END; IN GOVERNMENT, HE SAID THAT HE SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, PRINCE OF PEACE; IN RELIGION, HE SAID NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH HIM; SO. WHO IS HE? HE IS JESUS! JOIN ME AND LET'S CELEBRATE HIM; HE IS WORTHY. THE EYES BEHOLDING THIS MESSAGE SHALL NOT BEHOLD EVIL, THE HAND THAT WILL SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYBODY SHALL NOT LABOR IN VAIN, AND THE MOUTH SAYING AMEN TO THIS PRAYER SHALL SMILE FOREVER. REMAIN IN GOD AND SEEK HIS FACE ALWAYS. AMEN
