From: "Dwayne Savaya" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> God's Work Ministry E-mail
Dear Friend, It should be a great encouragement to our hearts to know that God is available to us when we call upon Him. There is never a busy signal or a “wait on hold” message. We can come confidently to the throne of God bringing our requests and needs before Him knowing that God is pleased with us when we show our faith and steadfast belief that He can hear and will answer our heartfelt prayers. The Bible declares in Isaiah 59:1 “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” No matter what may come before you in life, remember that God loves you and wishes to meet your needs. Do not become overwhelmed and contemplate quitting, but rather dig your heels in, stand strong and ask God to give you the strength you need to meet and overcome every obstacle that is in your path. The Bible says in 1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (Hebrews 4:16) I hope this message encourages your heart to call upon the Lord in confidence knowing that He will hear and answer your hearts cry. THE HURRICANE Twin fountains of muddy water splashed into the air as the car left the road and plunged into what was left of a farmer's field. The two men inside were violently thrown inside the car. Luckily both were wearing shoulder harnesses so their injuries were slight. But both discovered that a few bumps and bruises were the least of their worries at the moment. Slowly and steadily the automobile was sinking into the water and mire. They would either have to swim or drown. The men struggled out of their harnesses as water gushed in around the doors. A strong current was against them at first and the door wouldn't budge. Finally with a mighty heave, fueled by overwhelming panic, they got one of the doors open and splashed their way out of the sinking vehicle. It was pitch dark. The water was freezing cold. Violent winds lashed a curtain of rain into cutting sheets of icy water. The storm had been going on now for the better part of a day. The men had been on a business trip when the first Hurricane Watch was issued. Their first thought was to come home and care for their families. But this was an important meeting -- not one to be missed by a young man on the fast track to success. So they had waited until almost the last minute -- until the storm was almost upon them. By the time they were only a few miles from home, the storm was bellowing with 90-mile-per-hour winds. They had almost made it, but the road had suddenly disappeared beneath their automobile. Now they found themselves neck deep in a raging torrent from which there seemed no escape. “Bill,” the first man yelled into the howling wind. “Where are you?” A streak of lightning shot through the sky. A clap of thunder rolled through the soggy heavens. “Bill!” the first man cried again. “Answer me.” “I'm over here, Jack,” came a faint reply. “Over here!” Jack squinted his eyes, trying to peer through the rain but he could see nothing. “Are you okay?” Jack shouted into the wind. “Yeah,” was the faint reply. “But we're gonna drown if we don't get out of here. This current is murder.” Another bolt of lightning, then a tremendous clap of thunder. For a moment Jack thought he saw Bill struggling in the water. “Over here!” Jack shouted. “I can't see you,” Bill answered. “All this water and mud is in my eyes. I can't see anything.” “Follow the sound of my voice,” Jack bellowed over the storm. “I'm over here.” Then Jack began to pray. “O Lord, I haven't been a very good Christian and I'm a terrible sinner, but please help us before we drown. Our families need us. Please, Lord. Help me find Bill and get us out of this mess. Amen.” Suddenly Jack felt someone grab his hand and start pulling. “Wait a minute, Bill. Where are you going?” “I don't know,” he heard a voice reply. “I can't tell one direction from the other. But I'm heading somewhere. Hold on tight.” Jack felt his friend pull him again. Oh, well, he figured, one way is as good as another. Jack started moving forward. The wind-lashed rain stung his face and grimy water dripped into his eyes. He was moving blind. The soft earth of the field was now deep mud. It sucked at his feet and pulled at his legs. He lost his shoes in the sticky slime. His suit was water-drenched and heavy. If the water got over his head, he knew that he would surely sink to the bottom. But what was this? Was the water getting shallower? Now it was only to his waist -- now to his knees. Then to his ankles. He felt the hand let go as he stumbled onto firm ground. Jack promptly looked for Bill, but he was not there. He squinted again into the storm and saw his friend stagger up a little bank onto a grassy knoll, about 150 feet to his right. The current was still strong. He must have been swept downstream at the last minute, just as Jack had reached high ground. Thank God he had made his way to shore. Jack struggled to his feet, uttered a silent “Thank you, Lord,” and made his way down the grassy bank to the spot where Bill was kneeling and coughing up muddy water from his lungs. There was another brilliant flash of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder. “Are you all right, Bill,” Jack asked anxiously as he put his arm over his friend's back. “Yeah, I think so,” Bill sputtered. Then Bill sat down on the bank, trying to catch his breath. “Now, what are we going to do. The car's gone and we can't get back across that,” he said as he nodded toward the raging torrent in front of them. “I guess the best thing to do is to find shelter and wait it out. I remember a little cave near here. If we can reach that, we'll be okay until the storm clears.” Bill nodded. Jack helped him to his feet. “And, thanks,” Bill said. “Thanks for pulling me out of the water and saving my life. I didn't know which way to go.” Jack laughed. “I think you're the one who had a hold of me rather than me having hold of you. I was about to thank you for the same thing.” Suddenly Bill stopped and turned to his friend. “Wait a minute. You were a good distance away from me when we found this bank. But you said that I had you, and I say that you had me. The truth is that neither one of us had the other.” “What are you saying,” Jack asked, suddenly becoming very nervous. “If you were all the way up there and I was all the way down here,” Jack asked, “then who was holding our hands?” “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” (James 5:13 NIV) By Ed Price Read and meditate on these scriptures: James 1:5-7 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” Psalm 34:4-10 “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him...” Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus says, “…Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: PRECIOUS IN HIS EYES Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem90.htm Today's Selected Testimony: ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony27.htm ===================================================== God's Work Ministry E-mail Dear Friend, With the many gifts and talents that God has instilled within our hearts, we should be quick to dream big dreams and have a big vision for our life. We should never allow ourselves to become stagnant and blame past failures for our current immobility. We must gird ourselves up, believe God's Word and move forward in confidence knowing that as long as God is by our side, nothing shall be impossible to us. Our mind and spirit must remain young at heart no matter our physical age or experience. The Lord is able to do a new thing with our lives even though we may not see it ourselves. We simply must believe that God loves us and trust that He has the ability to change our life for the better and lead us towards the victory that we have failed to see in the past. Be encouraged to rekindle the fire within your heart and see that you still have much to accomplish. As long as you have air in your lungs, you will have a job to fulfill. (Isaiah 43:18-19) I hope this message ministers to your heart to dream big dreams and believe that they will come to pass. The Bible says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you have the power to move mountains. (Matthew 17:20) KITCHEN WINDOWS In the days before dishwashers, a window was always placed above the kitchen sink. Many a young girl envisioned herself growing up and marrying the prince of her dreams as she completed her dish-washing chores. Mothers could solve their entire child rearing problems as they sanitized their pots and pans, while gazing through the kitchen windowpane. On rare occasions, when a man could be talked into this dreaded household task, he often solved some of the world's biggest problems, studying them through the kitchen window. Some great novels, I would venture to say, were conceived that very way. Prayers too, have been offered up to the Almighty as some stood with their hands in soapy water and their eyes on Heavenly skies. Music scores have been penned in the mind, their notes floating through the fluted space above the kitchen sink. Bridges of dreams have crossed into future realities traveling this same course. Oh, if kitchen windows could talk, we could hear secrets known to those who hold undisclosed mysteries. We could share dreams of the world's great romantics and connect with some of the great visionaries. I'm sure we could understand the entire “why's?” of this world if these fragile visionary panes capable of shattering even our dreams, could only communicate with us. My children will never forget my peering through the porthole of the kitchen into the backyard. I often stood there cleaning up and watching over their backyard play, their childhood conflicts and their playful explorations. If they were doing something they shouldn't, they would glance up to see me shaking my finger, admonishing them. My smile often met their eyes when they achieved a feat they were attempting, or when I was admiring their camaraderie. With four siblings, the latter was not always attainable. I had one association with the kitchen window that will never be forgotten. The kids had acquired an inner tube, one of those found in the tire of an eighteen-wheel truck. Where they had acquired it, I can't recall, but they were having a ball. One child would get on one side and the other opposite them. They would then bounce up and down, kind of like a rubber teeter-totter. They were having a great time, laughing and jumping taking turns on the makeshift trampoline. I had been watching them for some time and could not contain myself any longer. I made a bet with my kitchen window that I could do that too. Being in my 30's didn't mean I couldn't have fun. I energetically bounced out the back door and ran down the steps of the deck as if I was a teenager myself. “I want to try that,” I announced to my children. “Now, mom,” my son warned, “I don't think you better.” My kids were used to my eager enthusiasm but they were also aware of some of my health problems. “I can do that, just watch me!” I wasn't over the hill! I still knew how to have fun. “Well mom, you best be careful.” “I'm fine, come on let's do it. You get on that side and I'll get on this side,” I said to my teenage son. My two younger daughters and youngest son gleefully looked on as our cheering section. I was raring to go and not going to let those kids get one up on their mother! That first bounce -- well let's just say we didn't quite synchronize our jumps and I flew up into the air like a ball shot out of a cannon and landed very hard with a thump on my rump. “Mom, Mom, Mom -- are you all right? Mom are you OK? Here let us help you up.” “Just leave me alone, let me sit here for a minute,” I said as I held back the tears. “I'll be fine.” As the pain shot through my bottom side I wasn't quite sure of the words I had just uttered. I felt like I may never walk again, but I had to pull my faltering self-esteem out of this mess somehow! Eventually when I got to my feet, an X-ray was taken. It revealed a broken tail bone. You can't put a cast on that, so I just had to endure the pain until it healed. In the days that followed, as I stood looking out my kitchen window and I could almost hear its opaque pane mocking me, “You're not as young as you used to be. I told you so!” “OK, OK. Just see to it you don't tempt me with your visions of wishful thinking!” I made a pact with the kitchen windows of the world that day: “Help me see more clearly and throw in a little wisdom while you're at it, will 'ya? I will try to decipher dreams from reality and act accordingly. But I can't make any promises!” By Betty King Read and meditate on these scriptures: Proverbs 3:9-12 “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of His correction: For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Psalm 5:1-3 “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto Thee will I pray. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.” Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 “...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today’s Selected Poem: LOOKING FOR JESUS Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem131.htm Today's Selected Testimony: PRODIGAL DAUGHTER Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony14.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. .
