Help!

 

It was 1960 and I was in the sixth grade at Old Post Road elementary school.  As I walked into the schoolroom one morning, I sensed a tenseness in the air.  I was puzzled … and a little worried.  Were we having a test that I had forgotten?  That was entirely possible, because I seldom studied.  After mentally checking off each subject, I realized that it wasn’t a test.  Today was the day to recite from memory the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.  And Miss Geagen had been clear, “If you don’t have the Gettysburg Address memorized, you will stand up in front of the class and squirm around for the length of time that it should have taken you to recite it!”  I was in big trouble!  But fortunately for me, my name started with a “W” and Miss Gaegen always went in alphabetical order.  I opened my notebook and began studying the speech that I should have studied the night before.  Then, Paula A’s name was called.  As she stumbled through, I stumbled through right along with her.  And the next person, and then next.  When Miss Geagen finally called my name, I was ready.  I walked to the front of the room and began, “Four score seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation …”  Hey, have you ever been in a high-pressure situation?  Maybe it was one of your own making, and maybe it wasn’t.  In either case, ask the dear Lord for help.  And He will always meet your need.  Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”  Don’t be afraid.  Ask God.  He’ll be right there with you.

Danger Ahead

 

A month ago, I was coming home from church Sunday afternoon and saw a car dodge something in the interstate ahead.  I slowed and saw a huge 6X6 chunk of wood that had fallen off a truck laying in the roadway.  I thought of someone hitting that thing and having a terrible accident, so I pulled over, backed up, and got out of the car.  I carefully watched the traffic and dragged the wood out of the roadway and onto the shoulder.  As I got back into my car, several cars flew by me on the now clear highway.  None of them knew of the danger that had been cleared, and none of them waved thanking me.  They were oblivious to what had just happened.  Hey, when you place a gospel tract at a strategic location at the grocery store, you are potentially helping someone avoid a tragic end to their life.  They may pass by oblivious of their spiritual danger ahead, or they may pick up that tract and learn of the love of God.  I Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

Abound

 

Years ago, I built a fountain for my backyard birds. The fountain looks plain enough, but has a complicated concrete catch basin with a pump and automatic fill system … when it works.  I have installed three different filling devices over the past 20 years, and all of them have failed after a couple of years.  So now, I simply turn on the supply line when the fountain goes dry.  But the filler tube is only 1/8” tubing, and it takes a long time to fill.  Often I forget to turn it off, and I only notice when it has been running over for several hours.  Oops!  Last Sunday, Pastor Jamie preached on prayer and mentioned Philippians 1:9&10, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.”  That word “abound” explains how we should love.  Our love for God and for one another should be “full and running over” like my fountain.  Hey, are you stingy with your love?  Or does your love abound: run over past overfill?  Think about it.