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One thing we should always remember and keep in mind is that God cares for
our well-being. How can that be true? How can God all the way up in
heaven care about you personally? The answer can be found easily through
the life of Jesus Christ. The only reason Jesus came to this Earth was to
suffer and die for our sins so that we might be redeemed and reconciled
back to God The Father again. The Lord wishes to meet our needs and give
us our hearts desires, but we must be willing and obedient to follow His
voice and do all that He commands us to do. We cannot live in rebellion
and expect God to bless us. The only way we receive His blessings is to
be obedient to His Word. We must follow the right path, do the right
things, be in fellowship and communion with the Lord so that the still
small voice of the Holy Spirit is clearly heard within our spirit.
(Isaiah 1:19-20) (1 Kings 19:11-13)
I encourage you to surrender your will and your life to the Lord. He
wishes to take you higher than you've ever been, farther than you've ever
thought you could go and make your latter end much more blessed than your
meager beginnings. Is it possible? The Bible says with God all things
are possible. There is nothing too difficult for the Lord to do through
our lives, but we must be willing participants to believe God and trust in
His unfailing, undying and unending love for you when I. No matter what
you may be going through, no matter how hard the storms rage around you, I
want you to know that peace belongs to you, but you must take ahold of it
for yourself. When you do, you will find every obstacle dissipate, every
challenge met, every storm wane and every dark night give way to a
glorious and shining sunrise. Stand firm, dig your heels in and believe
that goodness and mercy follows you all the days of your life.
(Matthew 19:26) (Psalm 23:6)
I hope this message encourages and inspires your heart to believe for great
things in life and know that you can overcome when the difficult times
come your way.
SUCCESS IN SPITE OF ADVERSITY
Nothing in the early life of James Cash Penney indicated that his name
would one day become a household word in homes across the United States.
Born in 1875, he grew up on a small farm in Kentucky. His father was a
minister in the Primitive Baptist Church. Both parents were committed
Christians who instilled a deep and abiding faith in their children.
While Penney was a teenager his minister father became the victim of
church politics and was removed from his position. The ensuing financial
hardship for the family meant that Penney had to leave school, taking a
job to help support the family. He began to work as a clerk in a local
store. Although he didn't realize it at the time, this modest start was
providential and would propel him into an illustrious career as a retailer.
After working in various stores, Penney was able to purchase a one-third
interest in a dry goods store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The date was April 14,
1902. Kemmerer was a small mining town of less than 1,000 people. Penney
and his wife lived in a tiny attic apartment above the store. Their
furniture consisted of a large empty dry goods box for a table and smaller
boxes for chairs. When their first child was born, Penney's young wife
wrapped their infant in a blanket, allowing it to sleep under a counter
while she stood beside it, working alongside her husband, serving their
customers.
From that humble beginning J. C. Penney would eventually preside over 1,700
stores. He would lead the country's largest chain of department stores,
each one bearing his name. The influence of Penney's godly parents became
evident with the growth of his business, as he began to describe his chain
as the Golden Rule Stores, based on the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:12: “Do
for others what you would like them to do for you.”
Although his enterprise made him incredibly wealthy, Penney's life was not
devoid of setbacks and troubles. In fact, beginning in 1929, events took
place that nearly cost Penney his life.
When the Great Depression struck the country, it came at a time of great
financial vulnerability for Penney. While his stores continued to do well,
Penney had been adding outside interests, and these were proving to be
extremely costly. In order to finance these interests, Penney borrowed
heavily. In addition, Penney was becoming a major philanthropist, giving
generously to organizations and individuals. The Depression prompted banks
to request repayment of his loans sooner than anticipated. Suddenly cash
flow was tight, and Penney was finding it difficult to meet payment
schedules. Constant and unrelenting worry began to take a toll. “I was so
harassed with worries that I couldn't sleep, and developed an extremely
painful ailment,” he said.
Concerned about his deteriorating health, Penney checked himself into the
Kellogg sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan, the Mayo Clinic of its era.
There, Dr. Elmer Eggleston, a staff physician, examined Penney, declaring
that he was extremely ill. “A rigid treatment was prescribed, but nothing
helped,” Penney recalled. He was attacked by the twin demons of
hopelessness and despair. His very will to live was rapidly eroding. “I
got weaker day by day. I was broken nervously and physically, filled with
despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for, I
felt that I hadn't a friend left in the world, that even my family had
turned against me.”
Alarmed by his rapidly deteriorating condition, Dr. Eggleston gave Penney
a sedative. However, the effect quickly wore off, and Penney awakened with
the conviction that he was living the last night of his life. “Getting out
of bed, I wrote farewell letters to my wife and to my son, saying that I
did not expect to live to see the dawn.”
Penney awakened the next morning, surprised to find himself alive. Making
his way down the hallway of the hospital, he could hear singing coming
from the little chapel where devotional exercises were held each morning.
The words of the hymn he heard being sung spoke deeply to his condition.
Going into the chapel, he listened with a weary heart to the singing, the
reading of the Scripture lesson, and the prayer. “Suddenly something
happened,” he recalled. “I can't explain it. I can only call it a miracle.
I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon
into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from
hell to Paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before.”
In a life-transforming instant Penney knew that God, with His love, was
there to help. “From that day to this, my life has been free from worry,”
he declared. “The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were
those I spent in that chapel that morning.” The words from the hymn that
spoke so eloquently and miraculously to J. C. Penney were “God will take
care of you.”
The hymn God used to save J. C. Penney's life was written by Civilla
Durfee Martin. Not much is known about the hymn writer. She lived between
1866 and 1948, writing the hymn in 1904. The inspiration for the words may
have come from 1 Peter 5:7: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he
cares about what happens to you.”
The opening lines read:
Be not dismayed whate'er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.
God will take care of you,
Through every day, o'er all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
By Victor M. Parachi
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Psalm 145:15-18 “The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their
meat in due season. Thou openest Thine Hand, and satisfiest the desire of
every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and Holy in
all His works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all
that call upon Him in truth.”
Psalm 103:2-5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems
your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender
mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is
renewed like the eagle's.”
2 Samuel 22:29-33 “For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten
my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap
over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is
proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the
Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, And
He makes my way perfect.”
Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I
drawn thee.”
Psalm 16:8-11 “I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my
right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory
rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of Joy; at
Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem172.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: I WAS ONCE LOST
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony21.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
