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There are many people in this world that are "me" conscious. These are
people that are only interested in their own situation and with what they
are going through. They do not care about the problems of others and do
think of lending a helping hand to those who are in need around them. This
is the opposite of how God wishes for us to act. The command of the Lord
Jesus Christ is to first love God with all of our heart, soul and mind and
the second is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We are to have
compassion, care and interest towards our neighbor and love them with the
love of the Lord. (1 John 3:16-18) (James 2:15-16) (Matthew 22:37-40)
I hope you are encouraged and challenged by today's message to take special
interest in those around you to intervene and be helpful to make a bad
situation a little better.
JOHN SMITH
A poor man had been drafted for service in the Civil War. He had a wife
and six children, who, of course, were very dear to him. What made his
situation the more sorely distressing was the fact that his wife had been
sick for some time. The children were not old enough to care for their
mother, nor to look after the farm.
This man had a neighbor who was also a very dear friend. During their
pioneer life, these men had become greatly attached to each other, often
spending their evenings together, and interchanging work.
The morning this drafted man had to leave home, he was sitting at the
table with his wife and children, talking over the future. There was much
weeping. Even the children entered sympathetically into the sorrow of the
parents. The wife said: "O husband, I shall never see you again. I feel
that if you go to the war, this is the last time we shall ever eat
together. What will become of our poor, fatherless children?"
The man tried to cheer his wife, and assured her that he would be back in
a little while. "When I return," he said, "you will be well, and we shall
be happy for many years."
While they were lingering at the table, talking over their troubles, and
planning what to do, this neighbor drove into the yard, unhitched his cow
from behind the wagon, and opened the crates in which he had his chickens
and pigs. He turned his oxen into the pasture, came into the house, and
said, "Well, John, when do you have to go down to the county seat?"
"I must be there at noon."
Then the friend said, "Let me see the paper demanding your presence."
When it was handed to him, he looked at it a little, then put it into his
pocket, and said: "John, I am going to take your name now. I am going over
to the county seat myself, in your place. I shall register in the name of
John Smith. I am going to be John Smith in the army. I have turned my
cattle into your pasture, and put my pigs and chickens in with yours. If I
never come back, you can have it all. I cannot see you separated from your
family, leaving this sick wife and these helpless children, while I remain
at home, and have neither wife nor children to care whether I am living or
dead."
So that man went into the army. He registered as John Smith; and to all
intents and purposes, he was John Smith. Every morning, he answered to the
roll call when John Smith's name was read. When he went to the front, he
was shot dead in the very first engagement. This man gave his life as a
substitute for John Smith. He died for him, that Smith might escape death.
By I. H. Evans
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Matthew 22:35-40 "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a
question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets."
Luke 6:30-31 Jesus declares "Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of
him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that
men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
John 15:12-15 Jesus declares "This is my commandment, That ye love one
another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do
whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends;
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: A MOTHER'S CROWN
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem161.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony27.htm
In Christ's Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
