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We should be quick to open our hearts and love others unconditionally,
showing them the love of God through our life. The Bible says that we
will reap what we sow and if we sow hatred, strife, bitterness, envy and
selfishness we shouldn't expect to reap love, peace, joy and contentment.
We are to do for others what we would want them to do for us. It is in
giving that we receive, and it is in loving that we are loved. Always
remember that life will come full circle and will return to you what you
gave to it. The Bible declares in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Be
encouraged to open your heart and love, forgive and do to others what you
would want them to do to you. You will soon find that you'll reap exactly
what you have sown. (Matthew 10:8) (Luke 6:30-36) (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)
I hope today's message encourages your heart to be quick to show your love
and care for others, because it will be to your benefit in the end and you
will be thankful for what you sowed in the past.
THE DOG NEXT DOOR
My 18-month-old son, Adam, called from the front porch. “Look, Mama!
Doggie.” I dropped what I was doing and stuck my head out the door. Brandy,
our next-door neighbor's 11-year-old golden retriever, was over again.
“Scat!” I said, scooping up Adam and brushing the dog hair off his T-shirt
and shorts.
Brandy's owner had died about a month earlier. The woman's family emptied
the house, and a real estate agent stuck a For Sale sign in the front yard.
But the family had overlooked the old golden, Brandy. For weeks she'd been
sniffing around the neighborhood, living on scraps and handouts.
It wasn't that I disliked dogs or anything like that. I just didn't think
about them much. I never had a dog growing up and never thought to get one.
Brandy loped off and I stayed out on the porch with Adam. The phone rang.
I ducked inside to take the call. When I came back out, Adam was gone. I
scoured the yard, front and back, then the basketball court and public pool
down the block. No trace of him. My worry built to panic. I ran home and
called the police, then my husband. Please, Lord, keep Adam safe until we
find him.
Police combed the neighborhood. Amid the sirens and commotion of voices, I
heard another sound: a dog barking.
“It's coming from the woods,” one of my neighbors said. We followed the
barking to a wooded cliff overlooking a creek. There we found my son, flush
up against the trunk of a tree just inches away from the edge of the cliff,
fast asleep. Brandy had pressed herself against him. I picked Adam up and
leaned down to pat Brandy. She sank down on her side, panting. She must
have been holding Adam there for hours!
I thanked the police and brought a safe and sound Adam back to our house.
Brandy too. She hesitated a moment on our doorstep, no doubt remembering
the times I'd shooed her away.
“Come on, girl,” I said. “This is your home now.” Brandy stepped in, and
once she saw she was really welcome, she eased herself onto an old throw
rug in the hallway, as if she knew that spot was now hers. She closed her
eyes. Her breathing deepened. Her whiskers twitched as she slept. She'd
done an incredible thing and I wondered if she knew it. She might have
saved my son's life. She'd certainly touched mine in a way no animal ever
had. What a shame a dog like Brandy was abandoned. Were there more out
there like her?
I learned about other homeless goldens and took them in and found homes for
many more. It's become a kind of calling for me. Those with disabilities --
the old, the blind, the sick -- have a special place in my heart. A place
I'd never known I had until Brandy opened it.
By Sara Whalen
Picture
of Brandy
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Matthew 12:35-37 Jesus declares “A good man out of the good treasure of his
heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure
brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may
speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your
words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
James 1:22-25 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is
like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man
shall be blessed in his deed.”
Galatians 6:2-4 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall
he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap
also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him
give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: THINGS I HAVE LEARNED
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem122.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: GOD'S MIRACLE IN PROGRESS
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony170.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
