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The good deeds that we do openly and in secret help to make this world a
better place even if we don't always realize it. Doing good things for
others shows them that love is still alive, and caring hearts still abound.
The Lord Jesus Christ declares in Luke 6:35-36, “But love ye your enemies,
and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be
great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the
unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also
is merciful.” (Acts 20:35) (1 Thessalonians 5:11-15) (Romans 12:10)
When we do good things for others, we are to see it as if we are doing it
to the Lord. The Lord says in Matthew 25:40 “...Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”
Be encouraged to make yourself available to intervene on behalf of someone
else in need and allow yourself to be the angel in which God works through
to bless someone else.
I hope today's message ministers to your heart to be the catalyst in which
good deeds are done and passed on where others may pick up the reins and
continue on with what you started.
SPARE CHANGE
My morning routine includes stopping at the local convenient store to pick
up the daily news. One morning not long ago, the convenience of the
convenient store proved inconvenient to the folks stuck in line behind two
small boys. As I approached the counter to pay the attendant, I noticed
the two little guys standing at the front of the line - a line that was
growing longer by the minute.
The young man behind the counter was clearly agitated with the boys as his
voice rose above the morning chatter in the store and he said to them,
“Look, you guys need nineteen cents more to pay for this candy. If you
don't have it, you don't get it. Now, what are you going to do?”
I watched, as the small boys seemed to shuffle from one foot to another
without uttering a word, just staring at the attendant, their wide eyes
filling with tears. The folks waiting impatiently in line began to complain
loudly, “Let's go fellas!” Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed to intervene on
their behalf.
“I've got the nineteen cents,” I shouted above the noise and commotion.
“Take this dollar for my paper and keep the change towards their candy.”
The attendant seemed relieved to have the matter settled. Everyone in the
line turned to eyeball the loud-mouthed lady with the exception of the two
small boys who quickly snatched the candy and exited the store.
I handed over the dollar, smiled at the attendant and left. As I made my
way to my car, a small voice called out to me, “Hey, Lady!” I turned to
see one of the boys peering from around the corner of the building. “That
was pretty cool!”
He was gone. I suppose it was a “thank you” of sorts and I was content to
think that I would be the topic of their small conversation that morning.
I was the “cool lady” who saved the day by paying for their candy in an
otherwise hectic and uncaring world. I imagined them giving each other
high-fives in my memory. It made me smile to think that my small gesture
had brightened their little world, if only for a moment.
By the time that I arrived at my own store, I was basking in my good deed
and wanted to share my story with my customers. When I finished telling
the story to a small group of girls, one of my customers turned towards me
and said, “I like to do little things like that, too. When I stop to get
my morning coffee, everyday, I place a penny in the parking lot or on the
sidewalk - heads-up. Sometimes I sit in my car and watch to see if anyone
finds it. It always makes people smile and it makes my day, too. I've been
doing it for years now.”
I couldn't speak. It does make you smile to find a penny heads-up in the
parking lot. Maybe I had been one of the recipients of her gift. She shyly
admitted that she hadn't told a single soul before today. How Christ-like
is that? And here I was, bragging about my generosity. The Bible tells us
to do good deeds without fanfare and acknowledgment. I humbled myself and
decided to forego sharing my morning episode with anyone else. It would be
between God and me.
That afternoon on my way home, I stopped to get a coffee at the local
donut shop. As I left the store, I noticed a shiny heads-up penny on the
sidewalk. Instead of bending down to pick it up, I knelt and placed a penny
next to it. Heads-up, of course. After all, pennies are gifts from angels
and angels always smile when we share our spare change.
By Michele Starkey
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Matthew 6:1-4 Jesus declares “Take heed that ye do not your alms before
men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which
is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet
before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which
seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
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.”
Ephesians 4:29-32 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and
anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: THE RIGHT WORDS
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem173.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: THE ALMIGHTY CURE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony31.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
