TRANSFORMING LIVES WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD

THROUGH REFORMED THEOLOGY WE HAVE BEEN

TRANSFORMING LIVES WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD SINCE 1997

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Men Prepare Sermons; God Prepares Men

2nd Timothy 2:15

"The proper place for a ship to be is in the water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will sink. The proper place for the church is in the world,

BUT IF THE 'WORLD' GETS INTO THE CHURCH,

THE CHURCH WILL GO DOWN IN DISGRACE!"

Thank you for taking the time to view our blog;we look forward to reading your comments. DVDs of our services are available upon request. We covet your prayers and friendship. In His Service and For His Glory, Pastor Bill & Kathy ...
"Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness...But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."-Joshua 24:14-15

Is God Calling You to be a Pastor?

The right kind of education is essential to the man who has answered God's call. No army dare send a soldier into battle without proper training. The results would be devastating, not only for the warrior, but for the war.


Sunday, August 5, 2012

August 5


                                         THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago . They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples.  Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding.
 
ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.  He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.
 
He was glad he did.  The 16-year-old girl was totally blind!  She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.
 
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"  She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...."
 
He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"  He stopped in mid-stride ... and he wondered. He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place."

The girl gently nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, so you are like Him - only
He knows who will do His will. Thank you for hearing His call, Mister."  Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?" 
 
Do people mistake you for Jesus?  That's our destiny, is it not?  To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.  If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.  You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a  fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill  called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit. 
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5 comments:

  1. Good story, we should all pause and be like Jesus.


    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. good one!

    Susan K. White

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very good story---thank you for sharing it! Have a beautiful day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello our Southern Friends,

    We got a repreave from the extreme heat and that is a
    blessing for us nodaks....

    I heard a beautiful word from the Lord to share with you and it is very profound and simply ......

    You Matter - to Him and ...... to us.

    love you both and pray for your ministry........

    pj and L

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great story Bill. Thanks for the reminder.

    Love you!

    ReplyDelete