The Sweetest Sound

At our church’s annual camp-out, I was strolling down the gravel road that encircles the campsites. As I passed campsites and children on bikes, I would hear young voices call out, “Hi Miss ________!” Turning, I would see the beaming face of one or two of my young friends. With a smile, I would greet them, maybe ask a question about how they were doing, and then continue on my way. After the 8 or 9th encounter, I began to marvel at the fact that all of these children, most between the ages of 4 and 10, were so excited to see me. Many of them I hadn’t spent a whole lot of time with. Some of them I see on a regular basis, while others I had only recently spent one afternoon at the lake with. Then I realized, I have invested time and energy into each of these children, even if it was for only a couple of hours. It has been said that the sweetest sound to a person is the sound of their name. Each of my young friends rewarded the time I had spent with them with smiles and their sweet voices calling my name. I encourage you to invest some time and energy into the young lives around you. Weather it’s once a week or one afternoon, invest in them. You may just be rewarded in the same way I was, with one of the sweetest sounds on earth.

Saturday Pslam ~ 8-22-09

Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psalm 119:133

Saturday Psalm ~ 8-15-09

Your testimonies are wonderful;

Therefore my soul observes them.

Psalm 119:129

The Teacup

The Teacup
Author Unknown

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques, pottery, and especially teacups. This was their 25th wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, “May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so beautiful.” As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. “You don’t understand,” it said. “I haven’t always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over, and I yelled out, ‘Let me alone,’ but he only smiled, ‘Not yet.’

“Then I was placed on a spinning wheel,” the teacup said, “And suddenly I was spun around and around and around. ‘Stop it! I’m getting dizzy!’ I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’

“Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening, and I could read his lips as he shook his head, ‘Not yet.’

“Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. ‘There, that’s better,’ I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Stop it, stop it!’ I cried. He only nodded, ‘Not yet.’

“Then suddenly he put me back in the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening, nodding his head and saying, ‘Not yet.’

“Then I knew there wasn’t any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself.’ And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful.’

“ ‘I want you to remember, then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had let you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you in there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened; you wouldn’t have had any color in your life. And if I hadn’t put you back in the second oven, you wouldn’t have survived very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began you.’”

God knows what He’s doing for all of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker --

an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!

Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’

or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
Isaiah 45:9

The Enthusiastic Attitude

Fervent in spirit.

Romans 12:11

“One of humanity’s most chronic shortcomings is the lack of individual enthusiasm. Often our failures to achieve what we ought result directly from apathy and lack of commitment. But that should not be true if you’re a Christian.
Enthusiasm requires Spirit-assisted resolve and persistence, not just human-guided good intentions. Henry Martyn, the tireless missionary to India, conducted his ministry with scriptural enthusiasm and fervency. It was his desire to “burn out for God.” And the apostle Paul admonishes us to “not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Gal. 6:9).”

Taken from: Truth for Today, by John MacArthur, page 216

Saturday Psalm ~ 8-1-09

Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
Psalm 119:116