"But love your
enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward
will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to
ungrateful and evil men" (Luke
6:35).
Dr.
Luke followed this power-packed verse with another power-packed verse that has
been engrained in my heart and life; "Give,
and it shall be given to you. They will
pour into your lap a good measure - pressed down, shaken together, and running
over, for by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Lu. 6:38).
Hey
Gang: I came across this neat, but very
understandable, explanation of the difference between heaven and hell.
A
holy man was having a conversation with God, one day, and asked Him to show him
heaven and hell. God led the Holy man to
two doors. The holy man opened one of
the doors and then looked in. In the
middle of the room was a large round table which a fantastic pot of stew that made
the holy man's mouth water.
But
the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly; they appeared to be
famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles which were strapped to their
arms. Each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful,
but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the
spoons to their mouth. The holy man
shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said you have seen 'hell'.
They
went to the next room and opened the door.
It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with a large
fantastic pot of stew, just like the one before which also made the holy man's
mouth water. The people were equipped
with the same long handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and
plump, laughing and talking.
The
holy man said, "I don't understand". "It is simple" said
the Lord. “Entering heaven requires but
one skill, you see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy
think only of themselves. In other words
those in heaven were focused on the Golden Rule to ‘do unto others as you pray
they will do unto you’.
In
the very early years of developing the Village making budget was always a very
tough chore. God supplied but did not
spoil us with a dime more than we needed!
It was a time when I learned that sacrificial giving was very difficult
for many folks, including myself. Coming
out of the depression, the son of a coal miner, I tended to have a fear that if
I gave it away, I would come up hungry.
And
then a dear elderly lady, who resided in a local nursing home, taught me a
wonderful lesson. She sent me a very special gift, three dimes, a nickel and
two pennies, I knew this is what she had left after taking care of her
financial responsibilities. One thing I
have learned, in my sojourn on this earth, ‘you cannot out give God’.
Soooo,
friends and neighbors, remember when Jesus died on the cross He was thinking of
you (John 17:20). When He defeated Satan and rose from the grave, He was
thinking of you. When He ascended into the heavenlies and sat down at the right
hand of the Father, you were on His mind and He now is your intercessor and
one day, soon, He will hear His Father say – ‘time, go for it’. Soon, He will come and collect all those who
love Him as Savior and Lord and are committed to Him totally.
Blessings,
Gramps
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