Happy Friday

Thought for Today

Every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches some kind of sermon everyday.
 
Whatever You Do, Do It for Him

(By Glynnis Whitwer and Tarnie Coleman)

 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) 

 
 Tarnie treasures her early morning walks around the neighborhood before her two toddlers wake up and the day flies into high gear. One particular Sunday morning was especially beautiful ... the sky was azure blue, the air clean and crisp, and the quiet was accented only by the songs of a few cheerful birds and an occasional car. 

 
 As she turned a corner and started the second leg of her walk, she noticed a beat-up Cherokee ahead of her, driving on the wrong side of the street ... the same side she was walking on. The car stopped, then started, stopped, then started again. Unfortunately it was a very loud car, which disturbed the peace of her morning. Still optimistic and determined to enjoy her walk, Tarnie thought it would be short-lived ... either she would pass the vehicle or it would turn someplace else. Neither happened. 

 
 The two kept an annoying pace with each other as the car would start and stop, and Tarnie walked ahead of it, then behind it. Tarnie soon realized it was a newspaper delivery man, tossing out papers to those houses on his route. He seemed about 50 years old, and his face was expressionless as he alternately read his map and tossed the papers to the correct houses. 

 
 Tarnie was frustrated. She wanted the peace and quiet of that beautiful Sunday morning so she could talk with God before getting the family ready for church. But all she got was a strange dance with a newspaper delivery man. Why had God allowed this picture-perfect walk to be so annoyingly interrupted, she wondered. 

 
 As she started paying more attention to this man in the beat-up car delivering his papers, she realized he was not simply throwing the papers on the driveways ... not just whipping them out to land where ever they might land ... but instead he was intentionally tossing them. This caught her attention and she watched some more. As she did, she realized that each paper he tossed landed right next to, or right on top of, the other newspaper lying on the driveway that had already been delivered. Now, each driveway had two papers, right next to each other. 

 
 

"How great to come out of your house and only have to bend down once to get your papers!" Tarnie thought. What at first seemed an annoyance was actually a show of selfless courtesy. But this was a show that will never be seen, known about, or even appreciated by most of those homeowners who would likely walk outside, grab their papers and go about their days. But Tarnie noticed, and even more importantly, God noticed. She immediately thought of Colossians 3:23 and 24: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (NIV). She realized that if she were delivering papers to Jesus' house, she would make sure they were right next to the other papers so He would only have to bend down once. 

 
 Tarnie learned a lot that "noisy" early morning. God was speaking to her after all. Watching a normal paper delivery man in a beat-up car, driving on the wrong side of the street, and doing his job in an extraordinary way ... as if He were doing it for the Lord ... was a priceless learning experience. She was reminded that everything - everything - can be done for Jesus! 

 
 "Dear Lord, thank You for teaching us important biblical lessons through everyday events. Thank You for instilling value and worth in even the most humble tasks. Help me to keep a right attitude about my daily work, and remember that it's all for You. In Jesus' Name, Amen. "

In the end, He showed them He was anything but frail.
They hammered Him to a cross, but He was tougher than nails!

Down At The Cross

Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His Name!

Refrain

     Glory to His Name, glory to His Name:
     There to my heart was the blood applied;
     Glory to His Name!

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His Name!

Refrain

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
I am so glad I have entered in;
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
Glory to His Name!

Refrain

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet,
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet;
Plunge in today, and be made complete;
Glory to His Name!

Refrain

Daily Smile:

The Unused Credit Card  In March 1992 a man living in Newton near Boston, Massachusetts received a bill for his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away.  In April he received another and threw that one away too. The following month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they were going to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00.  He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error and told him they'd take care of it.  The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome credit card figuring that if there were purchases on his account it would put an end to his ridiculous predicament.  However, in the first store that he produced his credit card in payment for his purchases he found that his card had been cancelled.  He called the credit card company who apologized for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue.  Assuming that having spoken to the credit card company only the previous day the latest bill was yet another mistake he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the problem out.  The next month he got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.  Finally giving in, he thought he would play the company at their own game and mailed them a check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the credit card company nothing at all.  A week later, the man's bank called him asking him what he was doing writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing software to fail.  The following month the man received a letter from the credit card company claiming that his check had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a check they would be taking steps to recover the debt.
The man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.