Apron Strings Devotional for6/23/99

6/23/99

Good Morning....
Jesus loves You!!

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The only possibility of understanding the teaching of Jesus is by the light of the Spirit of God on the inside.
-Oswald Chambers-

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Hi Dear Friends!!

I pray this finds you doing well in our Lord Jesus!! Today I am sharing the commentary section with my friend, Tina. Tina is a Pastor's wife and she recently shared her story in "Joy in the Kitchen." This is a wonderful newsletter tailored for Pastor's wives, and it is sent out by SarahsTent@aol.com . So, if you are a PW, as we call em, or if your Pastor's wife has email, this is a wonderful ministry to be involved in!

So, without further ado, ( wasn't that a fancy phrase? ) let us allow the Holy Spirit to come in and minister to our hearts this day! God Bless, and see you at the very end..!

Ezekiel 36:26a
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:

A man was giving his testimony at one of those old Salvation Army open-air street meetings. As he was testifying, a heckler in the crowd yelled, "Why don't you shut up and sit down? You're just dreaming."

Immediately that heckler felt a tug on his coat. He looked down to see a little girl, who said. "Sir, may I speak to you? That man who is talking up there is my daddy. Daddy used to be a drunkard. He used to spend all of the money he made on whiskey. My mother was very sad and would cry most of the time.

"Sometimes when my daddy would come home, he would hit my mother. I didn't have shoes or a nice dress to wear to school. But look at my shoes. And see this pretty dress? My daddy bought these for me."

But the little girl wasn't through with that heckler yet. "See my mother over there? She's the one with the bright smile on her face. She's happy now. She sings even when she's doing the ironing."

Then the little girl said, "Mister, if my daddy is dreaming, please don't wake him up."

"Don't wake him up"
-Author Unknown-
Received from: Linda, HisNChrist@aol.com
Thanks Linda!!

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Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.
Phillipians 4:8

This scripture means a great deal to me because many times my sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Stembridge, would read this passage to the class, and I was in a public school. I didn't realize she was reading the Bible until I got saved and saw that scripture on my own. I'll never forget the way she clutched that book, and embraced each word, as if she knew something I didn't. Mrs. Stembridge is with the Lord now, but I will never forget the seeds she sowed into my life with the Word of God, and when I get to heaven, I want to tell her thank you.

-Carol-

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"If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep,

If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute
or two to stop and say "I love you," instead of assuming, you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your
day, Well I'm sure you'll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance to make everything right.

There will always be another day to say our "I love you's",
And certainly there's another chance to say our "Anything I can do's?"

But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget,

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight..

So if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss and you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them and that you'll always hold them dear,

Take time to say "I'm sorry," "please forgive me," "thank you" or "it's okay".

And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.

-By: Gail Reeves, Adm. Secretary-
Received from: Momkoff@aol.com
Thanks Sis!

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And now a word from my Guest Writer!

My parents own a lovely piece of land in the country, with a log cabin, a pond, chickens, dogs, hiking trails, etc. Their home is about 10 or 15 miles away from ours, and my children absolutely love going to visit. My two oldest have acquired fishing poles (I think it was because of "Papa" and his generosity; he's a country boy to the max, and knows every fish, bird and tree in the world.) Almost every time we visit, we go to the pond to fish, paddle boat, or swim, and now Papa has added a dock so that we can tether the boat and sit on the edge to fish. Fishing has become even more alluring to the children than ever!

A few weeks ago, my daughter Sarah, who just turned 4 years old, decided that she wanted to try to catch a fish, too. Unfortunately, the fishing poles were all being used, and I have to admit that my children are not always the perfect angels they should be......anyway, nobody wanted to share. So my husband opened his tackle box and decided to get creative. He found an old clothespin (the kind without the hinge), some extra line, and a hook. Since he wasn't doing much fishing anyway, being the head of a family that doesn't care much for impaling worms on hooks or getting fish off them, he devised a very simple makeshift "fishing pole" for Sarah that had a line about 2 and a half feet long.

He said, "Now, Sarah, sit right here on the edge of the dock and put that hook in the water. Then all you have to do is wait for a fish to bite, and when one does, pull it out very quickly." Well, she sat down on the dock, lowered that baby fishing pole, and in no more than 5 seconds, pulled out a keeper, just as easy as you please!

You should have seen the stunned look on the other kids' faces! No one thought this little pole would catch anything, maybe just keep Sarah busy for a while, so she wouldn't ask for their poles anymore. My husband got the fish off the hook and put it in the bucket, baited her hook up again, and she put her "pole" back in the water and proceeded to pull out another fish. This happened about 5 or 6 times in a row, right off the edge of the dock. We were amazed, because the rest of us were practicing our fancy casting and getting the line WAY out in the water.....and weren't accomplishing too much except to catch runts, and to get our bait stolen by some sneaky fish!

Can you guess what happened then? Every other kid on the dock wanted that clothespin fishing pole! They ended up taking turns with it, but you know what? No one caught anything with it except Sarah.

I believe God speaks louder at some times than at others, and we were convinced that this was one of those times. The bible tells us that our generous God gives gifts and talents to us all. We may admire the more visible ones, and wish that we had what other people are blessed with; sometimes we just can't see how our own gifts and talents could be used, or what they could produce. They may seem small and insignificant in the light of what we've seen happen in other people's lives and ministries. But if we are willing to use what little we do have, no matter how unlikely it looks, I believe God can and will meet us there, and do things that are beyond our comprehension or our imagination, to further His kingdom.

2 Chronicles 16:9a
"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." It will be God's strength that accomplishes the work!

Sarah didn't care what her pole looked like, or what anyone else had, or what they thought; she was just going to do what her Daddy told her to. She trusted that this thing was going to work out like he said. How much more can we trust our Heavenly Father? I want to encourage you to step out in faith a little more today than you have before, and put that gift or talent to use that you've been hiding, or that you've been afraid to try. It's YOUR gift; no one else can use it like you can!
God bless you!

"Sarah's Gift"
By: Tina Lambiee@aol.com

Amen Tina!! May God Bless YOU for a story well written! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I pray that the eyes of our understanding are enlightened, producing a desire to use our gifts earnestly, to the Glory of God!

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Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
And there are varieties of effects,
But the same God who works all things in all persons.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
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God Bless You All!!
And remember..
Jesus loves you and I do too!

In Christ!!
Carol
Justaservn@aol.com

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