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 4/29/98 Good morning.... +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ If you keep telling someone
something is wrong with them, sooner or later, +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ Good Morning Precious Brethren!! Hope this finds your Wednesday ok!! I would like to mention one thing, that might clear up some confusion. My screen name and email address is Justaservn@aol.com. If anyone has questions or comments, that is how you can get in touch with me. I appreciate all of the faithful Brethren that are forwarding Apron Strings, and there are many that ask if they can share, or pass these devotionals along. My response to that is: "By all means, please do!!" I hope you are blessed by today's word...Please read on and enjoy! Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Ps 19:14 By fifth grade, I was bearing all the fruit of a kid who feels insecure, unloved and pretty angry at life. In other words, I was tearing the place apart. However, my teacher Miss Simson apparently thought that I was blind to this problem, because she regularly reminded me, "Howard, you are the worst behaved child in this school!" "So, tell me something I don't already know!" I thought to myself, as I proceeded to live up (or down) to her opinion of me...... Needless to say, the fifth grade was probably the worst year of my life. Finally I was graduated - - for obvious reasons. But I left with Miss Simson's words ringing in my ears: "Howard, you are the worst behaved child in this school!" You can imagine what my expectations were upon entering the sixth grade. The first day of class, my teacher, Miss Noe, went down the roll call, and it wasn't long before she came to my name. "Howard Hendricks," she called out, glancing from her list to where I was sitting with my arms folded, just waiting to go into action. She looked me over for a moment, and then said, "I've heard a lot about you." Then she smiled and added, "But I don't believe a word of it!" I tell you, that moment was a fundamental turning point, not only in my education, but in my life. Suddenly, unexpectedly, someone believed in me. For the first time in my life, someone saw potential in me. Miss Noe put me on special assignments. She gave me little jobs to do. She invited me to come in after school to work on my reading and arithmetic. She challenged me with higher standards. I had a hard time letting her down. In fact, one time I got so involved in one of her homework assignments that I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning working on it! Eventually my father came down the hall and said, "What's the matter son? Are you sick?" "No, I'm doing my homework," I replied. He kind of blinked and rubbed his eyes, not quite sure whether he was awake. He'd never heard me say anything like that before... What made the difference between fifth grade and sixth? The fact that someone was willing to give me a chance. Someone was willing to believe in me while challenging me with higher expectations. That was risky, because there was no guarantee that I would honor Miss Noe's trust. Everyone likes the end product of mentoring, especially when it yields a peak performer - - the star athlete, the successful business person, the brilliant lawyer, the impressive communicator. But how many of us want to deal with the person at the front end of the process? "I Don't Believe a Word of It"
By: Howard Hendricks JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§ In repairing a relationship, it's essential to realize that no friendship is perfect, no marriage is perfect, no person is perfect. With the resolve that you are going to make a relationship work, you can develop peace treaties of love and tolerance and harmony to transform a difficult situation into something beautiful. God's goal for your home is harmony. That means a family of individuals singing different notes, but with the same score of music, with the same goal. Your home is simply a means to take you to a greater end-- a heavenly end. Working together as coheirs of eternal salvation is the foundation for the home. God, give us strength as we try to be more like Jesus in our homes. We ask you to keep the evil one away from us; keep us close. Let our homes be testimonies of your love for us, that when people see our homes, they would see how you have loved the world. ( In Jesus Name, Amen. ) -By: Max Lucado- JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§ Love cannot be forced, love cannot be coaxed and teased. It comes out of Heaven, unmasked and unsought. -Pearl Buck- JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§ A PRICELESS TREASURE Love is like a priceless treasure JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§ Me again Brethren!! This devotional puts a lump in my throat, because the Lord and I know what I have been dealing with in this area. I want to share with you what He is doing in my life...and again, if you can receive the overflow...then Praise God! Recently, I was going to print out some devotionals on my printer, and the ink cartridges were dry. So, I was about to install a new one, and as I reached into the cabinet to retrieve it, my oldest son, Ben, volunteered to install it. I asked him, "Do you know how?" His response was, "Yes, I do." So, with that, I left the task in his hands, and proceeded to knock out one of the million things that "moms of rugrats" have to do. I came back later, only to find that there was a glitch on the printer. It seemed he may have taken a tab off the cartridge that was supposed to stay. When we tried to use the printer..it wasn't registering this cartridge. I tried to rig it by covering the tab with tape, foil..etc...but to no avail. Anyway, Ben was so disappointed, because he really wanted to get this right. His biggest concern was my response. It was at that moment, that I knew that my prayers were being answered. You see, Ben is the oldest of four boys, and sometimes, the oldest one can get the brunt of things a little harder than the others. I have been on my knees, many times, asking the Lord to help me to be sensitive to Ben. He is a very loving child, and he and I are close. But there have been times in our relationship, when I felt completely void of that Fruit of the Spirit called "Patience." I have three other sons, and it seems like that fruit goes a long way with them. People have come up to me, and asked, "Do you ever get upset? I notice you are so patient with your children." Well, the answer is, yeah...sometimes I do. How I handle that frustration and anger is completely up to me. But there is no way that I can handle it according to God's Will, if I am not seeking Him about it. Back to the ink cartridge. I reached out to my son...and gave him a hug, and reassured him that it was ok. We would wait 'til "Daddy" comes home, and let him look at it. In other words, "Don't worry, Father will fix it." <smile> Now...before you pat me on the back...let
me show you the old pattern: What blows my mind the most about God...is, I can pray about something...and then put it on the back burner. Then, sometime later in my walk, a situation will come up, such as this one...and I exclaim, "Hey, I don't do that anymore!" You see, I might have forgotten the prayer...but God didn't. As I was preparing this devotional..a scripture kept rolling in my head..and it was this one right here: Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; As I read this scripture, I felt strongly led to go to Strong's Concordance, and look up the definition of "kindly affectioned." This is what I found: 5387 philostorgos (fil-os'-tor-gos); I thought, "Whoa!" Right 'tween da eyes kinda stuff! It made me see, how important it is...to first of all, keep my eyes on Jesus, so I can keep my mouth (and actions) on track, toward my FAMILY. I remember an instance, when a dear friend came over, and I showed her my new guitar, and as she proceeded to twang it, a string broke. She felt absolutely terrible. And I reassured her, over and over..that's ok..no problem, I can get new ones. I ask you, "How come we so easily treat our friends or acquaintances with patience and understanding, and at the same time, spew venom at our own flesh and blood, or even our spouse?" I know this one thing. Family represents unity. The enemy comes to divide. He comes to rob, kill, and destroy. Do you realize that if we target our prayers in the direction of family love, unity, and reconciliation, and purpose our heart towards it, then we are reaching for a goal that will "strengthen our tent stakes," thus causing the enemy to tremble...and be weakened? Now, one more thing. I have to emphasize this. It starts with me...Carol. I cannot change anyone. If I complain about anyone's actions..that will not change them. I can pray for them, but moreover, I can ask God to change ME...ME! Ps 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. <emphasis mine> You see, that is where it begins, but it is NOT where it ends. It WILL cause a ripple effect..it WILL! How can I be kindly affectioned toward my family, if all I do is grumble and complain about their actions? I realized, I needed to humble myself and say: "Lord, you know, my words can hurt my son. Help me to speak words of LIFE to my family. I can only do this with Your help. Help me to love them, the way You love me. Help me to demonstrate that Love through my words, and through my actions. Let me treat my family the way I treat my friends..or strangers, with Your unconditional Love, Grace, and Mercy. Brethren, if this is something you are dealing with, as well, my prayer is that God is ALREADY at work in your heart, showing you THE WAY. That way, is our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus. When His Blood was being shed on that cross, it became "Liquidated Love." His blood covers our sins..and at the same time, 1 Peter 4:8, says that "Love covers a multitude of sins." So, you know there HAS to be Love in that Blood!! The Cross is a good road sign, when we are traveling the "Road of Turmoil and Uncertainties." If you are struggling with this issue, or ANY issue in your life...look to the Cross, and see this hope: Isa 30:21 This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Pure Love hanging on a tree! What a glorious thought! And by the way..."Daddy" did fix the printer. Good things happen when we "Wait on the Father." :) God Be with You Brethren!! I love you all very much!! In Christ!! Now a word from our sponsor...... this is Revndskip...Jimmy that is... Carol is in Denver this week for a pastor's wife chat. Please keep her in prayer and the rest of us also, seeing how she has entrusted me to send out this devotional. I know it may be early for some..and probably late for others, but if you could only know how much of Carol is in these. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, and a wonderful co-minister. She loves y'all dearly. Thanks for your encouragement and your friendship. GOD BLESS Jimmy
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