Luke 8:3

There is a legend which says that long ago there dwelt in a royal palace three fair maids. While they were in the wonderful garden one morning with its strong streams and blushing roses, there arose the question as to which of them had the most beautiful hands. Eleanor, who had tinted her white fingers while gathering the luscious strawberries, thought hers the most beautiful. Antoninette had been among the fragrant roses and her hands had partaken of their dewy sweetness. To her they were the loveliest. Joan had dipped her dainty fingers in the lucid stream and as the clear diamond drops sparkled on her tapered fingers she thought her hands the most beautiful. Just then there came a beggar girl who asked for alms, but the royal maidens drew aside their rich robes and turned away. The beggar passed on to a cottage nearby and a woman with sun-burned face and toil-stained hands gave her bread. The beggar, so the legend runs, was immediately transformed into an angel and appeared at the garden gate saying, 'The most beautiful hands are those which are found ready to bless and help their fellowmen."

1 Peter 5:5

"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, or irritated, or sore, or disappointed; it is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when I am blamed and despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where I go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble."

The world, I thought, belonged to me -
Goods, gold and people, land and sea -
Where'er I walked beneath God's sky
In those old days my word was "I"

Years passed; there flashed my pathway near
The fragment of a vision dear;
My former word no more sufficed,
And what I said was - "I and Christ"

But, O the more I look on Him,
His glory grew, while mine grew dim,
I shrank so small, He towered so high,
All I dared say was - "Christ and I"

Years more the vision held its place
And looked me steadily in the face,
I speak now in humble tone,
And what I say is - "Christ alone"

LAMENTATIONS 3:22-25

THE LORD IS GOOD UNTO THEM THAT WAIT FOR HIM, TO THE SOUL THAT SEEKETH HIM. HIS COMPASSIONS FAIL NOT.

The story is told of a shabby old gentleman who every day at twelve o'clock would enter the church, stay a few minutes, then leave. The caretaker was concerned for the valuable altar furnishings. Every day he watched to be sure nothing was taken, and every day just at twelve the shabby figure would arrive. One day the caretaker accosted him, "Look here, my friend, what are you up to, going into the church every day?"
"I go to pray," replied the old man politely.
"Now come," the cautious caretaker said, "you don't stay long enough to pray."
"True enough. I cannot pray a long prayer, but every day I just come and say,"Jesus, it's Jim." Then I wait a minute, then come away. I guess He hears me though it's but a little prayer."
One day Jim was knocked down crossing the street and was laid up in the hospital with a broken leg. The ward where Jim quite happily lay was a sore spot to the nurses on duty. Some of the men were cross and miserable, others did nothing but grumble from morning till night. Slowly but surely the men stopped their grumbling and were cheerful and contented.
One day as the nurse was walking through the ward she heard the men laughing. "What happened to all of you? You are such a cheerful lot of patients lately?"
"It's old Jim," they replied, "He's always cheerful, never complains, although he is uncomfortable and in pain."
The nurse walked over to Jim's bed where the silvery haired Jim lay with an angelic look on his smiling face. "Well, Jim, these men say you are the cause for the change in this ward. They say you are always happy."
"Aye, that I am, nurse. I can't help it. You see, nurse, it's my visitor. He makes me happy;"
"Visitor?" The nurse was indeed puzzled for she had never noticed any visitor by Jim's bed. The chair was always empty during visiting hours. "When does your visitor come?"
"Every day," replied Jim with the light in his eyes growing brighter. "Yup, every day at twelve o'clock. He comes and stands at the foot of my bed. I see Him there, and He smiles at me and says,"Jim, it's Jesus."

LIFE TRANSFORMING BOOK-THE BIBLE

Has the Bible transformed your life? I heard about a converted cannibal on an island in the South Seas who was sitting by a large pot, reading his Bible when an anthropologist wearing a pith helmet approached him and asked."What are you doing?"

The native replied,"I'm reading the Bible." The anthropologist scoffed and said,"Don't you know that modern, civilized man has rejected that book? It's nothing but a pack of lies." The cannibal looked him over from head to toe and replied,"Sir, if it weren't for this book, you will be in that pot!"

The Word of God has changed his life and appetite.

SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD (MARK 14:8)

Lord, let me do the little things
Which may fall to my lot;
Those little inconspicuous ones
By others oft forgot.

If, like the Master, I can give
Myself for those I love.
Rich joy and peace shall come to me,
Sweet rest in heaven above.

I know not when the day shall close;
But when life's curfew rings,
I want my Lord to find me then
Still doing little things.

LUKE 22:26

It is so little I can do! It is so little I can say!
Nay, but what God demands of you, Is just that little; Hear - obey.

A kind word of praise, of sympathy, of encouragement; it would not cost you much, yet how often does pride, or envy, or indifference prevent you from speaking it? The cup of cold water, the barley loaves, the two farthings, how often are we too wretched and too self-absorbed to give even these! If we be in the least sincere, in the least earnest, let us be encouraged. The little gifts of our poverty, the small services of our insignificance, the barley loaves and fishes of the Galilean boy on the desert plain, the two shillings of the poor woman are despised by the world. But they are also dear. They are accepted. They will be infinitely rewarded to Him who gives the conies their homes in the rocks, who knows every sparrow's fall; who numbers the very hairs of our heads; who builds the vast continents by the toil of the coral insect, and by His grains of sand stays the raging of the sea.

MATTHEW 7:7

Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened to you.

Reflection: This word is like a 'gift' from God's treasure! It makes a magnificent promise to those who pray with a faith as solid as a rock, seek with filial humility, or knock with constant patience.

They will always experience that God keeps His word. For He is ever faithful.

Prayer: My God, I give You thanks with all my heart for Your promises. Grant that they may be fulfilled in me. Amen


Dear readers, I find this verse challenging. God wants us to take that step first before His promise come. Ask, then get what you want. Seek, then find what we are looking for. Knock and then He will open up doors! When we are lost and looking for the right direction, we are seeking. Then we see someone and we ask for directions and we will be shown the way! We must take that first step!