FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK...
GIVE A GIFT
THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Pastor Randy Barnett
Happy New Year from Oklahoma! It
seems like we just launched 2004 and here it is 2005! Wow, how time flies these
days when you’re having fun.
You know that it is more blessed to give than to receive;
therefore, take a moment to think about how this might play out in your life
this coming year. And just for fun, pretend that you cannot buy anything to
give, that it has to be you that is the gift.
Here is one idea I heard of about Molly, a precious little
lady confined to a bed in a nursing home. Molly wanted so much to give, but she
had little money. So one morning she decided to seek God and ask Him how she
might give even though she could buy nothing. The Lord had her stick her index
finger straight up in the air. (like athletes do when they signal they are
#1) He said, “Molly, there is your gift!”
What do you mean, Lord,” she asked, “this old, boney finger is
nothing; who wants this?
Then she heard her Father in heaven say to her, “Daughter, use
your finger to dial the numbers on the telephone and bless the ones who
answer.”
Molly obeyed and soon found herself making phone call after
phone call, sometimes to people she did not even know! After 12 calls, she laid
back on her bed to contemplate what had just happened. She had asked God for
something to give and He directed her to give of herself to others. Everyone she
talked to was so blessed because she had taken time to speak with them and to
impart words of life and encouragement. She had given a very precious gift to
each person. Her gift would not break or discolor, and she had no concerns over
it being the right size; and her gift needed no assembly and the gift-wrapping
was really easy.
The
telephone might not be the way you give of yourself to others in 2005, but if
you really want to, God will show how you can become the gift He gives to
others. Remember this: you are a vessel of honorable use that God
has created. He has filled that vessel with the powerful anointing of His
precious Holy Spirit. What wonderful possibilities! Here's a New Year's
resolution you might consider:
Lord, I
resolve that in 2005 I will allow You to work
through me,
that I might be a gift to someone every day.
