SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS

What do a disabled woman and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have in common?  God used them both to reach thousands of kids.  In the summer of 1990, Bea Salazar didn't consider her life a work of art.  She was unemployed with five kids, no money, and little hope.  Then she found a crying boy digging for food in a dumpster.  She took the boy home and made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Good news about the peanut-butter lady spread through the neighborhood, and more kids showed up on her doorstep.  Today, she influences thousands of kids through her non-profit organization, Bea’s Kids (www.beaskids.org), which offers tutoring, clothes, medical assistance, food, and counseling.  Bea Salazar has received numerous awards for her good deeds.  When Oprah gave Bea the Use Your Life Award, Bea said, "It gives me a purpose to live, it gives me life…There is no greater joy."

There is no greater joy than doing good works for others in the name of the Lord.  Won't you give the gift that keeps on giving, the gift of yourself, for God's honor and glory? 

-- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in “Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians” 

#5165

COMING TO THE END OF OURSELVES

It's engrained in our culture that we're supposed to take care of business on our own, without seeking assistance. Maybe that's why one of the most beloved of all Bible verses isn't actually in the Bible. Yes, it's this chestnut: "God helps those who help themselves." Just about everyone knows that one. People quote it, they love it, they try to live it, but it never crosses their minds that it can't be found in the Scripture.

Maybe God forgot to put it in? I don't think so. A better explanation is that God actually helps those who can't help themselves. God helps those who stop in the midst of crisis and ask someone to assist them. When we're helpless and we know it, we're open to receive the transforming help He wants to give us. When we come to the end of ourselves, we find Him there waiting to give us what we have been so desperate for all along.

-- Kyle Idleman in The End of Me

#3872

THE HOMELESS MAN

It was a cold winter's day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church. As I got closer I saw a man leaning up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep.  He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face.  He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet with holes all over them, his toes stuck out. I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church.  We all fellowshipped for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man laying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me. A few moments later church began.

We all waited for the preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces.  He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit where he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank.

There stood our pastor... he was the "homeless man." No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand. "Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today." Then he started singing the words to this song. "If I can help somebody as I pass along.  If I can cheer somebody with a word or song…"

-- Unknown


#3384