Devotionals

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DAY/EVENING REFLECTIONS August 04 2004

LUKE 18
10"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

I was reading the paper yesterday when I came upon a story that touched my heart. It was about a little girl named Alexandra Scott, whose nationally acclaimed Lemonade Stands, had been established to raise money for pediatric Cancer research.

She died at the tender age of 8 years old, having raised 1 million dollars for the cause.

Dr. Garrett Brouder, chief of the division of oncology at Children Hospital in Philadelphia, said he was confident that Alex knew that the research she was helping to fund would likely not benefit her in her lifetime.

“I think it was more: ‘I would not like other children not to have to go through what I have gone through’ and I think that is what motivated her to do this.”

In my lifetime, I have never read anything that more exemplified the true Christian spirit than this. Little Alex had nueroblastoma, a fatal form of pediatric cancer. She was probably in pain most of her young life, and towards the end of it, she probably didn’t have much energy.
Yet this sweet child ran and promoted the Lemonade Stand idea, and not for her own gain, but for the benefit of others.

What faith she must have had, to take a simple concept as a lemonade stand, and make it a national-nay international (even France and Canada jumped on board) and turn it into a home run success.

How many of us can say that we have done such a marvelous thing? Heck, even I can’t say that.
Many of us give to charities, not so much for the people we are aiding, but for bragging rights, or to get the warm and fuzzies. At the end of an event or a charity banquet, how many of us go off to pat ourselves on the back, basking in the glow of our own goodness. Most give their time to a charity and don’t even know the name or background of one person that he or she has supposedly helped. We forget that giving is not about being self-righteous. The purpose of giving is to give, not only time, money or objects, but ourselves. We have to see past the need to humanize the person or people in front of us.

But it goes even deeper than that.

We have to reach out all the while knowing that we may not even be thanked or acknowledged for our selflessness. This is not so we can be martyred, but rather, so we can give with the true spirit of what giving means. True giving does not seek a quid pro quo, an accolade or even appreciation.

It seeks only its end result-to aid a fellow person in need because they need it, because of the love we have for them.

Many of the kids Alex helped won’t even know she lived and died. But that didn’t matter to her. She helped caused she could. She helped caused she wanted to.

But mostly she helped because she loved.- ARN under the direction of THS.

(resources and quotes from THE ATLANTA JOURNAL AND CONSTITUTION August 02, 2004 Marc Schogol and Jennifer Moroz all rights reserved.)

EVENING REFLECTIONS-SPEAKING OF MARTYRS

I wanted us to reflect this evening on the kindness and undying love of the beloved Mother Teresa who also showed us in her lifetime, what it means to give selflessly:

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
Mother Teresa

Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
Mother Teresa

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
Mother Teresa

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.
Mother Teresa

I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I don't know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?
Mother Teresa

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
Mother Teresa

FUNNY BONE YARD
Bring riches with you

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you." The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.

The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"

But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement

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