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"> God’s
Helping Hand #6
Hello all! I hope you have had a great couple of weeks. We had some
rain, thank the Lord, and much sunshine. The rain sure was a blessing, much needed.
Thank you very much for your replies, Cherie, Katie, and Kendra, and
Cherie and Kendra for your introductions!
Our question was:
Has God been teaching you any lessons in nature or the practical things
of life? Please share them.
Cherie’s answer is:
Jesus has showed me from practical life experiences that the little things count. I see
it everywhere I look. When someone has a birthday or something, it is nicer to make a
home-made card than to buy one. There are also many examples in the Bible, like when the
little maid witnessed to Captain Naaman. It led to something she probably didn't expect. I
believe that God has a big plan for all of us, but its the little things we do in our
day-to-day lives that make us worthy or not for that purpose. I hope that you can all
benefit from what Jesus has allowed me to see in life.
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Katie’s answer is:
"Has God been teaching you anything in nature or the practical things in
life?" Yes, as a matter of fact, He has! Loving others...practical enough I think!
This past school year has been incredibly hard on me. My best friend backstabbed me so
many times, turned my other good friends away from me, plus my ex-boyfriend discouraged
people on my behalf. I have had incredibly hard feelings toward them... and for good
reason... or so I thought. Recently God has been speaking to me in a number of ways.
Number 1: I decided to read Dwight Nelson's book "The Eleventh Commandment"
about loving others and discovered so many ways God has emphasized that He wants us to
love each other. In John 13:35 it says, "By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another." Love is so important to Jesus. He IS
love. Number 2: My hairdresser is a very devout Christian and she spoke at a women's
ministries seminar about loving unlovables. One example she used was telling a story about
a woman and her husband that had a BIG disagreement. The lady was right in her side of the
argument, and refused to forgive her husband. Then the Lord asked her, how long are you
going to leave me hanging on the cross? By not forgiving your husband, you leave me
hanging on the cross. And the same with me, for keeping my anger towards these people
inside and not forgiving them, I was leaving Christ hanging on the cross. Number 3: At
camp meeting last week, the preacher told a story of a woman's dream. In her dream, she
walked outside one morning and heard lots of noise. She walked over in the direction of
the sound, and saw that 3 men were getting crucified. Something about the 3rd man really
held her attention, though. He was so full of love, he couldn't be guilty of this awful
death! Just as the soldier was about to pound the nails into Jesus' hands, the woman ran
up and grabbed him away and turned the soldier towards her. She suddenly realized that,
who she was staring back at, was herself. Do I need to say more? Did God? I then let go of
all my hurt and anger, and dropped it in the feet of God. That has been one of the biggest
lessons I've learned.
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Kendra’s answer is:
After seeing the demonstration of the bees at your house I thought of the many lessons
we can learn from them. The one that made the most impact on me is how we think of honey
as the main bee product, but you showed us how we would not have most fruits, grains,
flowers, and vegetables without them. God knowingly saw to make an insect that would
pollinate the flowers of many plants so that we would not starve. He is most defiantly the
all-knowing and loving Heavenly Father!
(Editor’s Note: Kendra and several other friends came to watch the honey
extraction process at our place. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!)
Editor’s Note:
Thank you for your answers! Being a beekeeper, bees are teaching me many lessons. There
are so many, I could not write them all here, but here is one.
The bees have a queen, which is the center of the hive. Without the queen bee, the hive
is not in order. In fact, an experienced beekeeper can often tell that a hive is
queen-less when they open the lid, because the buzzing is usually louder, etc. Also, each
bee has its purpose. At different times of their lives (their life span is about 46 weeks)
they have different jobs. At one point they are in charge of taking care of brood
(eggs…) or guarding at the entrance of the hive, or producing wax, or bringing in
pollen or nectar…. They must all be content with their jobs and keep perfect order so
that the hives will run smoothly. The lesson I learn is that without Christ, our Center,
obedience and working together, we cannot produce anything sweet. Except Christ abide in
us, and us in Him, we cannot bring forth good fruit!
An introduction…
My name is Cherie Farmer, I'm a 15 year old girl from Victoria, Australia. I have two
sisters, Annique(14), and Odelle(13). I have been homeschooled all my life and I'm in
grade 10. I enjoy nature, housework, poetry, drawing, history, sewing, friends, animals,
camping, and lots more. I love Jesus very much because He is always there even if it seems
the world is against me.
Another introduction…
Hello! My name is Kendra Hawley. I am 16 years old. My family, which consists of my
mother, father, three sisters, two brothers, and myself, live on a farm near Feversham,
Ontario. I enjoy reading, making crafts (especially counted-cross stitch), playing with
the many animals on our farm, talking with friends, and writing pen-pals.
Would you like to introduce yourself? I am sure everyone enjoys reading
introductions as much as I do.
The questions for this issue is:
What is your favorite quote from any book, and why is it important to
you?
Please send in your replies (I would REALLY appreciate them and they
don’t have to be long) and contributions before or on Aug. 25th so they can be
published in the next issue.
Do you have any stories, poems, recipes, … that you would like to
share?
Please tell your friends about GHH and feel free to send me email
addresses to add to the list.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here by the members of God’s Helping
Hand do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the editor.
REMEMBER!!!
"The Lord has appointed the youth to be His helping hand."
God bless you all and I look forward to hearing from you!
Kyla
God’s Helping Hand Editor
Web site: http://expage.com/godshelpinghand
EZboard: http://pub55.ezboard.com/bgodshelpinghand
Email Address: kylajayne@yahoo.com or kylabear84@hotmail.com or kyla@sdarm.net
Lessons from Flowers
Blossoming pear trees
Buzzing with bees
Flowers in bloom
Chase away gloom
--By Ronald Hess
Thanks Ronald!
UNFOLDING THE ROSE
A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher
in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had
for him to do, he was inquiring of the older preacher.
The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young
preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any
petals.
The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was
trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his
wanting to know the will of God for his life and for his ministry.
Because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try
to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal.
Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud while
keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite the following
poem...
UNFOLDING THE ROSE
It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
When in my hands they fade and die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I think I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I'll trust in Him for His leading
Each moment of every day.
I will look to him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way.
The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.
--Thanks for sharing this beautiful story, Trudy!
Satan's Meeting
Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he
said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading
their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate
relationship with their Savior. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over
them is broken. So let them go to their churches, let them have their covered dish
dinners, but steal their time so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus
Christ.
This is what I want you to do, "said the devil. "Distract them
from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their
day!" "How shall we do this?" his demons shouted. "Keep them busy with
the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds, "he
answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the
wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12
hours a day so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with
their children. As their families fragment, soon their homes will offer no escape from the
pressures of work! Over stimulate their minds so they cannot hear that still, small voice.
Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, keep the TV, VCR,
CDs and PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant
in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that
union with Christ. Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds
with the news 24 hours a day.Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their
mailboxes with junk mail, mail-order catalogs, sweepstakes and every kind of newsletter
and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful
models on the magazines and TV so husbands will believe outward beauty is what's important
and become dissatisfied with their wives. Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands
at night; give them headaches, too! If they don't give their husbands the love they need,
they will begin to look elsewhere. That will fragment their families quickly! Give them
Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas.
Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and
death. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their
recreation exhausted. Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's
creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts and movies
instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve
them in gossip and small talk so they leave with troubled consciences. Crowd their lives
with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they will be
working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the
cause. It will work! It will work!"
It was quite a plan! The demons went eagerly to their assignments. They
caused Christians everywhere to get more busy and more rushed, going here and there having
little time for their God or their families, having no time to tell others about the power
of Jesus to change lives. I guess the question is, has the devil been successful at his
scheme? You be the judge! Does "busy" mean:
B-eing
U-nder
S-atan's
Y-oke?
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