Hearthstone - January 2001

Volume 17, No.3 MARCH 2002
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CONTENTS How God Operates Kind Words At Home Hugs 'N Tugs by Wendy Greiner Lefko Don't Miss The Benefits Best of Lifeline by Rev. Larry W. Greiner True Possessions The God Who Is Enough One Lifetime A Parent's Prayer Old Coats and Friends	HOW GOD OPERATES God has made this world deliberately precarious, so that people would turn to Him for life and salvation. We are to be refined in the fires of this life, so that we may shine as gold in the glories of the life that is to come. And it is primarily through us, as we invest the stubborn ounces of our lives for Him, that God achieves the fulfillment of His will in the world in the midst of which we live. That’s an important part of how God operates! —David Breese "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

KIND WORDS AT HOME
	Speak kindly in the morning; it lightens the cares of the day, and makes the household and all other affairs move along more smoothly. Speak kindly at night, for it may be that before the dawn some loved one may finish his or her space of life, and it will be too late to ask forgiveness. Speak kindly at all times; it encourages the downcast, cheers the sorrowing, and very likely awakens the erring to earnest resolves to do better, with strength to keep them. Kind words are balm to the soul. They oil up the entire machinery of life, and keep it in good running order. —Anonymous Back to Contents

Be careful about calling yourself an expert. An "ex" is a has-been
and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.

HUGS 'N TUGS

By Wendy Greiner Lefko
	Possessiveness in a child is not normally considered a desirable trait, but in this case I was glad to see it. As her older brother Bobby walked out the door one day, three-year-old Grace waved good-bye to him, then turned to me and whined, "I want my Bobby." Her words made me realize that to her he wasn’t just a brother. He was her brother, her playmate, her friend, her buddy. That was her "Bobby," and she couldn’t understand why she needed to share him with the world. Grace is very affectionate, and her two brothers and one sister mean the world to her. Each day she hates to see them leave for school, and she is thrilled to see them return. She has a special relationship with each of them. In her way of thinking they are hers, and she guards them with a possessive nature. Are we as believers so close to Christ that we can refer to Him as "My Jesus"? Is He regarded merely as one who has given us eternal life but one whom we ignore in our day-to-day living? Or is He our closest, dearest friend— our first Love? Is He the one to whom we pray but fail to spend time getting to know? Or is He our personal Shepherd, the one we seek on a daily basis to lead and comfort us, His precious sheep whom He knows and calls by name? Is He just "Jesus", or is He "Your Jesus," "My Jesus"? He wants to be "My Jesus" to you and to me. That is the relationship He seeks to have with His children. "My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine." "My Beloved is mine, and I am His" (Song of Solomon 2:16). Back to Contents

DON’T MISS THE BENEFITS
	Long after the American continent had yielded to the coming of the white man, an aged Indian, half-naked and famished, wandered into one of the Western trading posts begging for food. He was wearing a bright-colored ribbon around his neck, of which he was proud. A leather pouch, frayed at the edges and worn thin in places, hung from the ribbon. The poor old Indian was asked what the pouch contained. In his broken English he replied that it was a "charm" given him in his younger days when he had left the United States Army. Willingly the Indian opened the leather pouch and showed its contents to the curious settlers. Inside there was a faded paper which had been carried by the Indian in the leather pouch for a lifetime. It was a regular discharge from the army, entitling him to a good pension for life. Back to Contents

THE BEST OF LIFELINE
By Rev. Larry W. Greiner
	History records the fascinating story of how news of the battle of Waterloo first reached the shores of England. There was no fast electronic communication in those days, yet everyone knew a great battle was pending. People were anxious to hear what would happen when Wellington, the British general, faced Napoleon. A signalman was placed on the top of Winchester Cathedral with instructions to keep his eye on the sea. When he received a message, he was to pass the message on to another man on a hill. That man was to pass it on to another. So the news of the battle would be relayed until it finally reached London and then eventually all of England. At length a ship was sighted through the fog which, on that particular day, lay thick on the channel. The signalman on board sent the first word—WELLINGTON. The next word was—DEFEATED. At that moment the fog closed in and the ship could no longer be seen. "WELLINGTON DEFEATED!" As the message was relayed across England, great gloom descended over the countryside. After a few hours the fog lifted and the signal came again— "WELLINGTON DEFEATED THE ENEMY!" England now rejoiced after hearing the complete news of the war. The disciples felt the feeling of defeat when Jesus Christ died on the cross. It seemed like anything but victory. Here was the King of the Jews, the Messiah, dead, after all He had said about the Kingdom of God coming. How could it come if this was the way the life of Christ would end? The disciples, feeling they had followed in vain, dispersed. The headlines read "JESUS CHRIST DEFEATED!" The victory seemed to belong to Satan and his kingdom. But then on the third day something wonderful happened — Jesus rose from the dead! He had conquered the grave. It was not until that third day that the news of salvation was complete. The fog had lifted and now the disciples rejoiced in the victory of Christ. The true message was: "JESUS HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD. SATAN, SIN AND DEATH HAVE BEEN DEFEATED!" That is the glorious message of Easter. Dear friend, rejoice in that good news today. Walk in confidence and victory, knowing your Savior has brought salvation to your soul through His death and resurrection. Jesus lives! Back to Contents

TRUE POSSESSIONS
	Dr. George W. Truett was entertained on one occasion in the home of a wealthy oilman in Texas. After dinner the man took him up to the roof of his house and pointed to huge fields of oil derricks. "Dr. Truett," he said, "that’s all mine. I came to this country twenty-five years ago penniless, and now I own everything as far as you can see in that direction." Then he turned to the opposite direction and indicated waving fields of grain and said again, "It’s all mine. I own everything as far as you can see in that direction." Then he turned to the east and pointed to huge herds of cattle and said again, "It’s all mine, everything as far as you can see in that direction is mine." One final time he turned toward the west and pointed to a great virgin forest and said again, "It’s all mine. Twenty-five years ago I was penniless, but I worked hard and saved, and today I own everything as far as you can see in this direction, that direction and this direction." He paused for the expected praise, but to his astonishment it didn’t come. Dr. Truett laid his hand lovingly on his shoulder, pointed upward and said, "My friend, how much do you own in that direction?" The man dropped his head in shame and said, "I never thought of that." —Western Recorder Back to Contents

THE GOD WHO IS ENOUGH
	‘Tis far, far better to let Him choose The way that we should take; If only we leave our lives to Him, He will guide without mistake. We, in our blindness, would never choose A pathway dark and rough; And so we should ever find in Him The God who is enough. —Selected Back to Contents

ONE LIFETIME
	One lifetime . . . to hope, to dream, to give. One lifetime . . . to love, to pray, to live. Don’t waste it. Back to Contents

A PARENT’S PRAYER
	O give me patience when the little hands Tug at me with their ceaseless, small demands; O give me gentle words and smiling eyes, And keep my lips from hasty, sharp replies. Let me not in weariness, confusion and noise Obscure my vision from life’s fleeting joys, Then when in years to come my house is still No bitter memories its rooms may fill. —Author Unknown Back to Contents

Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
OLD COATS AND FRIENDS
	My coat and I live comfortably together. It has assumed all my wrinkles, does not hurt me anywhere, has molded itself on my deformities, and is complacent to all my movements, and I only feel its presence because it keeps me warm. Old coats and old friends are the same thing. —Victor Hugo Back to Contents