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"WATER! WATER!"
After one of the great battles in the Civil War we were coming down the Tennessee River with a company of wounded men. It was in the spring of the year, and the water was not clear. You know that the cry of a wounded man is, "Water! Water!" especially in a hot country.
I remember taking a glass of the muddy water to one of these men. Although he was very thirsty, he only drank a little. He handed the glass back, and as he did so, he said—"Oh, for a draught of water from my father's well!"
Are there any thirsty ones here? Come and drink of the fountain opened in Christ! Your longing will be satisfied, and you will never thirst again.
--Anecdotes, Incidents and Illustrations by D. L. Moody
Dont be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You cant cross a chasm in two small jumps.
EXAMPLE OF HOSPITALITY
Jan and Darryl have always been openly generous people. They make you feel as if they are honoured to have you in their home and nothing is too much trouble for them. Which is just as well because they are our connect group leaders.
Every fortnight people in our Connect Group meet to connect with God and eachother in an authentic way. We talk about life and faith and how to apply the message on Sundays to the everyday situations each of us face during the week. It is the best time.
I noticed Jan and Darryl were hospitable people when we first met them 14 years ago, so I was surprised when we came to their Connect Group that they didn't RUN OUT TO MEET US in their driveway and BOW TO THE GROUND. They just greeted us warmly and welcomed us in. They didn't bring water, take off our shoes and WASH OUR FEET or even offer for us to take a shower in their bathroom. They didn't go down to the local butcher and buy us the BEST CUTS OF MEAT FOR A BARBEQUE. We normally just bring our own supper and share it around. They didn't BAKE BREAD for us in their breadmaker. WHAT KIND OF HOSPITALITY IS THAT? Abraham would have been shocked!
In Genesis 18:1 (NLT) it says "The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre."
When God turns up at Abraham's Connect Group in Genesis 18:1, all Abraham sees are THREE MEN. Who were these guys? Prophets? Angels? The Trinity in human form? He doesn't ask them. That would be impolite in Eastern thinking. So what does he do? "he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground." (Must have been quite sprightly for his age. Ever seen a 100 year old man run? I've seen one with a walking frame but believe me he wasn't running. And even bowing low has the risks of a fall and a broken hip.)
Abraham goes OVERBOARD with hospitality. Darryl and Jan have nothing on Abraham. He calls the leader of the group "LORD" (a common greeting of respect in those times but in this case it could have been THE LORD!) and offers, you guessed it, to WASH THEIR FEET. He gets Sarah to BAKE SOME HOME MADE BREAD, and then KILLS THE BEST CALF in his herd and PREPARES A BARBEQUE. If that wasn't enough then he WAITS ON THEM like a SERVANT rather than sitting down with them at the meal table! You have got to be kidding! He hasn't even asked them who they are and what they are doing LOITERING around his tent!
This is HOSPITALITY GONE WILD! And these three "men" just accept it. They just sit around in the shade of a tree, while this old man and his wife go overboard with kindness. Abraham could have simply called his servants to serve these guys, but he does it himself. Even though he was a rich, influential and powerful old man (and old men were respected in his times), yet it is Abraham who shows them great respect and humility. It is getting difficult to pick out the angels in this picture.
What I notice about Abraham is that he is QUICK TO BE GENEROUS and he is AVAILABLE TO SERVE. Sacrifice and servanthood characterise this powerful man who is called a friend of God (James 2:23). I can learn a lot about how to build my RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD and show LOVE TO OTHERS from a man like this, and from people like Jan and Darryl too. Same HUMBLE AND GENUINE welcome.
THE PRESSURE FOR PERFECTION
A British website had some interesting results from a survey of mothers.
The survey showed that 91% of mothers constantly feel under the spotlight because of pressure to be the perfect mom.
They blame that pressure on the media, the Government, schools and education campaigns.
But despite feeling pressure to be perfect, 80% said they were "pretty" or "very" confident that they were doing a good job.
Of the 514 mothers who took the survey, more than half (54%) said they spend more qualit...
