Standing Alone

It was alone I took my stand strengthened by an unseen hand, 
Alone I started in the fight, left the darkness for the light.

Alone I face the foe today, The Lord of hosts is still my stay. 
I know I am so very weak so I must my Father seek.

It is alone that I must pray, the spirit helps me day by day, 
And through its help I get to see something in the word for me.

In times when I alone must be, The Lord stands by and strengthens me. 
When great decisions I must make, He from the throne doth undertake.

Its not what others do or say that really hinders progress in the way; 
But fear that fills my heart each day lest I should ever leave this way.

Many a time like Christ, and Paul, we stand alone, forsook by all; 
But this will help us to depend Upon Him as a faithful friend.

Fragments

Broken fragments, bits of clay strangely scattered in the way. 
Touch them gently, walk with care, Christ remembers spikenard there.

Shattered pitchers dot the field; here the conqueror's trumpet peaked. 
Christ remembers light held high where the broken fragments lie.

Near the fountain crushed and bruised lie the vessels Christ has used. 
Here let tenderness abound; Softly tread on Holy ground.

Though we sat not where “twas given," Though we fought not where “twas striven," God forbid that we despise Fragments of their sacrifice.

(composed for a worn out worker)

(Elma Wiebe)

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wasu, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wasu smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times of India, ET and India Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wasu told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wasu,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wasu smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.'

'Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.'

'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!'

'Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me right,' said Wasu.

'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were
unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Wasu replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'

Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

Angel Rain Aragones

Little Things

 

When I was coming through Victoria, Willie Donaldson said, “God takes more notice of the little things,” and it is has remained with me, because we know how we are inclined to be more taken up with the big things. How sad if we just took a general look on things and missed the little things God wants to teach us. God does not work in a hurry and He has much to do in our lives.

 

With Naaman’s little maid, it was only a little message she had and in that message there was much light and hope; she had so much to give. She waited on Naaman’s wife but I believe she had time to wait on God. When help was needed that was one time she did not wait because she knew it was urgent. She saw that that man had a disease even though it may have been a little thing at the beginning. But it did not remain little. It got so big and spread so much. Not only Naaman and his wife knew about it but his whole household knew and in that dark time that man was passing through, that light was clearly seen.

 

The little maid may not have noticed the light from her own life. The candle does not shine much in the daylight, but in the darkness it means much to the one in the darkness. Light overcome darkness. That little girl had a little message for that man. Naaman’s was asked to do the little thing and when he was willing to do the little thing, he knew this change of being made as a little child. The world takes little children and makes great men of them, and God grapes great men and makes little children of them. Naaman was a man who was great in the eyes of his master but he knew the secret of being great in the eyes of God because he was willing to become the servant.

 

Think of the fellowship meeting when that man got back with the little maid. He would speak of the great things God had done for him. Sometimes we do not realize just how much we need God. The girl knew what it was to be alone. It might have been alone from the world and her people but she was not alone from God. Naaman got to know God because of the faith of that girl. They said of the lad with the loaves and the fishes, “... but what is that among so many.” Sometimes that is just how we feel. Is the little we have going to be of use to someone else? As we are willing to put it at the disposal of Jesus, that little is not going to be wasted, but it is going to feed the multitude.

 

When I told my father I was leaving home and going to spend it in the harvest field, one thing he asked me was, “How are you going to do this? You have never been to any theological college.” I felt very humbled myself and prayed, “If my poor life could be of use to Thee, I yield it all.” One of the old Workers in South Africa who was not an eloquent preacher, he just said in one of his first meetings, “Poor Peter ...,” and he could not go on any more. Those who listened knew just how much it cost him. His older companion said he would never become a preacher so he had better go home, but he said, “My heart is in his. I may not be able to preach but I can be faithful in the place of prayer. I can polish your shoes, cook your meals, do things that help you.” That older man, sad to say, went out of the Work because he began to get too big for himself. That man who spoke with trembling lips finished up in charge of the Work in Africa. That man was Alex Pearce.

 

Saul was chosen because he was little in his own eyes, but the time came when he got too big and God had to reject him. That is a great warning to us not to take things into our own hands but that we might keep the place of a little child.

 

Coming over from Western Australia we touched down at Kalgoorlie and one took us to a gold mine. We climbed one dump forty feet high and twenty-six feet across and there were many like that in the area, but the gold they got from there was reckoned in ounces and not many when compared with the sign of the mound. How precious we are to God. There are many who don’t want Him. “Unto those who believe He is precious.” When the ore is brought out from that mine, the gold is taken out of the earth and it is not a difficult process with the machinery they have today. The more important and difficult process is taking the earth out of the gold. That is why God has gathered us together. God is concerned. He knows that there are little things that can spoil our testimony. Keep the standard up and be like Jesus. Do not let in the little things, those little foxes that destroy the tender grapes, that which has so much promise.

 

How do we feel for one who does not feel his need of coming to the meetings? When people go out it is not something that takes them out straight away into the world, but a little thing that had grown. It is good when we are willing to accept the help God is willing to give us. The radio is something that grows and that is why God shows it is something that has to be dealt with. If God cannot cut us back, He will cut us off, but when God cuts us back it is that we might have more fruit but when He cuts us off there is nothing more He can do with us. If you feel God is dealing with your heart, you have enough evidence that God is still interested in you and still loves you.

 

Ecclesiastes 10:1, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” Sometimes you see people spoil their whole testimony by one foolish thing, a testimony they have built up over the years. It is good when we want the little things dealt with when they are little and not allow them to grow. In Proverbs we read of a little sleep and a little slumber , a little folding of the hands and the result of it, the poverty it brings. We can let these little things rob us. The little lad with the loaves and fishes did not know that which he had was going to feed the multitude but he did not withhold and so many were satisfied.

 

We have heard so much of possibilities. A babe is spoken of as a bundle of possibilities. What can be the outcome of lives entrusted to you as you guide and feed them? It can be profitable to God and His people. There are things that belong to the world so let them remain there. It is good to fill our hearts and homes with all that belongs to the worship of God, where God delights to dwell with us. The value of a bag of diamonds would always be the same but a grain of wheat increases and it is therefore much more valuable. Think of what your life could mean to a perishing world. Little is much if God is in it. Man’s busiest day is not worth God’s minute. It is good when a life speaks louder than words. I hope these little things: meekness and love, will grow and the little things that hinder we will allow God to deal with them and they will be no more.

 

 By: Lucian Garth 1962