Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Never be lazy in your work, but serve
the Lord enthusiastically.
Romans 12:11 NLT

Reflection:

Personal responsibility comes home

The USS Astoria was the first U.S.
cruiser to engage the Japanese during
the Battle of Savo Island, a night action
fought 8-9, August 1942.

About 0200 hours Signalman 3rd Class
Elgin Staples was swept overboard by
the blast when the number one 8-inch
gun turret exploded. He was kept afloat
by a narrow life belt that he managed to
activate.

At around 0600 hours, Staples was
rescued by a passing destroyer and
returned to the Astoria, whose captain
was attempting to save the cruiser by
beaching her. The effort failed, and Staples,
still wearing the same life belt, found
himself back in the water. Picked up
again, he was one of 500 survivors.

On board a transport, he closely examined
the life belt that had served him so well. It
had been manufactured by the Firestone
Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio,
and bore a registration number.

Given home leave, Staples asked his mother,
who worked for Firestone, about the purpose
of the number on the belt. She replied that the
company insisted on personal responsibility
for the war effort, and that the number was
unique and assigned to only one inspector.
Staples remembered everything about the life
belt, and quoted the number. It was his
mother's personal code and affixed to every
item she was responsible for approving.

Commander Eric J. Berryman, quoted by R.
Kent Hughes in 1001 Great Stories and Quotes
(Tyndale House) p 234-35

Scripture:

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace
to the humble."  James 4:6

Reflection:

I had a friend who had a favorite Bible
quote, he used to quote it to me all the
time. "Resist the devil and he will flee
from you". James 4:7.  Everytime I
turned around there was my friend with
that quote. The problem with him quoting
that verse was that he would forget the
first part of the verse.  "THEREFORE
SUBMIT TO GOD, resist the devil and
he will flee from you".  You see simply
resisting satan is not enough, simply
resisting evil will not make it flee.  If
you want to put the devil on the run,
if you want to get rid of evil, SUBMIT
TO GOD, and resist the temptation of
pride.  James also wrote, "Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and
He shall lift you up."  James 4:10
You see we all have a choice to make,
God  allow us to fall flat on our face,
so that we become humble and
submitted, or we can humble ourselves.
I don't know about you but guess what?
I pick the later. 
When I was an active preacher I found
myself falling into to a false and very
deceptive sense of pride.  After, what
I perceived a great sermon, I found my-
self feeling,"look at me, I'm
sacrificing for the Lord".  Believe me
my outward appearance and attitude
reflected my feeling.  But I soon discovered
that when I humble myself in places no-
body sees, there is less temptation of
pride.  Public humility may bring the
praise of men and woman, but private
humility will bring the public grace and
favor of God.  AND THE GRACE OF GOD
PUTS THE DEVIL ON THE RUN!

Prayer:

Oh God, awesome in power and might.  I
submit to You, to Your authority, to Your
Lordship, to Your power.  There is no God
besides You, I chose humility.  Forgive me
for pride and arrogance.

(Note:  The other day a good friend emailed
the following to me. Whenever things get
rough for you, please remember this letter)

It is not known who replied, but there is a
beautiful soul working in the dead letter office
of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month.
The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter
Meredith was crying and talking about how
much she missed Abbey.. She asked if
we could write a letter to God so that
when Abbey got to heaven, God would
recognize her. I told her that I thought
we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She
died yesterday and is with you in heaven.
I miss her very much. I am happy that you
let me have her as my dog even though
she got sick.
I hope you will play with her.. She likes to
play with balls and to swim. I am sending
a picture of her so when you see her You
will know that she is my dog. I really miss
her.
Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a
picture of Abbey and Meredith and
addressed it to God/Heaven. We put
our return address on it. Then Meredith
pasted several stamps on the front of the
envelope because she said it would take
lots of stamps to get the letter all the
way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped
it into the letter box at the post office. A few
days later, she asked if God had gotten
the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped
in gold paper on our front porch addressed, '
To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith
opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers
called, 'When a Pet Dies...' Taped to the
inside front cover was the letter we had
written to God in its opened envelope.
On the opposite page was the picture
of Abbey &Meredith and this note:


Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help.
I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit
is here with me just like it stays in your
heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since
we don't need our bodies in heaven, I
don't have any pockets to keep your
picture in, so I am sending it back to
you in this little book for you to keep
and have something to remember
Abbey by..
Thank you for the beautiful letter and
thank your mother for helping you write
it and sending it to me. What a wonderful
mother you have. I picked her especially
for you.
I send my blessings every day and
remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I'm easy to find, I am
wherever there is love.

Love,
God

AND THEY ALL SAID AMEN!