A Six Year Old Can Make a Difference! (Philippians 2)

A Six Year Old Can Make a Difference! (Philippians 2)

Philippians 2.4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. [niv]

In 1998, when Ryan Hreljac was in grade one he learned from his teacher that people were dying because they didn't have clean water to drink. He started doing simple household chores to raise money to buy a well for a village in Uganda. After four months of hard work, he managed to save $70 only to discover that a well would take $2000 to drill. Undaunted, he set out talking with family and friends, challenging them and raising much needed funds. By then end of 1998 he had raised $3000, making headlines in the local newspaper.

Ryan’s determination continued to grow. Today the Ryan's Well Foundation, has raised millions of dollars and has built a total of 502 water and sanitation projects in 16 countries bringing clean water and sanitation services to over 621,712 people.

And Ryan is not alone. Erin Oquindo received 99 pairs of shoes and 154 pairs of socks last September for her 9th birthday. All of which she promptly gave away. When Erin invited friends to her birthday party, she told them she didn't want gifts for herself but asked them to bring shoes and socks to donate to a local charity for orphans. This is just one of the many mission projects Erin has participated in. She has donated her time and efforts to an array of causes including hurricane relief, clothing and food drive and aid for animals. When asked why she does what she does, Erin commented, "It makes me happy and it honours God. I think it makes Him happy too!"

Although they may be young, these amazing kids have learned something that we as adults tend to forget. They have learned to look out for the interests of others. In our 'me' focussed world, imagine just how different life would be if we all spent a little more time helping others instead of helping ourselves.

After all, this is how Jesus lived!

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Seven Pounds (Ephesians 2)

Seven Pounds (Ephesians 2)

Ephesians 2.4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) [nkjv]

I recently watched the movie Seven Pounds. Will Smith plays a mysterious man who calls himself Ben and who spends all his time looking for strangers who need help, people dealing with illnesses, or in financial troubles or caught in abusive relationships. As selfless as that sounds, he has a personal reason for helping these people (don't read on if you intend to see the movie!)

Ben is trying to atone for his past. One night, in a moment of distraction, he caused a car accident which took the lives of seven people, including his own fiancee. Burdened by the guilt of this night, he goes to great lengths to find seven deserving people and help them, even if it costs him everything.

This film could have had a very different ending had Ben read Ephesians. We have all sinned. If God hadn't intervened we would been doomed to carry the guilt of our failures with us all through life. Yet God, so rich in mercy, because of His great love for us, even when we were lost in sin, made a way for us through His Son Jesus.

God offers to all of us His gift of grace, but we need to accept it. Like Ben, so many of us acknowledge our failures, and even realise just how undeserving we are. But the real tragedy is that many stop there. Instead of surrendering to God and receiving His gift of grace by faith, many try in their own strength to deal with the guilt, the shame and the hurt.

Some, like Ben, try to earn their redemption through good deeds rather than receive it by faith. At the end of it all, the peace that we are so desperately looking for, is only found in Jesus.

If we are willing to accept it.

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Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Mark 12)

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Mark 12)

Mark 12.42-44 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. [nkjv]

Just last week a Queensland couple and a man from Adelaide won $53m dollars each in Oz Lotto's biggest division one prize. To a lot of Australians, winning the lotto is a dream come true. The chance to get ahead in life. But for those lucky few, the dream can quickly turn into a nightmare.

"Winning the lottery isn't always what it's cracked up to be," says Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice, to the tune of $5.4m. Today the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer.

Jack Whittaker won a record $314.9m Powerball jackpot in 2002. But life for him has been anything but perfect since that day. There has been a long list of arrests, lawsuits and broken relationships. In 2007 his wife admitted she wished she had torn up the ticket.

William Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania Lottery in 1988. He was sued by a former girlfriend and his brother hired a hitman in the hope of inheriting his winnings. Post invested badly and within a year was $1m in debt! Today he gets by on social security payments and wishes the whole thing never happened.

Janite Lee won $18 million in 1993 but filed for bankruptcy just eight years later.

Michael Carroll won $9.7m in 2002 and after 30 court appearances and being jailed for drug related offenses, admitted to only having $500,000 of his windfall left just six years later.

Willie Hurt won $3.1m in 1989 and spent it all on divorce and cocaine within two years.

I could go on and on...

Jesus watched as this poor widow gave her two mites. According to custom, she had an obligation to pay something into the treasury. One coin was expected. But she gave two!

And even though what she gave was so small in comparison to other's gifts that day, Jesus highlighted the fact that the value of a gift is determined by what it cost the giver. This is what made the widow's offering so valuable.

It cost her everything!

Most of us haven't won the lotto. We have debts, mortgages, and bills. We are pulled in a thousand different directions by things wanting our time and attention. We have to get up each morning, go to work, to earn money to live. Even though it may seem like we have very little, we can't use our lack as a reason not to be generous.

Generous with our time, our money, our words and our life.

The poor widow challenged the mindset, "I'll give more when I have more". And Jesus noticed her out of everyone else!

I wonder if I were in that line that day, would my offering have caught Jesus' attention?

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God Sees All (1 Samuel 2)

God Sees All (1 Samuel 2)

1 Samuel 2.21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD [nkjv]

God never forgot Hannah. She offered back to Him the one thing which she had been praying for - a child. How amazing is that! I am not sure if I could have done the same thing if I were in her place. When you have prayed and prayed for something for so long and with such fervency, to then give it back with no guarantee that she would have anymore children. She fulfilled her promise to God. When I read about her I am reminded of Abraham who was prepared to sacrifice his son on the alter and of our God who sacrificed His only Son for the sins of others. She is an amazing woman!

God is no man's debtor. He knows the desires of our heart and listens to the words of our mouth and sees our actions. And He doesn't forget the sacrifices we make. He is no man's debtor. In His time He rewards the faithful 'pressed down shaken together and running over'. We cannot out give Him.

Lord, help me to be the sort of person who is true to my word. Let my yes be yes and my no be no. Let me never forget Your faithfulness towards those who seek You with their whole heart and help me to always walk in integrity.

This is what I got from 1 Samuel 2, how about you?

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