Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
I am astounded some days. I use the word astounded because I am rarely “surprised” anymore because in this ministry you become a little numb to “what” folks will do or have done; especially when “under the influence” of their substance of choice.
But I must say that I was astounded yesterday and in an amazing and positive way.
The day was a wild one at the JEREMIAH TREE.
I think at one point there were six people in our lobby waiting to be seen, none of which had an appointment. We had 3 more working in the dining room, 4 more doing moving services, and even a set of infant twins. It was “busy”. And none of the requests were “easy”.
But once the chaos subsided and the closed sign was posted I set about the business of “trying to figure out” what to do with all of the requests. One of them in particular was a “weird” one.
A “shut in” suffering from a severe eating disorder needed some Ensure. We were initially made aware of the need from one of the employees at my pharmacy who heard “we try to help folks at that TREE THING.”
But today’s thought isn’t so much about the need, where it came from or the nuttiness of a typical day at “the TREE”. It is about what happened next.
You see I had no idea how to fill this need; to get this person some ENSURE.
She needed a lot of it. I mean a lot of it. We didn’t have the funds to do it. She was starving and I was stuck.
Then GOD sent me an answer.
"The Amazing Terri and Gary".
And no they aren’t a high wire act or a magic show. Rather they are “Terri and Gary, GOD’s Cheerful Giving Tandem”.
One day we had a need for some new work boots for a kid starting a new job. Suddenly they are on my desk. How?
“The Amazing Terri and Gary”.
We ran out of cleaning supplies at the TREE, who walks in the door with half of Sam’s club?
“The Amazing Terri and Gary”.
We had a single impoverished mom who needed a mop, broom, dust pan and some cleaner. Who you gonna call?
“The Amazing Terri and Gary”.
And then yesterday a desperate lady needed nutrition, “The Amazing Terri and Gary”asked “what flavor”.
Terri and Gary are cheerful givers and we all know what GOD thinks about that…
2 Corinthians 9:7
…God loves a cheerful giver.
That is why I used the word “astounded”.
I am not kidding. I hung up the phone with Terri and the next call was from her standing at the counter at Rite Aide (minutes later mind you) making sure “a lot” was “enough”.
Astounding.
GOD continues to intersect my life with “Terris and Garys”;folks who love Jesus and love the hurting but folks who teach me what it is to give. They inspire and humble me. They get it.
They get “Jesus”.
Luke 6:38 ESV
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
Today let’s learn a lesson from Terri and Gary. Give. Be generous. Be available and responsive to those around you. GOD will bless your life. Don’t believe me? Believe this…
Isaiah 58 10-12
…If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
Now that is astounding.
I can’t wait to see the next “The Amazing Terri and Gary” show!
I love you all!
Freedom Church
Pastor GDelaney
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