How we show the love of Christ to other

God bless you, I pray that this email find you in good spirits. If not know that the Lord your God has not forsaken you nor left you.
Simply this is apart of the growing process to create in us the perfect image of Christ.
For some of you, I have not corresponded with in a while for that I'm sorry. But know that you are always in my prayers and on my mind. I want to thank each of you who send me prayers of good tidings and well wishes and also to those who have sent me prayer request for a friend or family members.  If you have not gotten around to reading my devotionals please do so and let me know if anything in it is touching or if I even have a clue :)

I pray this story will bless your day, May the Lord God keep you and know that if you need me day or night just call.

  Andy was a
quiet man. He didn't talk much. He would always greet you with a big smile
and a firm handshake. 

 

Even after
living in our neighborhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they
knew him very well. 

 

Before his
retirement, he took the bus to work each morning. The lone sight of him
walking down the street often worried us. 

 

He had a slight
limp from a bullet wound received in WWII. 

 

Watching him,
we worried that although he had survived WWII, he may not make it through
our changing uptown neighborhood with its ever-increasing random violence,
gangs, and drug activity. 

 

When he saw the
flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens
behind the minister's residence, he responded in his characteristically
unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up. 

 

He was well
into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally
happened. 

 

He was just
finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him.
Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, "Would you like
a drink from the hose?" 

 

The tallest and
toughest-looking of the three said, "Yeah, sure," with a malevolent little
smile. 

 

As Andy offered
the hose to him, the other two grabbed Andy's arm, throwing him down. As
the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way,
Andy's assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then
fled. 

 

Andy tried to
get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. He lay there
trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him. 

 

Although the
minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn't get there
fast enough to stop it. 

 

"Andy, are you
okay? Are you hurt?" the minister kept asking as he helped Andy to his
feet. 

 

Andy just
passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head. "Just some punk
kids. I hope they'll wise-up someday." 

 

His wet clothes
clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose. He adjusted the
nozzle again and started to water. 

 

Confused and a
little concerned, the minister asked, "Andy, what are you doing?" "I've
got to finish my watering. It's been very dry lately," came the calm
reply. 

Satisfying
himself that Andy really was all right, the minister could only marvel.
Andy was a man from a different time and place. 

 

A few weeks
later the three returned. Just as before their threat was

unchallenged.
Andy again offered them a drink from his
hose.

 

This time they
didn't rob him. They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head
to foot in the icy water. 

 

When they had
finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street,
throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the
hilarity of what they had just done. 

 

Andy just
watched them. Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his
hose, and went on with his watering. 

 

The summer was
quickly fading into fall Andy was doing some tilling when he was startled
by the sudden approach of someone behind him. He stumbled and fell into
some evergreen branches. 

 

As he struggled
to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer
tormentors reaching down for him. He braced himself for the expected
attack. 

 

"Don't worry
old man, I'm not gonna hurt you this time." 

The young man
spoke softly, still offering the tattooed and scarred hand to Andy. As he
helped Andy get up, the man pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and
handed it to Andy. 

 

"What's this?"
Andy asked. "It's your stuff," the man explained. "It's your stuff back.
Even the money in your wallet." "I don't understand," Andy said. "Why
would you help me now?" 

 

The man shifted
his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease. "I learned something from
you," he said. "I ran with that gang and hurt people like you we picked
you because you were old and we knew we could do it But every time we came
and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried
to give us a drink. You didn't hate us for hating you. You kept showing
love against our hate." 

 

He stopped for
a moment. "I couldn't sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is
back." 

 

He paused for
another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. "That
bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess." And with
that, he walked off down the street. 

 

Andy looked
down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it. He took out his
retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he
checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride
that still smiled back at him from all those years ago. 

 

He died one
cold day after Christmas that winter. Many people attended his funeral in
spite of the weather. 

 

In particular
the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn't know sitting quietly
in a distant corner of the church. 

 

The minister
spoke of Andy's garden as a lesson in life. 

In a voice made
thick with unshed tears, he said, "Do your best and make your garden as
beautiful as you can. We will never forget Andy and his garden." 

 

The following
spring another flyer went up. It read: "Person needed to care for Andy's
garden." 

 

The flyer went
unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at
the minister's office door. 

 

Opening the
door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the
flyer. "I believe this is my job, if you'll have me," the young man
said. 

The minister
recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and
wallet to Andy. 

 

He knew that
Andy's kindness had turned this man's life around. As the minister handed
him the keys to the garden shed, he said, "Yes, go take care of Andy's
garden and honor him." 

 

The man went to
work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and
vegetables just as Andy had done.

 

During that
time, he went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of
the community. But he never forgot his promise to Andy's memory and kept
the garden as beautiful as he thought Andy would have kept it. 

 

One day he
approached the new minister and told him that he couldn't care for the
garden any longer. He explained with a shy and happy smile, "My wife just
had a baby boy last night, and she's bringing him home on Saturday." 

 

"Well,
congratulations!" said the minister, as he was handed the garden shed
keys. "That's wonderful! What's the baby's name?" 

"Andy," he replied.

Hmm something to ponder??? Are you a Andy???

Lastly my brothers and sisters let us remember the day of prayer is fast upon us. Let be ready with knees bows and voices crying out to God for our nation, for the lost , for our brothers and sisters on the front lines those in the mission fields and those called preach and teach the gospel.  Here's a quote from Franklin Graham.

59th Annual National Day of Prayer
   

PRAYER FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

I believe our nation is in a perilous spiritual state. We must pray. We must call on God to heal our land, forgive our sins, and lead us in the path of righteousness. Please join with believers across this great nation on Thursday, May 6, and the days following as we cry out to the Lord for His mercy and help.

I will be on my knees. I hope you will be on yours. Thank you, and God bless you.