Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Jesus' Notes of Encouragement

Tonight I read this little excerpt from a book about Amy Carmichael. I am sharing this with you all for two reasons. The first is because at the recent conference in Denton, TX a message was preached by Ryan Fullerton about the "worth of sinful men." (greatly impacting, do whatever you can to find it and listen!) The message was meant to show the great value of lost souls and to compel Christians to seek out the lost, treat them as Christ would have, and show them the Gospel through Christian love. That was Amy Carmichael's life-work.

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"In Amy's Bible, on a card pasted inside the front cover, are these words: 'These children are dear to Me. Be a mother to them, and more than a mother. Watch over them tenderly, be just and kind. If thy heart is not large enough to embrace them, I will enlarge it after a pattern of My own. If these young children are docile and obedient, bless Me for it; if they are froward, call upon Me for help; if they weary thee, I will be thy consolation; if thou sink under thy burden, I will be thy Reward.' The words are followed by a picture of the Shepherd, reaching for a lamb while a vulture hovers overhead."

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The second reason I share this is because I absolutely love that the card sounds as if Jesus wrote it Himself. I can picture Him quietly making His way to Amy's room and slipping the card under her door while she slept, so that she would find it there in the morning. Of course that didn't happen; she wrote it herself because He had revealed His vision to her and showed her the India Mission work from His perspective. But isn't that just how it feels when you receive something like that from the Lord? Some new lesson or fresh perspective, especially when it comes from His Word. It's like He wrote it just for you and left it where He knew you'd find it.

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