Good morning faithful readers of The Point. The Point now has a new home. I have been having trouble getting The Point out to everyone for several months now. I have tried to decrease the size of each group that I send it out to but that has resulted in more work for me. So, I decided to try posting it each week to my own blog. This way you can access The Point from anywhere you are able to get internet service.
Here is how it will work. Each weekend I will post The Point right here on my Blog which is called The Point. I can post back issues as well and you can respond to me with comments either by posting a comment on the blog or by emailed me as usual. We will see how this works for a while, so I want to get your feedback. I know this blogging thing is foreign to some (myself included) but I think it is something we can all do.
The next issue of The Point will be available right here on The Point blog on Sunday May 13th. You have between now and then to practice finding The Point blog. I am posting this week’s issue of The Point below.
The Point
By: Leah C. Adams, Pharm.D.
“There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light.” John 1:6 (The Message- The Bible in Contemporary Language)
Spilling Out
Recently Greg and I were in Panama City Beach for a few days of vacation with friends. As Greg and I left to return home on Wednesday morning, we stopped by a Starbucks to get a latte’ for the road. Just days before I had begun a new 4 week Bible study by Mark Sterling entitled “Walking With God Through Prayer”. In the introduction Dr. Sterling talks about how Christ wants to spill out of our lives to all of those around us. I had no idea that God was going to give me a very vivid example of how this works.
As I walked into Starbuck’s in Panama City a young woman, probably in her early 30’s, dressed in military fatigues and boots went in ahead of me. The Holy Spirit prompted me to interact with her but I was at a loss as to what to do or say. I didn’t think a salute was appropriate given that I was not in the military and I thought she would think me quite weird if I ran up to her and hugged her. There was a long line to order and the whole time I stood in the line I pondered what to do.
She ordered and prepared to pay and suddenly the Spirit moved me. I said, “Excuse me, I would like to pay for your coffee.”
She said, “Oh no, I’m picking up for several people on base and I couldn’t let you do that.”
I said, “Please do. It is my way of saying thank you for your service to our country.”
She said, “I just can’t let you do that.”
At that moment the lady who was checking us out intervened and looked at the young woman and said, “I think you should let her do that. It is a very nice thing for her to do and you need to let her do it.”
The young servicewoman, whose name was Kim, thanked me and moved off to the side to wait on her order. I placed my order, paid for all of the drinks and food and then moved over to stand near Kim to wait on my order.
She was standing there with tears running down her face (and now I have tears spilling onto my keyboard just thinking about it and telling you about it. She thanked me again and I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. What she said next just blew me away.
Kim said, “What we do really isn’t any big deal.”
I said, “Oh yes, it is!”
Then out of the blue she said, “We buried a friend last week who was killed in battle. Sometimes we get to feeling like no one cares, but this reminded me that people do care.”
I told her I would be praying for her and we parted ways. I will likely never see Kim again, but I pray that the Lord will make Himself very real to her, especially if she doesn’t know Him as Savior and Lord.
I was reminded of a lesson that I think we all need to remember. It isn’t up to us to find situations for the Lord to spill Himself out into. He will find the situations. We simply must be available and obedient. Obedience brings God’s blessing and I was unbelievably blessed in this situation. I encourage you to look for opportunities to spill out the love of Christ in this world.
WEEKLY MEDITATION VERSE: John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends
