A Neighbor’s Hand - Caroline Hales

Serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13 NIV

As I walked along the trail, I saw a child up ahead.

Not of school-age, she screamed and jumped up and down in place. Her dad stood on the trail at the bottom of the hill holding both of their bikes, unsure what to do as he watched her cry hysterically.

As I approached, I gently asked, “Do you need help?”

She nodded.

“What is it you dislike?” I asked.

“Ants!” she said, pointing to the ground where we stood.

Right where she pointed, I saw seven or eight ants crawling on one side of the sidewalk. Although harmless, they terrified her.

“I will walk between you and the ants,” I said. “If one comes near you, I will step on it. Okay?”

She whispered, “Okay.”

We walked together by the insects, as I protected her by walking between her and the ants. After passing them, she ran to her dad.

He called to me, “Thank you!”

The little girl had stopped in her tracks, unable to face the perceived danger alone. An act of kindness from a passer-by allowed her to continue along the trail.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul referenced doing small acts of love. God loved people so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. And having shown this kind of love, Jesus calls his followers to love others in the same way.

We can show love by showing up with groceries, offering to listen, writing a thank-you note, and embracing a loved one with a warm hug. Sometimes, such acts are as small as walking between a child and ants. With God’s Spirit living within us, we carry out the greatest command and serve one another in love.

In what way has God called you to love your neighbor today?

Tweetable: Are you being neighborly? 

Caroline Hales is a Project Manager, a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, and a freelance writer. She has an adorable niece in California who teeters as she toddles. Caroline’s passion to share Christ with others has grown while she has served in church ministry, leading evangelism and women’s ministry. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

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Love Acts - Martin Wiles

Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. Luke 10:34 NLT

What she saw, she couldn’t believe.

When she was a single Mom, my daughter struggled when things broke down. As they did one Sunday morning when she loaded herself and the boys into the car to head for church. When she turned the ignition, nothing happened. She knew enough about cars to know the trouble was probably her battery. She had bought the car used and had not replaced the battery in the three years she had owned the car.

Wanting to go to church, she called a work partner who attended the same church and asked if she could get her and the boys. She did. Then she called another work friend and asked if her dad could look at the car that afternoon. She said he’d be glad to.

That afternoon, her friend’s dad pulled up, hooked up the jumping cables, jumped off her car, and left. My daughter let it run a few minutes, turned it off, and went inside—hoping it would crank the next morning. An hour later, her friend’s dad showed back up at her door and asked for her car keys.

Thinking he was going to check her car over again to make sure it was the battery, she went back inside and continued enjoying her afternoon. But later, wondering what was taking him so long, she looked outside to see him installing a new battery in her car. When he returned her keys, she cried.

Two weeks later, my daughter sent me a short video of her dryer making an awful noise. The kind it makes when it’s no longer working. She put a post on Facebook, asking if anyone had a used dryer they wanted to sell, and waited for a response. My boss’s wife came to the rescue. They had just moved into a new home and bought new appliances. She had a used dryer my daughter could have. I rounded up a truck, along with a friend to help, and we delivered and hooked up her new-to-her dryer.

Love acts happen all the time. We just tend to hear about the bad more than we do the good. Jesus told of one love act when he talked about a Samaritan who stopped to help a man who had been robbed and left for dead. Two others had passed him by—in too much of a hurry to help.

When we love God with all our hearts, we’ll want to love others, too. And when we love others, we’ll want to perform love acts for them. God will give us opportunities, but we must slow down long enough to see them. Otherwise, life’s love acts will pass us by. If we let God know we’re open to doing love acts, He’ll send them our way—along with the resources for us to do them. After all, He controls our resources, just as He does the love act opportunities.

Our part involves trusting God, so we won’t limit ourselves. We’re never too old, too busy, or too financially strapped to do something kind for someone else. Many kind acts require no money at all.

Why not pray for God to send some love act opportunities your way?

Prayer: Father, send us the opportunities and the desire to do love acts for others.

Tweetable: Are you doing love acts? 

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Serving as a Servant - Martin Wiles

In the same way, when you obey me you should say, “We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” Luke 17:9 NLT

The captain gave the command: “Charge for the guns.”

October 25, 1854. The Battle of Balaclava. The Crimean War. A lesser-known war seldom given much attention to in history books. With whom the blunder happened, historians disagree, but the captain gave the command for an ill-prepared English cavalry brigade to charge a Russian battery.

Men with only horses and sabers charged a fortress armed with cannons and guns. Anywhere from 600 to 670 soldiers made the charge. Only 150 to 160 of them returned, many wounded.

Poet laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote of the battle in his famous poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” Praising their honor, he said, “Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die.” And in the end, he asked Britons—and all people—to “Honour the charge they made!/ Honour the Light Brigade.” After all, they had only done their duty … their service.

In response to His apostles’ request for Him to show them how to increase their faith, Jesus told them a story about servants. When servants finish performing their duties, the master doesn’t ask them to sit with him and eat. Rather, he tells them to robe and serve him. They would eat later. They did what the master expected: serve.

Serving isn’t normally the way we measure greatness. We usually determine it by how many serve us. Not in Jesus’ Kingdom. Servanthood equals greatness.

Nor does serving come naturally for me—although I’ve known some who seem to have an easier time doing it than others. I have to retrain my way of thinking. Rather than life being about me and my selfish wants, I have to intentionally focus on the needs of others.

When the palm of our hands open, we can let God’s blessings flow from us to others. And when they do, Jesus grows our faith. We give with the faith that less equals more. Although we should have less because we’ve shared, we actually have more because God opens the floodgates of heaven and pours into our cups.

A servant attitude leads us to do exactly what the Light Brigade did. Their commander gave the order to charge … to serve their country … and they did. God gives us the same command. We should do no less. We owe Him this much for all He does and has done for us.

Ask God to give you opportunities to serve as Jesus did.

Prayer: Father, give us the desire—and the opportunities—to serve with a servant attitude.

Tell us about some ways you have served. 

Tweetable: Are you serving as a servant? 

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Getting Down and Dirty - Martin Wiles

When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. Genesis 14:14 NLT

“Pop, wash my hands.”

My daughter’s youngest child doesn’t like for his hands to get dirty—unless he’s outside playing in the dirt. Then it’s okay. Otherwise, he wants them washed each time he eats something—which is all day long.

I can’t fuss at him. We taught him this—even though it seems to come quite naturally to him. I remember being the same way as a child. I didn’t like anything on my hands and always wondered if I touched certain things if doing so would hurt me—or even kill me. He hasn’t gotten to that stage yet, but it may come.

My wife and I are still clean freaks—but not nearly as much so as we once were. Age has taken care of many of our peculiarities. Aching backs, throbbing knees, hurting feet, swollen joints. Many things we once wouldn’t think of letting go we now do.

Life contains dirty episodes, and getting dirty comes with them. Abraham had to. His nephew Lot had made a poor choice when they divided the land between them. Taking the choice land toward the wicked city of Sodom, Lot eventually ended up in the city. Then he got caught up in a local war and found himself captured. When Abraham heard the news, he took 318 men and went to secure Lot’s release.

Behind loving Him with our entire beings, Jesus said loving others was the next greatest commandment. But loving others is a messy business because we all have messy lives—some more so than others. It’s not always what we do to ourselves, but what others do to us—or what life does to us. No one wishes for a hurricane, tsunami, flood, bankruptcy, troubled marriage, an unfair boss, or rebellious children. But life happens.

Helping those who experience such things involves us in the mess: disaster relief, counseling, feeding, donating, encouraging, spending time, transporting. All things which inconvenience us, taking us away from things we might rather do. But doing these things puts us in good company. Jesus’ entire ministry was one of inconvenience—continually helping those who hounded Him for assistance.

Doing the Father’s will led Jesus to intersect with others’ messes, and it will us too. Life will dirty us up. Our challenge is loving others enough to help clean them up. 

Find someone whose hands you can wash.

Tweetable: Are you getting dirty for others?

Prayer: Father, lead us to those who are dirtied by life’s messes. Then, give us the love to help clean them up. 

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See a Need, Meet a Need - Martin Wiles

If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? 1 John 3:17 NLT

She was a shut-in who needed a ramp.

Patricia required round-the-clock care prior to and after her husband’s death. Her son and daughter-in-law decided she needed a ramp. This would help when she had to be transported to doctors’ appointments or when they just wanted to get her out for a while.

When I heard of their predicament, the solution seemed simple. We had a licensed contractor in our church, the men’s ministry had funds they weren’t using, and we had men who had the skills to build a ramp. I contacted the contractor who was more than happy to use his skills and time.

We designated a day and time and the contractor picked up the materials. Ten men showed up to help. Within the space of two and one-half hours, the ramp was built—and at a negligible cost. I felt good when we were finished. So did everyone else. We had shown God’s love by helping someone with a need we could meet.

John doesn’t mince words. He says if we have the means to meet a need we see but don’t that God’s love doesn’t abide in us—regardless of what we might claim.

I can’t meet every need I see. They are numerous and surround me every day. Not only do I see them but I also hear about them. Nor do I have the funds, the skills, or the time to meet every need. Jesus didn’t meet every need He encountered. Some people He didn’t heal. Some areas He avoided.

Jesus operated according to the Father’s plan—and I should too. Through prayer, I can determine which needs God wants me to meet. When I’m prayed up, I’ll even know what to do about those spur-of-the-moment opportunities that arise.

Knowing my skill level also helps. While I could help build a ramp, spearheading the project would have been out of the question. Instead of hours, it would have taken days. If we are perceptive, God will match the opportunities with our skills and talents.

But the greatest challenge to meeting needs is intentionality. If we don’t have a plan to love others by meeting their needs, we won’t. Make a plan so you can meet a need when you see a need.

Tweetable: How do you respond to needs?

Prayer: Father, give us opportunities to show Your love to others in tangible ways. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Helping Hands - Martin Wiles

Helping Hands

The doctor’s words shocked us: “You have one on each foot. I can do one at a time or both at the same time.”

We decided for both, and for the next two weeks, I helped my wife recover from planter’s wart surgery. If we went to the store, I pushed her in a wheelchair. At home, I helped her from point A to B by holding one of her arms while she hobbled on her heels. Without my helping hands, she would’ve been confined to her recliner. Read more...

Tweetable: Are you using your hands to help?

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