May
11, 2006
Dear
Partners and Friends,
Hello.
How are you today? It is our
prayer that you are experiencing all that Jesus died to provide for you.
Salvation is so much more than just escaping hell.
It is embracing life with a song in our hearts, and joy in the face of
trials. It is God going to great
lengths, just to reveal His love for you. Scripture tells us in
Rom
5: 2, 5 By whom also we have access
through faith into this grace wherein we stand: and glory in the hope of the
glory of the sons of God. And hope
confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by
the Holy Ghost who is given to us.
Do
you know that God is recording every good and kind thing that you say or do that
is borne from His Love? It’s
true! Now before you start
rehearsing all your mistakes, let me remind you that Jesus died to redeem you
from those, and if you’ve asked Him into your heart, then they are under the
blood and HIS LOVE now occupies your heart and HIS CHARACTER is being formed in
you! All we have to do is to repent
and run to Him, instead of away from Him when we blow it. He wants us to fully
trust Him, receive His love, and rest in the finished work of Calvary.
Now
back to the recording going on in Heaven. If
you look in Genesis it is recorded how Abraham gave hospitality to 3 men, who it
turned out, were Angels on assignment from God!
However, he didn’t know that when he begged them to stop and rest while
he fed them- but it’s recorded.
So
are Cornelius’ alms. They came up
as a Memorial before the Lord. See
Acts 10: 1-4. Cornelius was a
captain in the army who feared (reverenced) the God of the Jews.
Acts
10:2 NASB ..a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and
gave many alms (gifts of charity) to the Jewish people, and prayed to God
continually.
The
word “prayed” means to want, to desire or long for, to ask or beg.
What was an army man, a man with military power and authority, begging
and desiring from God? I believe the answer is this: “To know Him.”
He observed the Jewish people had a relationship with their God and he
wanted one too! He was a soldier, a
part of the “occupation” of Israel. However,
he treated the Jewish people with respect and honor and mercy.
He gave to the poor! The
meaning of it literally means that he authored a cause, or in our language, he
spearheaded a donation drive to help the poor of the Jews!
Now
you cannot buy or give your way into heaven,
but God was looking at the motives of his heart.
He was hungry to know God. He
was doing his best to honor this God in whatever way he could.
He must have recognized that the Jews were God’s people.
So, he blessed God’s people. And,
he prayed. A lot. And worshipped.
And God heard. It says that
these two things came up before God as a memorial, so God dispatched an angel
with a message. “Cornelius, your
prayers (worship) and your alms (compassion exercised towards the poor) grow and
rise up and come before God as a record and a remembrance in His sight.” (WNT)
Looking steadily at him, and being much alarmed, he said, "What do
you want, Sir?" "Your prayers and charities," he replied,
"have gone up and have been recorded before God…”
He
went on to say, “Send for Peter, and he will tell you what you need to do.”
See, God remembered him and wasn’t content to let him die a “good
man” when what he needed was to be saved, but his heart was seeking after God
and God responded to him.
Many
of you have things for which you have been seeking after God.
You give and you do, and you help others, but there are things in your
own life that need a touch. God is
not going to forget you! He is
recording everything good that you do. Moreover,
just as Jesus was moved with compassion for the people so, too, is your Heavenly
Father moved with compassion for you.
Mal
3:16 MSG Then those whose lives
honored GOD got together and talked it over. GOD saw what they were doing and
listened in. A book was opened in God's presence and minutes were taken of the
meeting, with the names of the GOD-fearers written down, all the names of those
who honored GOD's name.
Mal
3:17 AMP And they shall be Mine,
says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare
them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will
spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
Abraham’s kindnesses were written down, and the Lord rewarded him with a son in his old age! God also warned him of the impending destruction of Sodom. Had he not of have been given to hospitality, those 3 “men” (angels in disguise) would have passed right on by and he would have missed that visitation from God. But God was counting on his kindness to stop the men and refresh them! Malachi tells us that God has a book of remembrance where he is taking notes of how we talk amongst ourselves and what we do to honor Him! Cornelius’ acts and prayers activated God’s angels on his behalf to set the stage for salvation to come to his home when Peter preached. There is power in kindness because it is part of God’s own personality!
Act
10:38 How God anointed and
consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy]
Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good
and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the
power of] the devil, for God was with Him.
No
wonder Paul told the Galatians not to be weary in well doing!
Then he reiterated it to the Thessalonicans too!
2Th
3:13 AMP And as for you, brethren,
do not become weary or lose heart in doing right [but
continue in well-doing without weakening].
Don’t be fooled into thinking that you are not making a difference with your small acts of kindness, or in your quiet deeds of goodness. Keep standing in the face of that situation, speaking correctly and acting lovingly. You are planting powerful seeds that will come forth into a harvest at the appointed time. We can’t control the time, but we can surely water and protect our seed so it doesn’t get crowded out with negativity or uprooted by words of fear.
So too, your alms and kindnesses are making a difference in the lives of people that you will not meet until Heaven! Your gifts to the ministry last month allowed us to sow and partner with Pastor Galin in Bulgaria who held a three day crusade showing the children’s video “Jesus,” with 1700 adults and kids in attendance! Likewise, we collaborated with Pastor Benjamin in Uganda, helping him hold a 2-week crusade that began the day after Easter and saw 150 salvations and 20 rededications as well as multiple healings. Pastor Titus continues to preach the Word of Faith on the air in Madurai, India and run the Bible School and church. Pastor Charles in Uganda has officially started the second Bible school with many pastors in attendance! We’ve shipped a Bible School to Sierra Leone, West Africa. Pray for it’s arrival, as it is now overdue for delivery.
On
the prayer list is the Orphanage Land. The
land was purchased over a year ago, but at that time, the Ugandan government,
because of corruption in that office, shut down the Ministry Office of Land. The
seller became tired of waiting around so went abroad to complete his studies!
The office is now reopened and the man is back in town, but he is leaving
again in July. The land must be
re-surveyed and the surveyor, taxes, and transfer fees paid, so the paperwork
can be signed before the man leaves. Pray
for this to go smoothly, from the finances needed, to the legal transaction and
the paperwork properly processed in time.
We
are also continuing with our fundraising to help two churches buy land on which
to build. This is for Pastor
Benjamin’s church and also, that of Pastor Ibanga in Nigeria.
Both churches sit on rented land without room to expand.
Pray that God will raise up many partners for these faithful men to help
get the job done.
On
the home front, I will be flying south to attend a ministerial conference in
Toccoa, GA. from May 25th - 29th.
Tom will be going to Lancaster for 3 days, May 16th–19th,
to volunteer in the “Care Lift” program through the former Josh McDowell
ministries, now called GAIN USA. He
is taking donated, clean used clothes and shoes with him.
Call if you’d like to schedule a pick up.
As the clothes come in, Tom also has other dates planned to take them to
the warehouse. If anyone would like
to help with our fundraisers, we need yogurt cups with lids, the 6-8 oz. size or
small margarine tubs with lids. We
are creating little savings banks out of them for Pastor Benjamin to give to his
congregation. We are also
collecting children’s books to ship over to Uganda to start a library in one
of the village schools. We are
looking for beginners’ easy reading, especially Dr. Seuss or Berenstain Bears
as well as Bible stories, but others are also welcome.
About 1st to 5th grade level.
Well,
that pretty much updates you on our projects and what is happening with the
Minors! We hope to hear from you
with your praise reports and prayer requests.
Thank you for allowing us the privilege of coming into your home via this
newsletter and sharing our hearts with you.
We love you and have been lifting you before the Lord.
May you see the fulfillment of those promises that you have been standing
on, come to pass in extraordinary ways! Expect
the Lord!
Until
next time, we shall carry you in our hearts as we continue to Imprint the World
with the Love of God. Have
a blessed Memorial Day.
Love,
Nancy and Tom
HEART AND HANDS MINISTRIES
P.O. Box 187 Elk Mills, MD. 21920-0187