The Jeremiah Project is
happy to present these children stories teaching Biblical values. As Proverbs
7:1-3 instructs us, "My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your
eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart." It is
through repeated telling of the stories of the Bible and stories teaching
Biblical values to our children that we can help them write the truths of the
Bible on the tablet of their heart. |
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Spiritual Gifts
Therefore you do not
lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be
revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. [1 Corinthians 1:7-9]
"The
Good Talker"
Who needs him, hes such a loser. Roger
responded to his friend Steven when the subject of Danny came up.
Thats a pretty harsh thing to say about your brother. Steven
responded. Roger knew it was harsh. He thought back when he and Danny were
kids. Danny, the older by a year and a half, was always the guy who could
fix anything. Oh, how mom and dad bragged on Danny when he fixed
the washing machine or the lawnmower or unclogged a drain in the kitchen. At
first, Roger tried to learn to do what Danny did but it never worked out.
Finally, in high school, Roger found his gift and like his own dad, it
was the gift of gab. He won competition after competition in speech, debate and
other forms of speech giving. He seemed to have a natural ability to talk to
people, give speeches or just get people to see things his way or rally to his
cause. It served him well as he moved into a sales career whereas Danny built a
very successful auto mechanics business around his skill.
But sadly,
for all the success the brothers had, their dislike of each other kept them
apart. Danny never understood that talking was a good skill and Roger thought
being able to tinker with machines or pipes or wires was a geeky way to be.
They fought about it endlessly until Danny moved out, but holidays were always
tense except when they went to see Grandma. Everything stopped at
Grandmas house because she saw them as her sweet baby boys and for a
while when they visited her, they were sweet and children again, innocent and
always ready to play.
Steven left his friend Roger in his office
thinking about his brother. Roger wondered if there was ever to be a way to
make things ok between them. He didnt know that over at his garage, while
fixing a car, Danny was wondering the same thing. Rogers thoughts were
broken by the phone ringing. He answered it. The sound of urgency in the voice
was frightening.
Roger, the floods have his Pilger. Steven
informed him. Pilger was not far from the large city where his family grew up.
The water is rising there and people are becoming trapped in their second
floors. The Red Cross is going in to try to get people out.
At
first, Roger didnt get too alarmed but then he remembered, Pilger was
where Grandma lived. He picked up the phone and called her but no answer. He
knew she lived alone in that big house and probably could not get to the phone.
The thought of her alone facing that terror was more than he could stand.
Moving almost on instinct, Roger got moving. He organized a rescue mission for
the town of Pilger using his huge network of contacts at church, work, his
clubs and his business contacts. Within hours, Roger had an army of men and
machinery gathered in the parking lot of the Church. They were ready to invade
Pilger and save those people.
Folks, he announced to the
crowd of rescuers from his bullhorn. We need to pray. My grandma is down
there and you all have relatives there too. Lets pray that God help them
until we can get there. And then he bowed his head and led them in
prayer.
Roger we have another area to pray about. Steve
shouted out. Lots of these boats are broken. We need mechanical help or
getting all of us down there will be no good. We need someone who can fix
anything. Roger felt his face go hot with emotion because it was like God
was telling him, Get Danny. He had no time to wallow in self-pity
or resentment at Danny. He picked up his cell phone and called his
brothers number.
All he had to say to Danny was Danny, its
Roger, grandmas in danger. Get down here. And he knew Danny would
fly to the scene. And that is what happened. Danny brought his tools and
workers and in no time, they had the machines in tiptop shape. Side by side,
the brothers loaded the boats and together they got to Pilger and got every
citizen out. As the brothers sat side by side on the boat heading to
grandmas house they both suddenly knew why they were so different. Danny
knew that he could have never gotten such a huge response and organized the
rescue so beautifully. And Roger knew that Dannys gift for fixing things
was crucial to their success.
As they got grandma into the boat, she
hugged them both and kissed them and then she said what they both were
thinking. God has given each of you boys a wonderful spiritual gift.
Working together you are a powerful tool for him. They knew it was right
because that is how God blesses the church. By giving everyone unique and
wonderful gifts, we all can work together to do what God has for us to do.
Separate we are incomplete but together we are powerful tools for God to use
for good.
Now the body is not
made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, Because I am not
a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease
to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an
eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to
be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of
hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as
he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it
is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand,
I dont need you! And the head cannot say to the feet, I
dont need you! On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem
to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable
we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated
with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.
But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the
parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that
its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every
part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now
you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. [1 Corinthians
12:14-27]
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