When we work or give money to help other people, we may sometimes feel that we are doing this to please God. Yes, we may please Him, but why would it please Him?  Of course, He wants us to help others, but there is another reason that we should know.
     It is our human nature to want God, as well as people, to see us in a favorable way. But there is still another reason for us to do our best to help people. God presents it this way:
     If you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give – large or small – will be used to measure what is given back to you (Luke 6:38 TLB).
     Giving in order to receive more for ourselves may seem to be selfish, but God knows us better than we know ourselves, so He gives us the above verse to help us along our way.
     Why would God promise that we will receive more than we give? Here is an illustration that might help us understand. If we go to a store and give the clerk money we do not expect the clerk to give the money back to us. We want to receive something from the clerk that is more valuable to us than the money. We want the item that is for sale! We give our money and what we want is given to us. The system we live under says we don’t get what we want from a store until we pay them money.
     So, we need to understand the “system” that God has built into His children. We give to others and then He gives to us whatever He knows will be the very best blessing to us.
     Recently I saw two elderly ladies in distress. They didn’t know where they were or how to get where they wanted to go. I was in a hurry to get
something “important” done, but I walked with them to a place where they could get the help they needed and waited until they were satisfied.
They were very happy and pleased for the help I

 by Merlin Carothers

gave them. I felt that I needed to hurry, but as I left the ladies I felt a warm sensation coming from somewhere within me that made me so happy that all I wanted to do was to thank God for His goodness to me. When I paused and asked God to help me understand what had just happened, the Holy Spirit explained that I had given to someone else what they needed and God had given me what I needed! I guess I needed this beautiful feeling of joy so I could write this message to you.
     I read the above scripture again, and then understood more clearly. God rewards us in unexpected ways if we try our best to help others. We often hope to be rewarded with things that will mean nothing to us in eternity. However He knows what eternity will be like and designs events in our lives to help us reach our best destiny.
     We usually do not know where we at in our journey between birth and death. Often we do not know what direction we should go. So, when God gives us clear directions, we have reason to rejoice! I believe that God gives us many opportunities to meet the needs of others, so that He can provide the help that we need. How sad that we may be in too much of a hurry, or feel incapable of helping those who are “lost” and don’t know what direction they should take.
     There are so many people that need our help. They often need that help when we feel most unable or unwilling to give them what they need. But when we do our best to help them God will reward us by giving us the help that we need.

by Mary Carothers

     If a powerful, evil person were holding his foot in our doorway we would need superhuman strength to force him out. In the same way, we need the help of the Holy Spirit when we are tempted to let anger control us. The enemy encourages us to feel justified in our anger. If I feel that I have a “right” to my anger, I will want to hang on to it, rather than give it over to the Lord. And that is exactly what the devil wants.
     How do we manage to give our anger over to the Lord? More to the point, how do we “leave it there”? One way that helps me is to first, remember how very much Jesus has forgiven me. I remind myself that it was my sin that put Jesus on the cross and His love for me that held Him there. Next, I begin to pray for the person or persons I feel anger toward. I ask the Lord in His mercy to lovingly work His will in their lives, and to help them realize how great His love is for them. I even ask Him to forgive them. After all, Jesus is our example in this. He asked the Father to forgive the men crucifying Him. If Jesus did it, so can we.
     The reason that praying for those who cause us to be angry is so powerful, is that it defeats Satan’s purposes. He keeps reminding us of the offences, in the hope that we will forget our good intentions to give up our “right” to be angry. When we respond to his reminders to be angry, with prayer for the offenders, God is pleased and the devil is defeated.
     How about it? Do you want to join with those who have learned to defeat the enemy when he tries to get a foothold in their lives? Let’s give glory to God by being “alert” to the devil’s schemes. To the Lord be all praise and glory, Who has delivered us from the deception of the enemy.