The Touch Of The Masters Hand

It was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,but held it up with a smile; "What is my bid for this old violin" he said with a sneer. "Who'll start the bidding for me?" "A dollar, a dollar"; then two!" "Onlytwo? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; threedollars twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dustfrom the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody pure and sweet as caroling angel sings.The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,said; "What is my bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow.A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and gone," said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do notquite understnad what changed its worth." Swift came the reply: "The touchof a master's hand."


Everyone is priceless in value, and we are beautiful, no matter what we think, God makes beauty, and only beauty. Don't worry He wasn't doing an experiment when He made you. He doesn't make mistakes. Everyone is beautiful, and do not let anyone say different.... 'nough said.

Serving others.

Today at church today, the message was on Servant-hood. We read the story in John 13, when Jesus washes the feet of the disciples feet. What blew my mind was, the fact that this man, who came to save the world, took the place of a serevant and washed feet. Jesus even washes the feet of Judas, the man who betrays Him. After Jesus has finished washing everyones feet, he says... "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. (13)"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. (14)Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. (15)I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (16)I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (17) Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them"(John 13:13-17). When I read this I think of the movie "Pay It Forward" for some reason. God tells us to in turn wash one another's feet. We need to be servants to people, even to people who we are really that fond of. Jesus washed the feet of the man who betrays Him. God knew that Judas was going to betray Him. What could someone do to us that could possobly be worse? We, can't just go on our "merry way" and only serve people, when it's convenient for us. It's really hard to be a servant to people sometimes, especially if we don't really like that person all that much. But God tells us, that we will be blessed if we are. Now we shouldn't just go out and be servants just so we get blessed later on. I think that if we truly want to be servants we shouldn't be thinking about how we can benefit from it. But we should do it for the other person.

Comfort of God

It's been blowing my mind lately, just the stuff that is going on in my life, that usually would get me down and make me angry. Lately though it is a totally different story. I'm really feeling the comfort of God. I must say, I'm so greatful to have this comfort. I know that without God I would not be able to handle these situations.Everyone should turn to God first. God gives comfort like no other, no matter what situation you may be facing. Even if you're facing a challenge you think there was no way out of, God can help us through it. God is waiting for us, and He will always be there for us. So when we are having trouble with something, and are being brought down by something, may we turn to God, and feel His hand of comfort and peace.

worship

During work, I have a lot of time to think on things, which sometimes isn't such a great thing, because things that are bugging me fill my mind. Lately it's been different... Lately I've thought a lot about praise and worship, and what the words actually mean in some of the songs I really like. All I can really say is, I'm beginning to enjoy praise and worship more than I ever have. Don't get me worng, I have always loved praise and worship, but I never really took the time to do it alone, and on my time. But now that I've taken time, when sitting in the tractor, and listened to worship, and thought about what the song is saying... My experience has been SO much better. God really shows Himself through praise, and when you meet Him in that place... Well for me, it gives me shivers. I am loving praise and worship more than ever these days.
Praise and worship shouldn't be the only time we worship God though. I think thanking God for His amazing creation, is a form of worship. I thank God so much for all He's done for me. Giving me great friends, that help, and encourage me. God has so much to be worshiped for. He gave us life! We should thank Him and worship Him for that. He's surrounded us with creation, that if we take time to enjoy, we can learn a lot from. He's set out a plan for our lives. He died for our sins, He's given us eternal life in Him. He loves us and will always forgive us. He will never leave nor foresake us. The list for what we can worship God for is endless. I's up to us to take time in our lives, and give God this worship.

Self-esteem

Lately I've been thinking about self-esteem issues. I can honestly say I've rarely had problems with this. So I guess I find it weird when people have issues with this, but it's so normal for people to have issues with this.
The way I think is If we were made in the image of God, why shouldn't we respect ourselves? It's not like God did a special experiment one day, when He made someone. "let's try some of this...and a little bit of this.... Oh gross!". God made everyone in His image, so in that case everyone is special, and beautiful. One time I was standing in line at a 7/11, and a girl randomly complemented my outfit. She went on to say "I complement everyone, because everyone is beautiful in their own way". This one statement blew my mind. I find so much truth in it. I think that, if the creator of the whole universe, decided to create each one of us, we should give ourselves respect for that. God loves us beyond our imagination. Jesus died on the cross for us, if He's willing to do that, He must love us, and think we are priceless. So I guess what I'm tryin' to do here, is encourage people with issues like this to remember who made you, and if you're ever havin' problems repsecting yourself, just remember to God, you are beautiful and priceless, and never let anyone, or yourself, tell you otherwise.