Good morning from Hong Kong! We had a great day yesterday of welcoming all of the camps IV's (international volunteers) and today will be a day of training before the 175 Chinese college students arrive tomorrow. We're so excited!
We had lunch free yesterday & Marge & I ventured over to a traditional Hong Kong 'live market' and took in the sights, smells & people. It was one of the more fascinating sights I've encountered as you walk by vendors each offering fresh meat, fish, vegetables, fruit & baked goods. When I say fresh I mean fresh. The fish are still jumping and most everything still has the heads on! It was really fun to see how this local community shops for their daily needs. So different than my trip to the local Wal-Mart!
It's warm & humid this morn with a large chance of rain as I sit down for my 5MC. As I start reading I'm so thankful for God's Word and it's continual, steady presence in my life. No matter the situation, the obstacle or the challenge, God's Word is the same every day, it's the truth, it's something I can truly trust and believe in without fail.
In Luke 6:43-45 I find one of my favorite passages, a tree and it's fruit.
"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes or grapes picked from bramblebush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."
What a beautiful, profound, truthful declaration.
If you consider Romans 3:11-18 how can we as natural born sinners be able to produce good fruit? There is only one answer...Jesus. When you invite Jesus into your heart the Holy Spirit comes in and changes your heart. Through this and only through this are we able to now have a heart that can truly produce the fruit that God desires.
I think about each one of us being a cup. Each day our cup is emptied throughout the day as we deal with the struggles and problems of a sin filled world. How do we fill our cup back up? Through time in God's Word, prayer to the father, fellowship with other believers and worshipping God. Through these steps and His Grace He fills us up to overflowing each day, but for what purpose? Simply so that we can pour ourselves out each day & empty out God's goodness into the others that He places in our lives.
Be filled up today with the goodness of God & pour yourself out into the lives of others.
Blessings to you all.
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