Laura

About three years ago I met Laura.  She was holding a cardboard sign asking for help outside of Walmart.  When I was driving by the Holy Spirit gave me instruction to do something concerning her.  I was to make a sign and write John 3:16 on it and go to where Laura was standing the next morning at 10:00 am.  After I had been there for about five minutes she came over to stand with me.  As we talked she confided in me that she was the daughter of a Baptist minister.  She also told me that she lived with a man who had several girls working "the beat" for him in exchange for food and shelter.

I told her that God had told me to come and see her.  She said her father was too strict and she wanted to be out on her own.  She worked part time at McDonald's and then in the mornings she worked for this man.  She had no car so he took her to work and the place where she was to stand.  I told her that she must be very special if God wanted me to come and see her.  About an hour later the "man" showed up to get her and she told him she wasn't going with him.  He was very upset and gave me a hateful look as he drove off that I will never forget.

I don't know what became of Laura, but I know God did something in that young girl! I hope that she went back home to her parents.  Oh, the power of the Holy Spirit!

Character

Why are sweet memories so important?  I'm old now and they keep me warm on a cold winter's night.  Good memories build character.  Combining God's Word and sweet memories result in a child of God who will someday know that his Heavenly Father is loving. So many today find it difficult to relate to Him as loving.  This is a real dilemma for the Christian.  It hinders his walk in the faith and stunts his growth in his relation to God as his Heavenly Father.  How can we pass down the Father's love and power if we cannot relate to Him ourselves?

Most of us had fathers who were not loving and some of us had no father at all our lives. How can we get to know our Father in heaven?  Jesus said if we had seen him we had seen the Father in Heaven.  (John 14:7)  When we study the character of Jesus we see a compassionate Lord toward His people.  Our Heavenly Father is compassionate to His own and even in this life to those who will never know Him.  He is a compass of compassion. He is even loving in His discipline toward His children.

The Cross of Calvary is spelled "Compassionate".  This is how I see my Heavenly Father.