You are special
April 30, 2017
YOU ARE SPECIAL
”Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken ...”
Isiah 54.10 NIV
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The China missionary John Bentley gave all the children at a Chinese orphanage Max Lucado's book, "You are Special". In China, boys are preferred rather than girls. Healthy infants are more wanted than weak and sick. The truth is that children who are disabled in sight and hearing have very little opportunities to have a healthy and active life. The message they receive from their own history and culture is: You have no value.
In Lucado's book, we hear about Punchinello, a wooden boy in a village with wooden men. The villagers put stars on "winners" and spots on "losers". Punchinello had many spots, and the villagers gave him spots for no reason. But when he saw Eli who had made him, Eli stated that he was not to take care of what others believed about him. "I created you," said Eli, "and I make no mistake." Punchinello had never heard such words before. But when he did, as Eli said, the spots began to fall off and when the children in the orphanage heard those words, their world began to change.
John Bentley writes how it was to read the story for these children and how immensely the impact was on those who were seated there and that they just about swallowed every word; "When it was clear to them that they were something special, simply because they were created by a loving creator, they all began to cry - even their teacher. That was powerful! "
Open your Bible today. There you get God's opinion about you and then build your life on it. It's the only meaning that counts and is immensely important! The Lord says, ”Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken ...”
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Just the way you are
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Max Lu c a d o is a best-selling
inspirational author and speaker, and
a minister of preaching at Oak Hills
Church in San Antonio, Texas. His award-
winning books have been translated
into more than 40 languages and have
occupied spots on every major national
best-seller list. His books include
You Are Special, If Only I Had a Green
Nose, and The Boy and the Ocean
.
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
A long time ago in a land much like your own, there was a village. And in the village lived five orphans. A lonely family of fatherless children, they had banded together against the cold.
One day the king learned of their misfortune and decided to adopt them. He announced that he would be their father and would come for them soon.
When the children learned that they had a new father, and their father was the king, and that the king was coming to visit, they went wild with excitement.
When the people of the village learned that the children had a father, and their father was the king, and that the king was coming to the village, they were excited as well. They went out to see the children and told them what to do.
“You need to impress the king,” they explained. “Only those with great gifts to give will be allowed to live in the castle.” The people didn’t know the king. They just thought that all kings want to be impressed.
So the children began preparing gifts to offer the king. They worked long and hard to be sure the king would approve.
One of the children who knew how to carve decided to give the king a wonderful work of wooden art. He set his knife against the soft bark of the elm and whittled. The small blocks of wood came alive with the eyes of a sparrow or the nose of a horse.
His sister decided to present the king with a painting that captured the beauty of the heavens—a painting worthy to hang in his castle.
Another sister chose music as her way to impress the king. For long hours she practiced with her voice and mandolin. Village people would stop at her window and listen as her music took wings and soared.
Yet another child set out to turn the king’s head with his wisdom. Late hours would find his candle lit and his books open. Geography. Math. Chemistry. The breadth of his study was matched only by the depth of his desire. Surely a king would appreciate all his knowledge.
But there was one sister who had nothing to offer. Her hand was clumsy with the knife, her fingers stiff with the brush. When the little girl opened her mouth to sing, the sound was hoarse. She wasn’t much of a reader. She believed she had no talent. And so she believed she had no gift.
All she had to offer was her heart, for her heart was good. She spent her time at the city gates, watching the people come and go. She would earn pennies to buy food for her brothers and sisters by grooming people’s horses or feeding their animals. She was a simple stable girl. But she had a good heart.
She knew the beggars by name. She took time to pet each dog. She welcomed home the travelers and greeted the strangers. “How was your journey?” she would ask.
“Tell me what you learned on your visit.”
“How is your husband?”
“Do you enjoy your new work?”
She was full of questions for people because her heart was big and she
cared about people. They were all the same to her—the beggars and the
rich. She cared for all of them just the way they were.
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Because I love you
Hear and see the story by pushing this link
Max Lu c a d o is a best-selling
inspirational author and speaker, and
a minister of preaching at Oak Hills
Church in San Antonio, Texas. His award-
winning books have been translated
into more than 40 languages and have
occupied spots on every major national
best-seller list. His books include
You Are Special, If Only I Had a Green
Nose, and The Boy and the Ocean
.
BECAUSE I LOVE YOU
HOME
Your special gift
Hear and see the story by pushing this link
Max Lu c a d o is a best-selling
inspirational author and speaker, and
a minister of preaching at Oak Hills
Church in San Antonio, Texas. His award-
winning books have been translated
into more than 40 languages and have
occupied spots on every major national
best-seller list. His books include
You Are Special, If Only I Had a Green
Nose, and The Boy and the Ocean
.
YOUR SPECIAL GIFTS
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The crippled lamb
Hear and see the story by pushing this link
Max Lu c a d o is a best-selling
inspirational author and speaker, and
a minister of preaching at Oak Hills
Church in San Antonio, Texas. His award-
winning books have been translated
into more than 40 languages and have
occupied spots on every major national
best-seller list. His books include
You Are Special, If Only I Had a Green
Nose, and The Boy and the Ocean
.
THE CRIPPLED LAMB
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