Christianity Oasis Forum

[Christianity Oasis]

I read this and wanted to share ...

I was heading to the East Coast and I had a layover in Knoxville. Because I was changing from a large airplane to a small one, I was in a large room with several exits to airplanes out each door. The room was filled with people waiting to get on the smaller planes.
I had about an hour to wait and was sitting with my Bible on my lap, trying to memorize John chapter 1.
I had worked on memorizing it before and had found that the best way to memorize is to read something out loud and then stare out the window and then say it from memory. I got to a place in John 1 where I stumbled and the woman next to me filled in the line. I realized that she had heard it so many times that she was memorizing it as well.
I had had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I had the book on my lap and was very intent on what I was doing when I noticed the people that were sitting in front of me. I saw that their attention suddenly had gone over my shoulder and they were staring at something, and I could tell from their expressions it was something horrifying.
What in the world is going on behind me? I thought. I wanted to look so badly, but I didn't want to be obvious. I had to wait for that proper moment, not when everyone else was looking, but for my chance to look. So I was still trying to stare at my Bible, but I was checking them out, thinking, Whatever's going on ... it's a good one.
In just a few minutes I could see activity over my left shoulder. Finally, I glanced over my shoulder out the corner of my eye. I saw a sight I will never forget.
It was an airline hostess pushing a wheelchair with an old man that looked like he could not be less than 127 years old. I have never seen a human being look that old and that weary and that drawn. I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange figure. He was humped over in the wheelchair. He was the skinniest man I had ever seen and his knees were protruding from his trousers. his shoulders looked like he still had his coat hanger in his shirt. His hands were veins and bones. But the strangest part of it was that his gray hair was about to the middle of his back. His fingernails were at least as long as mine -- not painted, thank goodness, but they were long.
I put down my Bible and thought, I wonder what's wrong with that man? I was trying to read the Word to keep from seeing what God was trying to show me. I was staring down at that book because I'd rather be preoccupied right here than to touch it out there! I was looking down at the Bible and my heart was overwhelmed. I already knew and was beginning to resist because I could feel God pulling on my spirit and working on my heart. I was being moved toward that man.
I thought, "Oh no, God. Please no." I began to argue with God in my mind. I was thinking to myself and looking up at God. "Please, I know what's going on here. You want me to witness to this man, don't You? God, please don't make me witness to this man. Please, I'll do anything. I'll witness to him there, but don't make me get up here and go witness to this man."
I don't have a problem witnessing -- sharing the gospel with someone. I love doing that. But he was a peculiar-looking man and everyone was looking at the peculiar-looking man. As I was staring down, trying to keep my concentration on the Word and trying to have this argument with God, I felt Him move upon my heart. When I say God spoke to me, it wasn't audible -- it was in my heart. I always know it's God it it's consistent with His Word, I'm in the spirit, and it's out in left field. I'm still thinking, "God, please don't make me witness to this man. Not now! I'll do it on the plane, if You'll put us on the same plane."
God spoke as clearly in my spirit as I would talk to you. "I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."
I dropped my chin, looked back up at God, and said, "I want You to know I am ready to witness to this man. I am on this man, Lord! You have never seen a woman witness to a man faster. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess or not if he is not redeemed? I am on this man."
"That's not what I said, Beth. I do not want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."
I looked up at God and thought, Well, I don't have a hairbrush. I mean, I spray my hair and that's it!
But as I started walking, I could hear Him saying, "I will thoroughly furnish you in all your works."
I walked up to the man and knelt in front of him and I whispered, "Sir ... may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"
He looked back up at me and said, "What'd you say?"
"May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" I spoke a little louder.
He said, "Little lady, if you want me to hear you, you're gonna have to speak a little louder than that."
So I said, "Sir, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?" At this point every eye in the airport turned straight into my face. I could feel my face turn crimson; it was burning.
He looked up at me with absolute shock and said, "If you really want to."
I thought, No, I don't want to ... I don't want to, but I replied, "Yes sir. I would be so pleased, but I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."
He said, "I have one in my bag."
I went around to the back of that wheelchair and I got down on my hands and knees, and began lifting out undershirts and pajamas. I finally came to the bottom of the bag and found the hairbrush. I stood up and started brushing his hair. It was clean, but it was tangled into mats. But I had experience and I began brushing at the bottom.
A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing his hair. Everybody else in that place disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and brushed until every tangle was out of his hair. I walked around him and put my hands on his knees and got down on my knees in front of him. I said, "Sir, do you know Jesus?"
He said, "Yes I do. That figures ... that figures. I've known him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior. See the problem is I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself 'What a mess I must be for my bride.'"
I'll never forget it. Soon the airline hostess came to get him and we said our good-byes. Sadly, we were not on the same plane and I wish we had been. I was very ashamed of how I had acted. The stewardess rolled him onto that plane, and I still had a few minutes to wait. When she came out, tears were streaming down her cheeks.
She said, "That old man sitting in the plane is sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"
I said, "Do you know Jesus? He's the bossiest thing!" I was able to share the gospel with her.
I learned something that day that I will never forget. He knows if you're exhausted, if you're hungry, if you're serving in the wrong place, if it's time to move on, or if you just need your hair brushed. God knows your need. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need.

By Beth Moore


Wash their feet, Brush their hair, Help em get clean ...

Sounds a LOT like what God did/does for us.

IF you ever get tired of dealing with em ... Ask YOU this.

Would you want God to get tired of dealing with YOU?

Will YOU continue to show this UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for HIS "dirty" children?

YOUR TURN ...

Luv all of ya

[Mackenaw]

Hello O-meister

God bless you this day.

I've had the pleasure of hearing Beth Moore share this, via the TV, and I've re-visited that sharing several times. I still cry when I listen to her share the story. I teared up, again, reading it just now.

I'm once again, convicted, and I'm once again inspired. Thank You Holy Spirit.

God bless you, O-meister.
Love,
Mack

[dantyriverside]

Oh CO What an awesome testimony. It just goes to show we need to listen when he speaks and stop argueing. Thank you for sharing it really touched me.

luvs
danty

[Timothy]

God's Love Letter

My Child,

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

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[ServeGod]

When we are asked to do Gods will, we must be bold and just do it, no questions about it. Sometimes it can be just a humble act.

Hey Timothy so loved God's Love Letter. I had to print it... thanks...awesome

[Timothy]

There are some who are afraid of us.
There are some who are jelous of us.
There are some who want to be like us,
but don't know how.

Can we be the example?
Can we put our arm around them and point them in the right direction?
Can we hold their hand, share The Love with them, and show them how?

Thats part of why I kept coming back every day that first year, to see how to do it.
Ha. To be honest. Thats part of why I still keep coming back, to see how you all do it.

[Gods Sheep]

Here is Beth Moore telling her testimony on youtube. That very same story you just typed out. But you have to watch her play it out.

THE HAIR BRUSH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtk5WgzZcYA


Here is another testimony from Beth Moore when she was on one of her mission trips
MISSION TRIP TO AFRICA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... o5JvDEGU78


and another one. The Voice in the dark.

VOICE IN THE DARK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtLU93In ... ure=relmfu