HAND IN HAND! 7/17/10

REMEMBER WHEN you were a kid and you and your best friend would walk hand in hand? Many times you would walk with your arm aorund each others shoulders. Of course that was a hard one for me because I was always way shorter than any of my friends. As you grew older you would touch but didn't hold hands until you fell in love. Then you would walk with your new found love hand in hand.

I HAD A FRIEND in the fourth grade and by the fifth grade she had a boy friend. They would walk hand in hand. I can still see her as they walked around the playground. She seemed to always have a boy friend! I sang at her wedding shortly after highschool!

JIM HAS ALWAYS held my hand. It is an automatic movement of our arms that as we start to walk, our arms lift our hands towards each other. We connect simultaneously as though choreographed. He probably wants to hold my hand so I won't get lost but I want to hold his hand because it makes me feel so safe. I love the feel of his hand in mind!

HANDS ARE SPEAKERS OF OUR SOULS! They tell a lot about who we really are! They shout gentleness; firmness; quietness and even helpfulness. A man's handshake shows their physical strength and indicates their possible prowess. The looks of a woman's hands and the smoothness of their touch bespeaks their softness and their possible life of hardships.

A DOCTOR SOMETIMES looks at our hands because they can also help them to diagnose a condition. God looks at the works of our hands more than He see's their condition. Whether it is the Doctor or God we know that our hands are far reaching. I have a picture in my mind that shows the hands of God reaching out towards the world. I have this picture of Jesus walking hand in hand with me and my children. Do you see these mental pictures?

DO YOU KNOW what it means to become some ones right hand? Jim and I became each other's right hand when we married. I never realized that I was his right hand until I looked in God's word where a wife was to be a help mate. Do you ever see yourself as being some ones right hand? In the politcal arena the Vice President is basically the President's right hand. In business the Vice President or Principal is the President's or Principal's right hand. If you are the CEO, the board declares you as their right hand. A secretary is a right hand!

REMEMBER what happened when it was time for Jesus to ascend into heaven? Remember the disciples standing around Him; "So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God." Mark 16:19 Remember when the church began and our hero Steven was standing firm calling the movers and shakers of that day; "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did!" Acts 7:51

ONE OF THE SADIST DAYS in church history and yet one of my favorite stories is when they took Steven out and stoned him. "But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God!" Acts 7:55-56 WOW! An eye witness that proves to me that Jesus is where the scriptures say He is; at the right hand of God!

WHERE ARE YOU? Are you walking hand in hand with your spouse and your family? Are you standing firm as a witness to the Jesus who is standing at the right hand of God? Are you walking and talking with the one who has saved you and are you sharing the good news with those you love? as the Psalmist says; "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the works of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands." Psalms 90:17 Let's become the movers and shakers according to God's word. By Jane Ann Crenshaw 7/12/10