OUR DAILY BREAD             Monday, June 12, 1995   
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READ:  Romans 12:9-16    


                    A HEARING MINISTRY

        "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep 
                  with those who weep."

                           -- Psalms 55-57  

A friend gave me an article that tells about an 
"organ recital" most people would rather avoid.  It
read like this:

"After a week in the hospital, a man cornered a 
neighbor one day and told him the results of his
experience.  His heart was in bad shape; his kidneys
and liver were barely functioning; his stomach was
in terrible condition.  'Before I could get away,'
said the neighbor to a friend later, 'I had listened
to a complete organ recital.'"

We've all had to listen to people who seem to enjoy
telling others every detail of their problems.  We
may feel sorry for them, but we also feel sorry that
we have to listen to their seemingly endless recital
of physical ailments.  

We need to ask the Lord for enough Christian love,
however, to be genuinely interested in the problems
of others.  This troubled world has a tremendous
need for friends who will be good listeners and 
will "weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15).  What
comfort and encouragement we may impart by being
willing to give a ready ear to someone who is 
suffering!  This can be a real service for Christ.

The Lord Jesus had a HEALING ministry.  With the
help of the Holy Spirit and with a compassionate
and understanding heart, we can have a HEARING 
ministry!
                        -- Richard W. De Haan

    Give me a heart sympathetic and tender,
     Jesus, like Thine, Jesus, like Thine;
 Touched by the needs that are surging around me,
        Filled with compassion divine.
                
                        -- Anon.

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          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 
-------------------------------------
  In a world that couldn't care less,
         we should care more.
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:   Psalms 55-57

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