I went to church on Sunday morning to get my cup filled. The music was inspiring, the fellowship was rich, and the sermon was powerful! Our pastor is beginning a sermon series entitled "Our Walk to Jerusalem". I'm excited about following Jesus to Jerusalem. Great music! Wonderful, loving fellowship! Soul-searching sermons!

On Monday morning, I walked out our carport door into our neighbour's yard and began my daily vigil of watching a construction crew remodelling my neighbour's house and recreating the yard. I watched some men manoeuvre heavy machinery, while others worked with small hand tools. In the process, I learned that every man (and woman) has a job to do. The heavy equipment operator could not operate the compound mitre saw, and vice versa.

I learned that curse words are a no-no on this job site, and that there has not been a beer can on the grounds from any sub-contractor during this year-long project. The full crew was there on Monday morning with their radio tuned to a gospel radio station. Their conversation centred around the Sunday worship service. I was really encouraged!

Lunch time came, and as I went back across the yard, I realized that these ordinary folks doing everyday work really "filled my cup" unexpectedly this week. I wanted to sing:

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

Because I can't sing a note, I settled for quoting today's verse, which gave reason for Richard Blanchard's now famous song. I also ran through my mind what Jesus said to the woman at the well in Samaria:

John 4:14 – Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. (NRSV)

Prayer: Our cups run dry from time to time, Lord, and not just on Sundays. Fill our cups again and again, we pray, in the sanctuary, in the home, in the workplace, or in the leisure of retirement. Amen.

I saw Paul's words to the church at Ephesus literally demonstrated in real twenty-first century life today, with full colour and complete sound. It seems to me that our Scripture, roughly paraphrased, says, "God ain't created nobody to do nothing! He has a job for each person." We may claim to be the wrong gender, the wrong age, or born on the wrong side of the tracks, or we may use one of a few dozen other excuses to avoid meeting the requirements of the job, but Paul says that Jesus ascended so that He might fill us with the gifts, which he then lists in today's verse. I'm convinced that if Paul were writing today, his list would be much longer.

The demonstration of this verse came while I watched with great interest as a concrete company poured the driveway for my neighbour's house. It was a work of art. Each worker had a job to do, and he did it. Each did not worry about the work of his friend. He did his own work. One man guided the cement chute from the truck. He moved it so that exactly the right amount of cement got to every area of the new driveway. Two men used cement hoes to semi-level the fresh cement. Another man followed with a straightedge that reached across the driveway, thus allowing him to level the cement. Still another followed with a long-handled (18-20 feet) trowel that reached all the way across the driveway without his having to walk in the wet cement, so he could put a nice pre-finish on the driveway.

We may be young or old. We may be rich or living on a meagre income. We may be female or male. God has a place for us in the work of His kingdom that will bless and enrich our lives. If we are physically handicapped, what an opportunity to do our work as prayer team members!

Prayer: O God, every one of us has a place in Your kingdom's work. Help us all to find our places. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Each Sunday morning, our pastor invites all the children to come to the front of the church for the children's time. There, they have a brief lesson on some biblical story, and the pastor leads the children as they pray together. It is a wonderful experience to watch, as a large number of young children hurry down the church aisle to join the pastor at the altar for this brief and simple time of "making disciples".

Obviously, the older children get more out of the lesson, while the younger ones often spend a good portion of their time waving to parents and friends, rather than listening to the pastor, but their day is coming.

I could not help but act like one of the smaller children today. My mind wandered. I did not hear very much of what the pastor said, because my mind was wandering around the church, thinking about all those precious parents who, in the privacy of their everyday life, are the real "disciple makers" to this group of children.

The children leave and go to the children's church program, but even the excellent, well organized children's church program is no comparison to the "disciple makers" at home, one-on-one, mommy and daddy, the best teachers in the world.

I thought what a blessed privilege God has given us to be "disciple makers", especially to our children and grandchildren.

Prayer: Dear God, remind us that when You called us to go and make disciples, we do not have to go very far to find a very good starting place. Amen.

The telephone rang, and when I answered, the little voice said, "Grand da da, I just wanted to let you know that me, mamma, brother, and Casey [the dog] are going for a walk. If you get scared, you can call us, and we will come right back."

The fact that she was going to be away from the phone while she was walking did not register upon her. What did concern her was that although her grandmother had come to bring her and her brother to our home, instead they had all gone for a walk, which left grand da da at home all by himself.

We are reminded in today's Scripture that we never walk alone, even to death. We may be walking down the burdensome pathway of sorrow, treading the painful road of teenage rebellion, plodding through the misery of illness, or living in the throes of the loss of a life-long mate, or any of a hundred other scary events in life, but we are never alone!

Prayer: O God, help us to see ourselves in Your hands, so that we do not fear what tomorrow holds, for we know Who holds tomorrow! Thank You for little children who remind us of eternal truths. We never walk alone! Amen.

In simple terms, the directions from my doctor, on a single sheet, said, "Do not eat any solid food today, and do not drink anything after midnight." That got my attention! Who does he think that he is? I am accustomed to three meals per day, every day — not huge meals (I'm not overweight) — but I'm used to three meals per day. Then it hit me: "Lord, half the world never ever gets three meals per day, and here I am complaining about missing one day, and that for health reasons!"

But that wasn't the end of it. God was into my inner being. "What about that nice house?" God knew that I knew that I live on the extreme outer fringes of the area where the massive storm Katrina devastated the southern United States last year. He knew that folks fleeing the storm came to our town seeking refuge. I bought some food and helped the shelter but did not offer a room in my nice house.

I remember the massive earthquake that used to be halfway around the world from my little town. Today, it seems to be across the street.

Right here in our little town, my wife has gone to help in our church's food bank. The people served by the food bank live from week to week on canned products — never seeing a steak or seafood platter.

Likely there is not a neighbourhood in the world that does not have a need for someone who will be a loving, caring, sharing person to meet desperate needs, not with acts that attract the attention of the world, but with simple acts that meet the needs of the few. Can God count on us?

Prayer: Lord, thank You for using such simple means to draw us to Yourself and to teach us Your lessons. Make us today into Good Samaritans in our towns. Amen.

I asked the Lord to make Saturday a blessed day. I wanted a day in which I could be a blessing to someone along life's way and find joy in the process.

My little "buggy" came to a halt at the Habitat for Humanity building site. I grabbed my walking stick and my tool belt. With some effort, my weak leg got out of the little car. I wanted to sing, "Fill my cup, Lord," but I figured half of my cohorts would leave on the first line, so I held back. God didn't wait. There were wonderful friends — some old and some new ones — all there donating their time. They ranged from little seven-year-old Jimmy to seventy-five-year-old Burns. It was hot, and the work was hard. There was a professional contractor to guide the stumbling work of us amateurs. He was donating his Saturday morning, after working all the week.

One of the older men was having trouble hitting the nails. Because of two brain surgeries, I have no use of my left hand, so my friend started a row of nails in the headers that we were building, and I drove the nails down.

Today's Scripture does not include "makeshift carpenters" along with pastors, evangelists, and teachers, but I believe that such persons are vitally important — and were included that Saturday.

What a Saturday morning! We had great fellowship, and took an opportunity, with help, to do a little to help someone else. I had the joy of feeling that God had filled my cup in a meaningful way.

Prayer: O God, You can take a boring or ordinary Saturday morning and fill it with joy and excitement and satisfaction. Make today count! Thank You! Amen.

He was barely seven when he arrived one recent morning at the building site (a project of our church to build a home for a needy family). He had his little tool box in hand, a bottle of water, a nail apron provided by a local building supply company, and a smile as wide as his face.

Quickly, he started shovelling dirt into a wheelbarrow. That's what an adult was doing. When he got his shovel so full that he could not lift it, his daddy loving and quietly helped him lift it. The wheelbarrow was soon filled, and little Jimmy jumped between the handles and prepared to roll it away, but obviously he could not move it.

I watched from a distance and wondered why the good father did not get the kid out of the way of progress. Instead, he walked up behind Jimmy, lifted the wheelbarrow, and together, they rolled it to the proper location, with the daddy being very careful to allow Jimmy to carry as much weight as he possibly could.

I saw a child off the streets, not bogged down in questionable television programs, building a priceless relationship with his daddy. I saw a daddy who loved his son so much that what the rest of us thought did not matter to him. He was busy "training a child" — he will never regret it, and the child will never forget it!

Prayer: Father God, you love us as children. Help us to love each child like You love us. May our love include teaching them to love You by word and example. Amen.