“That Old Measuring Stick, Again…”

Jesus had been teaching to a large crowd… people had come from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. After healing many, Jesus began to teach things they had never heard of before… “love your enemies.”

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) “Forgive and you will be forgiven…” (here comes the measuring stick) “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38)

It never fails… if we want a “friend,” we must be “friendly.” If we want mercy (and Heaven knows I need it!) we must be “merciful…” Whatever you mete, or whatever you “give out of yourself,” it will be measured on “God’s measuring stick,” and it will come back to you. That time you stopped to help a person who had a flat tire on the road; someone will help you when you have trouble on the road.

When you give away “love,” people will “love you.” It’s like God’s giant “boomerang.” You throw it out, and it comes back to you! Sometimes, it is hard to be merciful to people who do wrong to you, but someday you will need “mercy” and God will measure it back to you. When you give, God measures it back to you even more than you gave. Some people wonder “why” they are never blessed… it is because they never “measured out anything.” They were stingy and they got “stingy” back.

We used to have a friend or rather an acquaintance… he was a pastor and was “well-to-do,” and he wanted to stay with us when he came to Haiti. But he hated the poor in Haiti. He never wanted to see any “poor people” when he came, and he never wanted to see our orphanage. He never measured out “love,” and he never gave to the poor.

One time, Bobby was talking to him on the telephone… he asked Bobby, “Where is your wife, Sherry?” Bobby said, “She’s somewhere in the mountains riding a mule to go somewhere.” The pastor said, “If you were blessed, like me, your wife would be riding a Mercedes Benz like mine!” Now, he has nothing because he never “measured out anything,” and we have a wonderful ministry in Haiti! Keep your heart open today and remember that God has a “big measuring stick!” What you send out comes back!

God bless you,
Sherry