From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 12/28/2018
Dear Ones,
A farmer once asked me, “What are you going to do differently next year?” His question challenged me. He was asking what new practices I was going to adopt in my occupation of farming. He could also have been asking what practice I would abandon. This question could be asked of every area of our lives. The relationships we have with our spouse; children; neighbors or our God, may need to be adjusted or changed.
Paul in his letter to the saints at Ephesus wrote of our other vocation: “I. . . , beseech [urge] you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1). All of us are called to be servants of God; priesthood and non-priesthood, members and non-members.
How can we serve God? King Benjamin answers this question: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 1:49). Once again, Jesus is our prototype; our example. He has been called the suffering servant based on Isaiah 53. Paul wrote of the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10). Are we ready and willing to enter this fellowship?
If we have no apprehending vision of our calling to be like Jesus; a suffering servant, it is highly unlikely that we will even try to attain this status. John wrote “. . . because he laid down his life for us . . . we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). “. . . we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2).
Jesus came to minister. He said, “Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister . . . whosoever will be chiefest, shall be the servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
As I returned from work on the evening of December 17, 2018, I found some items on the railing of the ramp leading into our home. The items included: a loaf of banana bread, a Christmas card, a note and a towel. The note read: “Love you both, with hugs, Mary.” We know several Marys. The Mary who came bearing these gifts is still a mystery. I believe this may have been her intention. With the towel, there was a message titled:
The Towel
At first glance, one looks at a hand towel and thinks, “Great, a new towel. I needed a new one.
The old ones look pretty sad.” Have you ever stopped to think that for years; even thousands of years, the towel has not only been used to dry our hands and face and dishes too, but for many other purposes?
Take for example, the mother who wipes the tears of a little child to soothe the physical and/or
emotional hurt; the physician who binds the wound of a bleeding patient; the woman in her home wiping her hands as she moves from task to task; or the weary laborer who wipes the sweat from his brow.
Remember the quiet night in a humble stable many years ago. Mary, filled with wonder, lovingly
wrapped Baby Jesus in swaddling clothes or “towels.”
Perhaps the most significant use of the towel was more than 2000 years ago when a loving Brother
took an ordinary “towel” in His hands and dried the feet of His disciples only hours before His crucifixion.
Yes, the “towel” is a handy item with a multitude of uses, but it also has deep symbolic meaning
when seen in the hands of the Savior doing works of kindness for his fellow man.
Art Katz, a descendant of Judah, has often shared the testimony of his conversion to Christianity. As a young man he had gone to Europe seeking for philosophical answers. He wondered about the meaning of life. He was hitch-hiking across Germany. It was a cold, rainy day and he was stranded along the road. He was shivering and cold when a man stopped to give him a ride. The stranger took him to a restaurant and purchased him a warm meal. During their conversation the man who had befriended him asked; “Do you know what this world needs?” Art responded: “No, what does this world need?” The man who had been so good to him answered: “What this world needs is people who are willing to wash one another's feet.” This was the answer Art had been seeking! Later he wondered, was this stranger who had picked him up at the side of the road, a man, or an angel?
My Love to All, Francis Harper
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“And Jesus Increased . . .”
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). As we approach the end of 2018 and the beginning of the new year, accountants will be counting the gains and losses of the past year. Everyone wants to have an increase, especially in the business world.
Jesus expects us to be ever-increasing, especially in spirituality. Proof of this is found in his well-known parable of the talents: “Now I will liken these things unto a parable. For it is like a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway went on his journey” (Matthew 25:13-15).
“After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh, and reconeth with them.” The men who had been given the five talents and the two talents reported an increase of 100%! These servants were complimented: “Well done, good and faithful servant(s) thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:19-23).
The one talent man had no increase to report. His Lord called him a “wicked and slothful servant” . . . and said, “Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mathew 25:26-31). This parable should leave little doubt in our minds about how the Lord expects us to handle the talents he has given us. We will be held accountable. He expects an increase. Are the spiritual gifts we have received bearing fruit? See Galatians 5.
Paul encouraged the saints “. . . to increase and abound in love one to another . . . to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more” (1 Thessalonians 3:12, 4:1). To abound means to increase. We need to be ever-increasing in all things; in our faith, our knowledge of God, our love for God and each other. We need to be constantly pressing on to higher ground.
Paul also used the word abounding in his message to the Corinthians: “As ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7).
Most of us have observed the growth rings on the stump of a tree. Every year another ring is added until the tree dies or is cut. The rings vary in width year to year, measuring the amount of growth. We need to add a little new “wood” each year. We need to keep growing lest we die!
Jesus asked: “What manner of man had ye ought to be? He answered his question by saying, “Verily, I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 13:5). Jesus is our prototype. When God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” was he speaking only of our similarity in physical features. Above all, we were created to be like them in spirit and personality.
In an early hour of December 16, 2018, I awakened with this thought: “Let thy life in mine appear.” I wondered about the source of these inspirational words. Were they written in Scripture? I thought perhaps they were the words of a campfire song or hymn. As I meditated I turned to check the time. It was 3:33 A.M. I knew the Lord was reminding me that our daily prayer should be “Let thy life in mine appear.” Later as I opened our hymnal, in an effort to find the source of these inspired words, I discovered it had immediately opened to the precise page of the hymn containing them! (Gracious Spirit Dwell With Me. Hymn 242. Hymns of the Restoration).
Surely the Lord is calling us to become increasingly more like Jesus, day by day, throughout the coming new year.
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