I will hear what God the LORD will say; For He will speakpeace to His people, to His godly ones; Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in t he newspaper, he went to the office that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner of ice, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified. Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you for coming, but the job has just been filled.” The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!” The employer said, “I’m sorry, but the last several minutes while you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code. ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.” There is a lot of noise and clatter in our lives. Yet in the background, God is talking to us, constantly sending us His messages of love. u Lucas McKenzie woke at 6:00 Saturday morning. The bedroom was still dark. As much as Lucas would have enjoyed staying in bed a little longer, he was too accustomed to getting up early, especially when he had a busy day full of activities ahead. With eyes half opened, he rolled over and kissed his wife Kaitlin on the cheek and sprung upright like a rocket upon receiving the scare of his life. In return for the kiss on the cheek he gave his wife, Lucas received a yucky, wet slobbering kiss in return, along with a blast of morning breath so pungent it could have set off the fire alarm. If that wasn’t bad enough, whoever was in the bed next to him that he just kissed, had a beard. His heart skipped a few beats as his eyes popped wide open. His voice was a few decibels higher than normal as he said, “What in the world is the dog doing in our bed?” Kaitlin, still half asleep, but awake enough to sense what happened, had a little giggle in her voice as she said, “Good morning, dear. Do I still get my morning kiss, or would you rather kiss the dog again?” She told her husband, “I’m convinced you could sleep through a category five hurricane and the storm we had last night sure sounded like one.” The wind was fierce, and when a clap of thunder rattled every window in the house, she counted to ten. Kaitlin said she wasn’t halfway there before their children and their dog came running and jumped into bed with them. Lucas had a little smirk on his face when he said, “Well the kids can stay but the big ole dog, Bear, has to go.” He said he was relieved she was still the same lovable wife he loved and woke up next to every morning, giving her a kiss on the cheek this time. He laughed when he said at least her morning breath was a “little” better than the dog’s. Kaitlin grabbed the pillow and gave him a swat with it as they both were laughing now! Their children woke up, saw what was happening, and couldn’t resist joining the pillow fight with their parents. After a few minutes of fun and laughter, Lucas got up and went outside to see if there was any storm damage. About a dozen shingles had been blown off the roof. He drove to the local hardware store, came back home, and went to work. That evening, the family went to the Barnwell’s farm for the Saturday night get together. After Lucas told Bobby Lee, owner of the Rockton Street Market, about his day and what happened to him while he was repairing the roof, Bobby Lee smiled, and insisted Lucas tell these stories to everyone before the evening was over. Everyone was laughing when he talked about his morning kiss. Then he told the following. Lucas said he had finished nailing down the last shingle on the house and was starting to get onto the ladder when it slid and went crashing to the ground. He was about to fall off the roof but was able to grab on the rain gutter. Here he was, two stories off the ground, knowing full well that if he did not hold on with both hands and all his strength, the fall would be devastating. At that very moment, a man was walking past his house. Lucas yelled to him, “Hey, would you do me a favor?” The man replied, “What kind of favor?” Everyone laughed in disbelief. “Hmm, how many guesses did he need?”, they asked, still laughing at such a ridiculous response. “How could anyone be that oblivious?”, someone asked. Ashlin said she not only felt they could be that oblivious, but she also knew they could be. So many of her friends and people she encounters every day are so absorbed by their “I” phones and social media, it is as if the world around them doesn’t exist. She said it was like living in a world of robots with their “control” device always in their hand. Well, this experience wasn’t funny to Lucas then, but he could laugh now, especially since he was able to get the man to see his plight and set his ladder back up before he fell. By keeping our minds on the Lord and having a servant’s heart, we let our good works be a testimony to our faith in Christ. Not only should we jump at the chance to do someone a favor that is within our ability and in the Lord’s will, but we should also be looking for ways to serve others before being asked. Instead of what can you do for me today, asking others what can I do for you today will make you a blessing and answer to prayer to someone? u “Thus, also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead.” – James 2:17 15 GLAD TIDINGS DECEMBER 2025 ... And that pleases God; He delights in us knowing that we have faith in His Word. He also reminds us in Isaiah 55:11 that His Word does not return to Him void, without producing any effect, useless; but it shall accomplish that which He pleases and purposes, and it shall prosper in the thing for which He sent it. All through the Bible, God is trying to show us that His Word is the key to every issue of life. He encourages us to sow His Word (or His wisdom) into our spirits, so that we can know what to do in every circumstance of life; AND so that we can still be standing when all else is gone. u WHAT GOD SAYS - con’t Do Me A Favor by Christian Short Stories Psalm 85:8 Have a blessed Christmas and a joyful New year! Glad Tidings Newspaper ... on t hose around him, was impossible to miss. There was much he could have complained about. Instead, he chose the path of gratitude and service. As Melvin and I hugged and parted ways that December morning, I knew my holiday would be more focused — and more filled with gratitude — because of him. Once again, God had sent Melvin somebody to help! And as I pulled out of the restaurant parking lot onto the busy holiday street, I remembered my conversation with Carolyn the week before, complaining because it was raining and we had to go shopping. I had been so ungrateful. No more! By God’s grace, I was going to be intentionally grateful – like Melvin. A few weeks later, I caught a glimpse of my divine messenger, brooms over his shoulder, off on another adventure. I had no doubt he was counting his blessings and looking for the next person God was sending his way. On June 18, 2017, at 84 years of age, Melvin Pickens went home to be with the Lord. To see more on the inspiring story of Melvin's life, watch this segment of CBS "On the Road with Steve Hartman". GRATITUDE - Con’t Christmas
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