Dear all,

On sundaymorning, old Year, I heard an interesting message, out of which I give an epitome by now.
.......
The preacher, an older lady, said:

You all are acquainted to the following explanation of Matthew 25 v 14 - 30. I don't want for the moment to go through the whole story. But you know about the man who entrusted five talents to one of his servants. And when the owner of the talents came back, the entrusted servant told him very joyful.
"ÿou entrusted to me five talents. I have now, that you are coming to settle your accounts with us, a good result: I gained five more.

Now mostly these lessons are learned from this: if you go at work with the talents the Lord put in your inner person, you will observe, that you have far more talents than you thought at first. By serving the Lord you will become a more talented and wise person than you were before.

Now that is a good thought. Keep it in honour. But I have a new insight for you too.

Please read with me John 17 v 6 . There Jesus is saying:
"I have revealed you (God) to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word".

Do not you see a parallel with Matthew 25.
- The talents were from the owner, he entrusted them to his servants.
- The believers were the ownership of the Lord. He gave them to his servants.
- The man who won more talents , was praised and put in charge of very much in the kingdom of the Lord.
- Jesus, when ´settling accounts´with the Lord, could say:
"Now they obey your word". (They have been 'upgraded´).

Now this is my point for this morning:
All the people, with whom we come in contact are -so to say- our talents. We have the joyful task to ´upgrade´them all as far as possible , bring them nearer to the Lord and the good things of the Lord.

Have this look to your fellow-mankind in the new year coming:
- By serving the Lord you not only are 'upgraded´yourself.
- no...you have the possibility and the skill and the wisdom and the love and the joy and the friendship and the goodness and all these other splendid qualities of the Lord, to upgrade others.
By the mercy of the Lord you yourself has come from a dime to a dollar. You have the joyful duty and also the possibility to change others from a penny into a pound, (from a cent into an euro).
............
And I sat there and I thought:
"Oh....it is good to go to church and hear these nice words. If I had missed this service, I would not have been enriched, (Hebrews 10 v 25).

Now I have all the more courage to go on with ´Vraag het Ger´, (ask Ger), I have already spoken the word of God to one hundred thousand people (inputs) by the mercy of the Lord. And just yesterday a girl thanked me for comfort and said that it had enriched her.
Thank you Lord".

Now folks, this word is not only for us in Holland , but it is for you, worldwide.

Greetings
Ger