Kusuma Website

John 3 : 16 - 18

In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A
little boy was selling newspapers on the corner; the people were in and out
of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t trying to sell many
papers. He walked up to a policeman and said, “Mister, you wouldn’t happen
to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would
you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the alley
and it’s awful cold in there for tonight. Sure would be nice to have a warm
place to stay.”

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, “You go down the
street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they come
out the door you just say John 3:16, and they will let you in.”
So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, and a lady
answered. He looked up and said, “John 3:16.”
The lady said, “Come on in, Son.” She took him in and she sat him down in a
split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went
off.

The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself: John 3:16…. I don’t
understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.
Later she came back and asked him “Are you hungry?”
He said, “Well, just a little. I haven’t eaten in a couple of days, and I
guess I could stand a little bit of food.”
The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of
wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn’t eat any more. Then he
thought to himself: John 3:16… Boy, I sure don’t understand it but it
sure makes a hungry boy full.
She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm
water, and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to
himself: John 3:16… I sure don’t understand it, but it sure makes a
dirty boy clean. You know, I’ve not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole
life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old
fire hydrant as they flushed it out.

The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room, tucked him into a big
old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight
and turned out the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the
window at the snow coming down on that cold night, he thought to himself:
John 3:16… I don?nderstand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested.
The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again to that same
big table full of food. After he ate, she took him back to that same big old
split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible.
She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face. “Do you
understand John 3:16?” she asked gently.

He replied, “No, Ma’am, I don’t. The first time I ever heard it was last
night when the policeman told me to use it.”
She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain to him about Jesus.
Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life
to Jesus. He sat there and thought: John 3:16. . . I don’t understand it,
but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe. You know, I have to confess I don’t
understand it either, how God was willing to send His Son to die for me,
and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don’t understand the agony
of the Father and every angel in heaven as they watched Jesus suffer and
die.

I don’t understand the intense love for ME that kept Jesus on the cross
till the end. I don’t understand it, but it sure does make life worth
living.

Author Unknown

John 3:16-18
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but
that the world through him might be saved.
18. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

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Lunchtime Prayer

A minister passing through his church
in the middle of the day,
Decided to pause by the altar
and see who had come to pray.
Just then the back door opened,
a man came down the aisle,
the minister frowned as he saw
the man hadn’t shaved in a while.
His shirt was kind of shabby
and his coat was worn and frayed,
the man knelt, he bowed his head,
then rose and walked away.
In the days that followed,
each noontime came this chap,
each time he knelt just for a moment,
a lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister’s suspicions grew,
with robbery a main fear,
He decided to stop the man and ask him,
“What are you doing here?”
The old man said, he worked down the road.
Lunch was half an hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time,
for finding strength and power.
“I stay only moments, see,
because the factory is so far away;
as I kneel here talking to the Lord,
this is kind of what I say:
“I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I’VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER’S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
DON’T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I
THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY.”
The minister feeling foolish,
told Jim that was fine.
He told the man he was welcome
to come and pray just anytime.
Time to go, Jim smiled, said
“Thanks.” He hurried to the door.
The minister knelt at the altar;
he’d never done it before.
His cold heart melted, warmed with love,
and met with Jesus there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart,
he repeated old Jim’s prayer:
“I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I’VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER’S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
I DON’T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I
THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY.”
Past noon one day, the minister noticed
that old Jim hadn’t come.
As more days passed without Jim,
he began to worry some.
At the factory, he asked about him,
learning he was ill.
The hospital staff was worried,
but he’d given them a thrill.
The week that Jim was with them,
brought changes in the ward.
His smiles, a joy contagious.
Changed people were his reward.
The head nurse couldn’t understand
why Jim was so glad,
when no flowers, calls or cards came,
not a visitor he had.
The minister stayed by his bed,
he voiced the nurse’s concern:
No friends came to show they cared.
He had nowhere to turn.
Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up
and with a winsome smile;
“the nurse is wrong, she couldn’t know,
that in here all the while
everyday at noon He’s here,
a dear friend of mine, you see,
He sits right down, takes my hand,
leans over and says to me:
“I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM,
HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP,
AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY,
I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY,
AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN
TODAY.”