05-08
March 2018 – Pie Story – Manna by Dorothy Callies
Theme: I Never Knew You
Matthew
7:21-23 ESV (English Standard Version)
“Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many
mighty works in your name?’ And then
will I declare to them, ‘I never knew
you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ”
This
part of the verse “I never knew you” . . . really bothered me and I asked the
Lord, “How do I know that You won’t say that to me?” That was in 1969 when Tony
and I were guests of Tally and Clarence Christiansen of Rockford at their home
after our Evangelism tour during Christmas time. Tony had a job working second shift
at Listerine Company as a janitor six days a week. His only day off was on Sunday.
One
day I wanted to make a homemade “Perfect Apple Pie” and I was making dough for
pie shell and apples preparation, getting ready to put in oven. Meanwhile, Tony
came to me and wanted me to take the time to talk to him. He said to me, “Please drop it and sit down
and talk with me.” But I said that I wanted to please him by baking his
favorite apple pie to go with the early supper. He kept persuade me to talk
with him, but I ignore him and kept right on working on the pie.
His
time was running short and he only had an hour left to leave for work on the second
shift. While the pie was almost done
with baking, I only had the time to prepare food. Then supper and the pie were
ready to eat. So I told Tony that now I have time to talk while we are
eating. Tony said to me, “Yes, but the
time is too short. When I asked you to talk with me, it was more important to
me that you drop making pie. Now, I have to go to work and there’s no time to
talk more. The pie is fine but that doesn’t means I am pleased with the pie
alone. When I wanted to talk, you need to stop and pay attention to me. I need
that fellowship with you.”
Then
Tony left for work. I was shocked, down-hearten and disappointed that I wasn’t
really pleasing Tony at all with his favorite apple pie. While I was pondering
over what I had done, wishing I had listened to him more. I was crushed. Then I
sensed the Spirit of Jesus appeared and He spoke to me, “This is exactly
what I meant (Matt. 7:21-23). If you
kept this up, being too busy in the ministry like many people have, and when I
asked them to stop and pay attention to Me. I need your fellowship, your worship, your
taking time with My Word, get into the fellowship Me.
“But
when the people like Matthew 7:21 and 22, they were too busy doing the ministry
for themselves and being with people all the time. They were proud at what they do. They didn’t have time for Me at all. They
were not doing what My heavenly Father wants, His will, His plan. They did not
bother to check God’s will for them.
“So
that is the reason I said, “I never knew you.” It is a perfect example how Tony
felt about you is exactly how I felt with many people who called me, “Lord,
Lord, didn’t we do great work for you, huh?” Really? The answer is no, I wasn’t
pleased with them . . . Why? They didn’t bother to check with God’s Will. They
didn’t bother to check with Me. They
didn’t come to know Me personally and My Father’s will for their lives. So what do I do when they come to Me at the
last days? I simply said, “I didn’t have any relationship with you at all.” So
therefore they cannot enter into the kingdom of God because they are strangers
to Me.” Now, does that answer your
question? [End of Jesus speaking].
Prayer:
Yes, that answered my question, but oh Lord, please forgive me for ignoring you
like I ignored Tony had wanted just to talk with me. Like You just wanted the time to talk. Help
me to be sensitive to You and Holy Spirit and God, the Father and to learn His
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to spend more time with Your
Word. Help me to know You more than ever before. Help me to keep the fellowship
with You. Help me to keep my heart open to You. I asked Holy Spirit for help to
remind me, check with me and make sure I follow God’s will, God’s plan, and God’s
wishes for us. Thank You, Jesus for making Your Word clearer. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Thank You. Amen.
After
that, I felt Jesus comforted my heart and I was at peace. After that, I would meet with Tony, and I took
the time to fellowship with Tony before he goes to work on second shift. Later on when we moved to Bloomington,
Illinois, he had a day time job, Tony’s favorite time was early morning, we
would just talked for an hour. Soon
afterward, we would go out for breakfast and have fellowship together for an
hour before he goes to work. Tony just
love to chat with me and enter God’s presence with us. It was like heaven between Tony and me. Even to this day, we are doing it.
Now
the word, knew interests me to go further into study what Jesus meant when He
said, “I never knew you.” Knew actually meant it for relationship. It’s like Jesus would say, “I never had
relationship with you or fellowship with you.” I choose to type all of its
meaning from Franklin’s technology dictionary, Merriam-Webster. Because it
helps to understand what Jesus was trying to say about “knew.”
The
word, knew is a past tense of know. The word, know means:
1.
a: to have understanding of <know yourself>
b:
to recognize the nature of <knew them to be honest>
2.
a; to recognize the identity of <knew me by my walk>
b:
to be acquainted or familiar with <knows the city very well>
3.
a: to be aware of the truth of <know that the earth is round>
b:
to have a practical understanding of <knows how to write>
4:
to have information or knowledge <ask someone who knows>
5:
to be or become aware <knew about the problem>
Now,
what exactly was Jesus looking for? John 15:5 is the key when He explained what
He wants. “I am the Vine. You are the branches. Live in Me and I in you, we
bring fruit together. Without Me, you can do nothing.” This is about having
relationship with Jesus.
God
bless you real good!
Dorothy
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