God Loves Enthusiastic Givers
The Christians up in Corinth had initially expressed an enthusiastic willingness to help the believers in Jerusalem who were having a real rough time. When the Apostle Paul first mentioned it to them, they were eager and thrilled to help out. But then problems arose in the assembly in Corinth. False teachers started planting problems and rumors began to spread about Paul himself. Some hinted that Paul was up to no good and that he himself was money hungry. Who could trust his motives? Maybe he was milking the Christians. Whatever was being said in Corinth certainly threw a damper on their willingness to help out the poverty stricken believers in Jerusalem. They had been side tracked by internal assembly problems and their generous gift never materialized.
That’s the background for the two chapters in 2 Corinthians that instruct believers on spiritual giving. Yes – the Holy Spirit through Paul saw fit to devote considerable space to the single topic of Christian giving. Two entire chapters in 2 Corinthians deal with the subject. Here are two verses from that section:
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart,
so let him give;
not grudgingly, or of necessity:
for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work:
(2Co 9:7-8)
As a young person make it your life long desire before the Lord to be a generous and cheerful giver. The word for purpose in verse 7 is only used once in the New Testament. So it’s single mention makes it special. It means a predetermined plan of action – a conscious, voluntary choice made in advance that’s permanent and long term in nature. Have I spent much time on my knees before the Lord praying about how I can express the love of God to others by generous giving?
Our giving is to be for the right reasons - not because we ‘had to’ give or to receive pats on the back. No! Paul says God has a unique love for those who are happily committed to generous giving. Am I a cheerful (hilarious) giver - enthusiastically thrilled with the pleasure of giving? Giving without any hint of reluctance - giving with joy. Yes, we are to give ourselves to the Lord. And we are to give our time to the Lord and we are to give our talents to the Lord – but the context here are our treasures! God loves christians who happily help out others materially – whether it is directly with money or indirectly by making goods and services available to others in need. The context here is giving to help meet the temporal needs of poor Christians.
As a good Christian steward I am to give wisely, generously, joyfully and continually. Will you be the loser if you dig deep and give generously? Study verse 8. I will be a loser if I hang on to every cent, give miserly and give reluctantly and skimpily and only occasionally. Giving to others is an eternal investment and the dividends will be evident when your Christian life is reviewed and rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
To underscore the importance of giving, we are pointed to the Supreme Example in both chapters. Chapter 8:9 “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” Then the concluding verse of Chapter 9 is: “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable (indescribable) gift.” The gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. God cheerfully and without reluctance gave His Son for us – why shouldn’t we in turn be cheerful givers representing our great and giving God?
Forbearing and Forgiving Regardless
"Some things never change. Even the way he tilts his head and how he swaggers when he walks bugs me. When he sits down he gawks around as if to say: 'I've arrived. Does everyone see me?' Well, to put it mildly, he just gets under my skin. And besides, that turkey has never even apologized yet to me for saying that about my mother. He didn't just call her a gossiper, he called her a busybody - sticking her nose into everyone else's business. I feel like pounding him."
I just finished reading Colossians 3. In addition to all the sinful things that we are to abandon listed earlier in the chapter, verse 13 jumped off the page : '...forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel or complaint against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye...." As a christian I am to put up with, graciously endure and cope with others who may have a personality that I personally don't take to or idiosyncrasies I don't like. Look at how the Lord puts up with our manners, our insensitivities, our attitude, our lack of discipline or lack of focus, our procrastination in spiritual things. He puts up with us and loves us just the same. We are to show the same forbearance with other people - saved and unsaved alike. Forbearance is our christian duty.
Forbearing is one thing. Forgiving is another. Forgiving is sometimes harder to do. If someone has hurt me directly or indirectly, or wronged me or someone I love and they refuse to apologize or make it right, what is my attitude supposed to be towards that person? I am to get on my knees and forgive that person before the Lord and leave it there. PERIOD. So when I see the person the next time, I am not consumed with hate or bitterness. I can shake their hand, I can give them a smile, I can give pick up their handkerchief if it drops on the floor, I can hold the door open for them, or let them go ahead of me if the line up to the washroom is a long one. Yeah, even if the person in the wrong has not said they are sorry, or has not apologized, I am to forgive them before the Lord. That does not mean I am reconciled with him. It means I have forgiven them - reconciliation in the relationship will only result when the other person recognizes their wrong - but my own personal responsibility is to forgive regardless. On the Cross Jesus said to His Father: "Father forgive them...." I never read of any of the soldiers coming up to Him and saying they were sorry first. No. But The Lord Jesus did His part. Now it was up to the individuals how they wanted to respond to Christ's forgiving attitude.
Don't ruin another day of your life by failing to forgive that person. A christian who has an unforgiving spirit becomes stunted in their spiritual growth and often is wrecked by bitterness. You become more wrong before the Lord in your own spirit than the other person's wrong that originally caused the offence. Do your part before the Lord so your attitude is right. As for putting up with a person who bugs you, confess your intolerance and annoyance to the Lord and show forbearance. It is our christian duty. It is like Christ.
It's me. In case u don know who I am.
Think twice n commit to Him
Why? why you say so?
A young man ask God in prayer, " Lord why sometimes u are not answering my prayer? Why sometimes i think that u are not wit me? Why?"
This young man with a lot of WHY question. Well sometimes we are really act like this young man and sometimes we seem to ask a lot of why to God. But remember this, if God allow something to happen and He did control in everything. But we may not understand why He let such thing happen. Maybe He want u to be more stronger or others thing as well..... But He got His purpose.
Lord is watching us.
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8Psalm 121. Is an interesting Plasm and someone claimed it as song of climbing. Why? Check it out yourself :P.
Psalm 121: 5-8The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand;the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life;the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now n forevermore.
What's With The Ten Day Wait?!!
How long have you been waiting for the Lord to show you His will? Ten minutes? Ten hours? Ten days? Ten weeks? Ten months? What's with the lapse of time? Why doesn't the Lord jump when I snap my fingers? Why doesn't He answer as soon as I make the request?
Jeremiah, God's prophet during a very dark period in Jewish history had many reasons to weep. As conditions grew worse in the southern kingdom of Judah, Jeremiah was falsely accused of treason and was thrown into a sinking hole of mud. He was later rescued but things did not improve. On August 14th 586 B.C. Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonians, invaded and eventually destroyed. A remnant of Judah escaped and fled to Bethlehem. There they asked Jeremiah to pray for Divine direction.
"What is God's will? Should we stay here in Bethlehem or should we flee down into Egypt? Please, Jeremiah, we want to know God's will before we make any move."
Here is what they said to Jeremiah the prophet:
"Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us,
for all this remnant--because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us--
that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do."
Jeremiah 42:2-3
Jeremiah agreed to seek God's will on their behalf. They promised to obey God's will. So Jeremiah prayed for the Lord to reveal His will. Then he waited. Day one. Day two. Day three. What's taking the Lord so long to get back to Jeremiah with direction? Is He in a quandary Himself as to what to do next? Has He engaged an Angelic Consulting Firm to provide some options to pass along to Jeremiah? Day Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight - I guess you know how to count too. Has Jeremiah's request fallen between the cracks or gotten lost in the host of other things God has to do?
Day Ten arrives and God provides explicit directions to Jeremiah to pass along to the remnant. They were definitely NOT to flee down to Egypt. They were to stay put and God would fully take care of them. If they head down to Egypt – misery and death would be their portion.
The first lesson is – God is not bound to our calendars or clocks. He operates in a different 'time' zone for lack of a better word. He inhabits eternity. Secondly, He is not obliged to jump when we snap our fingers. Thirdly, He does not have to reveal His reasons for keeping us waiting and we know there can be no mistake in His timing because God is inherently good – not evil or malicious. Fourthly, the patient God organizes things to boost the patience-quotient in His people.
But the other major observation to be made from this story is the response of the remnant after they found out God's will. They chose to do their own thing anyway. Perhaps they were curious to know what God's will was and they initially said they would submit and obey. But then when they heard it – they chose to do what was already in their heart. William MacDonald in The Believer's Bible Commentary makes this observation:
Modern day christians often do the same thing: they ask God for guidance – and they often request counsel from parents, Sunday School teachers, elders, pastors, and others – yet their mind is already made up to do what they want. Unfortunately, such "seeking counsel" is all window dressing.
Are you waiting for the Lord to give you guidance on a matter? Allow Him to answer in His own good timing and when He does, be careful to fully submit and obey.
A Prayer
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, keep me watching,
That I may firmly stand
To Thy commondments faithful,
Kept by Thy loving hand;
That, freed from all temptation,
Preserved from every ill,
I may be daily treading
The pathway of Thy will!
Lord Jesus, keep me praying
And leaning hard on Thee,
That in Thy loving bosom
My resting place may be;
That I may learn more fully
The sweetness to Thy love,
And know in deeper measure
The things that are above!
Lord Jesus, keep me leaning
As sitting at Thy feet,
That I may be more lowly
And for Thy service meet;
For then, in blest dependence
On thee, my Lord and Friend,
I'll learn Thee in pathway
That will in glory end!
Gwyneth M.Bloomfield, 1945
The Meaning of my blog title
1 Thessalonians 4:3 says this:
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification…”
The Greek word hagiosmos (sanctification) clearly means to be set apart, separate from, distinct and holy. In the context of this verse, it means ‘set apart’ from all kinds of temptation. But there are many other New Testament verses that make it clear God wants us to be separated unto Himself in every dimension of our lives – and as far away from the principles, pleasures and pursuits that characterize this world as we can possibly be.
It’s a daily process. The more I dig into my Bible and spend time alone with my Lord in prayer, the closer I will be drawn to Him. The equation is simple: Closer to Christ – Further from the World. The more I get to know Christ daily, the less appealing the fun, fashions, fortunes and functions of this world will be to me. Which direction am I moving towards?
Lord may your Holy Spirit continue to remind us we're being set apart.
