keeps – Praying Pint

25.r. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked”

2 Corinthians 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

Psalms 41:1-3    Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;  the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.  The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.

Proverbs 11:24  One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Proverbs 19:17    Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 22:9    Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Galatians 6:7-9  Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

A farmer sowing seed may feel he loses seed as it falls from his hand to the ground, and we may feel we are losing when we give. But just as the farmer gives the seed it in anticipation of a future harvest, we should give with the same heart.

What do we reap when we give? We reap blessings that are both material and spiritual. Materially, we can trust that God will provide for the giving heart. The promise of Philippians 4:19 (my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus) is made in the context of the generous hearts of the Philippians (Philippians 4:15-18). If we give to God, He will give to us materially. Spiritually, we can trust that God will reward the giving heart both now and in eternity. Jesus spoke to this in Matthew 19:29: And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. Jesus obviously did not mean that we would receive a hundred houses if we gave up our house for Him any more than He meant we would receive a hundred wives if we gave one up for Him! But He did mean that we are never the losers when we give to God. The Lord can never be in debt to any man, and we should never be afraid of giving God “too much.” Spiritually or materially, you can’t out-give God. Every Christian should be a giver. Because of small resources some cannot give much but it is still important that they give, and that they give with the right kind of heart.

Giving should be motivated by the purposes of our own heart. It should never be coerced or manipulated. We should give because we want to give and because God has put it in our own heart to give. This can also be said in the sense that our giving reveals the purposes in [our] own heart. If we say we love the Lord more than surfing, but spend all our money on surfboards and do not give as we should to the Lord’s work, then the way we spend our money shows the purposes of our own heart more accurately than our words do. Jesus said it simply: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. God does not want our giving to be grudging (reluctantly, regretfully given with plenty of complaining) or of necessity (given because someone has made us or manipulated us into giving). Some people talk of the tithe as what they are giving but this I think is wrong. The tithe was an expectation God has place on us. Giving is separate from that. Giving is not given because it is an expectation but freely from the heart. Give some thought to this and ask God to reveal if you are giving out of love for Him or out of expectation.

The LORD is your keeper

Psalms 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalms 146:5-6 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;

Isaiah 40:28-29 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

God is just as present in the journey as in the destination. The one who looks to the Lord can have confidence in the fact that God does not sleep. God’s watchful eye is always open looking with love and care upon His people.

“Nothing either of the day or night can harm us if God is keeping guard. God is our covering against every calamity. He is our shade against the visible troubles of the day as well as the hidden troubles of the night.” (Boice)

“Our soul is kept from the dominion of sin, the infection of error, the crush of despondency, the puffing up of pride; kept from the world, the flesh and the devil; kept for holier and greater things; kept in the love of God; kept unto the eternal kingdom and glory.” (Spurgeon)

“When we go out in youth to begin life, and come in at the end to die, we shall experience the same keeping. Our exits and our entrances are under one protection.” (Spurgeon)

We can trust in His everlasting, ever present, all powerful, faithful, limitless grace, mercy and love at all times. God never changes “He is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.” Hope and faith in God is never empty. It brings life’s purpose for today, a reason to look forward to tomorrow.

Yet I wait

Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalms 119:68 You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.

Psalms 119:90-91 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.

Exodus 34:6-7 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Romans 15:8-9 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”

Tit 1:1-3 their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word

When I read these verses of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to all generations I wonder what should be manifested in a life that believes this with all their heart, mind, and soul. What thoughts come to mind when trials, troubles, and issues run full force into our lives? Do I wait for the one who is my refuge, hope, rock, strength or do I fret, worry, and have thoughts of defeat and giving up? See the depth of faith in time of great fear; Habakkuk 3:16-18 I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.