Tag: sickbed

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. 

6.d. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says

Revelation 2:18  “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

What defines a good church?  One might include a definition with ministry to others, loyalty, love, patience, faith, and maturity.  These would all be good for someone to say about a church corporately and as an individual within that church.  The church is made up of individual people who have individual faith in Christ and to hear that corporately they are living out their faith in Jesus Christ in a way that honors Him is a testimony to their individual intentional choice(s).  Thyatira was such a church but some had allowed false teaching to pull them into sexual immorality.  Some had tolerated a false teacher and self-proclaimed prophetess.  In this toleration, they were seduced into following her. Jesus declares they were given time to repent but they chose not too.

Do you ever wonder what each of us might be tolerating in our lives and walk with Jesus Christ?  Do you ever wonder if you might be disregarding warnings from the Holy Spirit?  Do you ever wonder if you have shut your ears to hear those whispers of repent, turn away, and confess?  Do you ever wonder if your eyes have been blinded by cultural tolerances?  Do you ever wonder if you have stepped over the line and don’t know it?

Each of us will do well to seek and desire to honor Jesus Christ.  David put it like this; “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” When our heart’s desire is to be faithful and Jesus honoring, our ears and eyes being open to hear and see both what we should do and what we should not.  Listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to your heart, mind, and soul.

Who is more Blessed?

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor!”

“It is more blessed to give than to receive”

Psalms 41:1  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.

Deuteronomy 15:10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Isaiah 58:7  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?  Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,  if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

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

Ecclesiastes 11:1  Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.  Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

2 Corinthians 9:8  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.”  He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

Acts 20:35   In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Luke 14:13  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Matthew 25:34  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

Learn to Give out of a generous heart.  Learn to Help out of a generous heart.  Giving is an act of obedient responsibility but to many it is missing from their lives.  There is blessing given deep into the heart of a generous giver.  This blessing comes from God and it is knowing He has given to you and allowed you to be used by Him to share.  He honors a generous heart with Joy in giving that can not be easily explained but it is very real in the lives of those who learn to listen to God and give generously and with purpose.