Generous

P 2247 Our generosity needs to abound.

/ DVH

In the Lord’s family, as His kids we need to be hallmarked by our generosity to others. Both those who deserve it and, yes … even to those who don’t! Judgment is not part of our new creation in Christ make-up – we left that on the cross. We need to be givers in the way we think, and what we give is not as important as our attitude toward giving. Our first response needs to be: “How can I pray? How can I help? What do they need?”

If we want to be like our Heavenly Father, our elder Brother Jesus, and the Precious Holy Spirit we must be sincere, generous givers. “God so loved HE GAVE …” Giving is Love’s expression! And if you don’t find it easy to give sincerely, then please don’t just give up and excuse yourself by saying … “God didn’t make me that way (!)…” And please don’t say that’s your personality type! “Ask and keep on asking …”  for it. Pray to give with an open hand and an open heart. I think we can so-oo misuse that asking prayer Jesus gave us. 

You know that particular verse is not just about asking for things … it’s also for the Godly traits we can see we lack! Ya might wanna selah that for a minute or two!  🤔 Jesus Himself gave humanity every minute of His spare time. When He was not talking to His Heavenly Father. He gave Himself to US.  Others – that’s our theme. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to help us with the practicalities. Like I said, this stuff is worth thinking about and acting on. 

Givers don’t have to think … how much? They ask the Holy Spirit … ‘how can I help, what do these people need?’ They are not worried about their own supply, because walking with the Lord has taught them that everything they need will come from Him. This life we live as Christians is about faith. Giving generously to others teaches us about faith in ways we cannot imagine. We will never live in lack when we realise that God really does supply all our needs.

And if we don’t have it, then we don’t need it!  I am not BTW talking about giving away everything you own and sitting on the curb! Although Heidi and Rolland Baker did that and found out firsthand that God has an endless supply. Now they live in His house not theirs – rice and beans may not seem like a meal fit for a king but it is nutritionally sound and they feed thousands daily. God Himself supplies that need – miraculously. 

Many Christians want to see miracles, and here’s what I’ve learnt personally – start out by being a giver. God loves givers because giving is a reflection of His nature. Be someone who actively looks for ways to bless other people. It doesn’t have to be always about money, it can be time, or service, or words of encouragement. Just actively find ways to be a blessing. Meanwhile, a free bit of advice, take the time to choose your words carefully – we can all give people the benefit of the doubt when they do something dumb. 

Last weekend our immediate family came around to our house to help hubby with the garden because at the moment, he only has one active hand – the other one is still in recovery mode. They worked like busy little bunnies making sure some very hard jobs were done. This is how you show other people that they matter, to God and you. Most people can say ‘I love you’ fairly easily – it’s doing ‘I love you’ that’s hard!

Everywhere we go, when we are on the road, people say to us: ‘We didn’t know God cared this much about us.’  Giving is His way to live this life we’ve been given. Unfortunately, dismissing other people’s needs, and their hopeless situations will harden our hearts. When that happens it get’s easy to think: ‘Someone else better equipped than I am will get that ‘- then you think: ‘I don’t have enough for my own needs’ … and then you think: … ‘well it’s really not my business anyway – those people should live more carefully.’ Aren’t there agencies to help them or something? Then finally you think: “I have my own family to look after.” Tada! One hard heart coming up. 

None of those excuses are illegitimate by themselves, but they are what I called them …excuses. Ask yourself, why do I have to make excuses about stuff like that?  Who do I really trust when it comes to money?  God, or my own ability to earn or save. Jesus reminded us that our Heavenly Father feeds the birds. Here is my final thought: the poor do not want our mangey old cast-offs anymore than we do! Please be a generous giver. Bless people. I promise you, it’s all over the bible. 👋🏻  

P 2238 Grace is our teacher.

/ DVH

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Titus 2:11-12 NIV.

Grace is more than an established spiritual fact. It is our teacher. To walk in His Grace we need to know what it looks like. The best way I can explain what I mean is to say this – that person who drives us utterly crazy is the very best person to reveal our heart to us. They do what we often cannot do, because we hide who we are even from ourselves. His Grace takes us deeper. God’s Grace is like a jet engine that kicks in and launches us into a whole new sphere of travel. Grace empowers us, it comes in and it goes out. We can’t produce it, and we need Him and His help to live in it. Because of Jesus, we don’t have to be all that – He’s all that. He did everything He did for us … and for that annoying person/s too!

Grace is an attribute of God that teaches us about His very nature, Who He is and How deeply He loves. It also teaches us forgiveness, because none of us can truly forgive without knowing His Grace. The way to get GRACE is a great big reality rush. First of all we have to recognise and settle in our hearts that we are not perfect and now matter how much we try we ain’t ever gunna get there by ourselves! It is way beyond our capabilities, but He gives us His Grace freely. Jesus died to take the shame of our very real daily guilt away. And His Grace dives headfirst right down into the centre of our very being and shouts in the darkest places – “God loves YOU just as you are, and He loves you way too much to leave you there!” His Grace powers the engine of unconditional love.

His Grace focusses on His love for us, not our faults. Even our best efforts at godliness, forgiveness and kindness fall short of the way Christ Himself was. I exhort us all to read the bible looking for the Lord’s attitudes towards the people mentioned in it. God was not stingy in His actions toward our sinful plight …His Grace doesn’t have a ceiling. Read Ephesians 3:14-21. Our heavenly Father was generous beyond our need or comprehension. Grace is so solid, so permanent, so all encompassing that we can actually live in it. It is not just a ps on the bottom of our prayers, with us hoping like mad that we can somehow impress God with our repentance. 

Grace is Father God’s state of mind toward mankind, it is an outward expression of His great Goodness. His Grace rushes toward us like the mighty river Niagara rushes over those incredible falls. Grace does not hesitate! It thunders, it leaps and cascades over us. His Grace will not let any barrier come between us and our Maker. It utterly covers and saturates us. Always. Forever… I exhort you to put your ‘buts’  and “”ifs” down, because thinking about your failures will not allow anyone to jump in and soak in all that He has given us. 

I’m going to quote somebody I listened to this morning because they said it so well: “It isn’t just death to self, that’s the beginning. It is living in the resurrected new life He died to give us.” (Shay Arthur.) That’s GRACE at work. What we lay down and die to must be transformed by His Grace into a new way to live. We can now live in place of permanent ongoing forgiveness because God’s Grace released through Christ’s willing sacrifice, is simply THAT BIG. 

The Holy Spirit inhabits all the words in the bible. People split hairs over this meaning and that deep thought, but the bible goes beyond our comprehension and enjoyment – it feeds our very spirits. Something happens when we read His book. Grace for understanding is released. That Grace speaks to a part of us that the Lord made alive, and it broadcasts life in us, and from us. When we read we are looking for Him. His ways, His attitudes, His actions. We will fall in love with what we find. The bible is a book about our gracious, loving, beyond-our-comprehension Father, God. Don’t read it to know stuff – read it to find Him. 

We human beings don’t have this kind of Grace in us. Realising that is the first step toward being taught by Grace itself. It is when we understand – without any threat or fear of punishment – that we don’t have this kind of passionate love and acceptance in ourselves … then joy rises up. Grace is our teacher and our lesson. And knowing we can’t forgive and let things go, puts us firmly into the school of Grace… Choosing to stay in that school will transform each one of us utterly. Have an ace day, you are so loved by Him. 💖 👋🏻