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THE  DESIRE  OF  GOD

9/28/2017

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September 28, 2017                                     THE  DESIRE  OF  GOD
Colossians 1:9b-11 “we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
As we read this passage of scripture, internally we have to acknowledge whether or not it is a description of our life. These verses, and all of the first chapter of Colossians, are not just ‘pie in the sky’ verses, but are accurate depictions of the life that God has made available for every believer. What God has in mind for us and what God has made possible through Jesus Christ is almost beyond our imagination. We do not have to live with not knowing or not being sure of God’s will for us nor be aimless in life, because it is His desire for us “to be filled with the knowledge of His will,” and there is nothing more satisfying than knowing that we are living and operating in the will of God. Life itself demands that we make decisions, and how important it is to know the will of God for us as we make our decisions. There are times when we do not know exactly what the will of God is in a certain situation, but if it is our heart to do the thing that pleases Him, we can be confident that He will direct out steps. Life also presents opportunities where human wisdom and understanding is insufficient, but God will give us “spiritual wisdom and understanding” when our heart is turned to Him and when are desiring to do the things that please Him. By being filled with the knowledge of His will and by having spiritual wisdom and understanding, we can then walk or live in a manner that is worthy of the Lord, and thus “please Him in all respects.” When we live in the ways of God, we bear good fruit in everything we do, and we gain a greater knowledge of God. When it is our heart to please the Lord in all we do, we will be energized and strengthened with a power that comes-not from the gym-but form God! In the world in which we live there is strife and discord on every hand because man has rejected the ways of God; however, in the midst of the strife and discord, we can be steadfast and we can experience the blessings and the joy that come from walking in the ways of the Lord. Those who have placed their hope and faith in Jesus as their Savior have been adopted into the family of God and have been qualified to share in the inheritance that comes from God. Wow! We can thank God that we have been given all we need to overcome the world and to live in the light as His children in the midst of the darkness and to experience His joy in all circumstances. May we not live beneath our privilege as sons and daughters of God! God does not ‘sap’ so that we automatically have all that He has for us-it is our part to seek Him first.
Colossians 2:2-3: “that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom knowledge.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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NO  OPPORTUNITY

9/25/2017

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September 25, 2017                                  NO  OPPORTUNITY
Ephesians 4:24 “and do not give the devil an opportunity.”
James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
The devil is often given more credit than he deserves. It is true that Satan has a degree of power and shrewdness that he employs to deceive many, but Satan is not all powerful and God has placed limits on what he can do. (This is not the subject for today, but God is using Satan to further His purposes, and it is in God’s plans that we as believers learn to overcome Satan.) The old saying that “the devil made me do it” may be true for non-believers, but it does not have to be the case for believers. In Christ, we have been made overcomers and we have power over our enemy, the devil; we are no longer subject to his craftiness and deceit. Ephesians, chapter four, gives us practical instructions regarding how we are to live in this present world, and in the midst of these instructions, we find the statement “do not give the devil an opportunity.” We rob the devil of the opportunity to do us harm or cause us to turn from God by choosing to live as unto the Lord. Giving the devil no opportunity, requires that we not only resist him in our mind and our thought processes, it also requires that we actively align our lives, our actions, with the teaching of the scriptures. (James 4:7 tells us to “submit therefore to God”-and it means just that.) When we live in a way that is contrary with the gospel, we then give the devil the opportunity that he is looking for to have his evil influence in our lives. (As said in a previous blog, Satan cares nothing about us personally-his real desire is to thwart the purposes of God as revenge toward God.) Let us know that because we are in Christ, we have the power and the authority to live as unto the Lord, and by doing so, the devil will have no opportunity in our lives. Let us read Ephesians, chapter four and five, and put in practice today what we read!
Ephesians 4:14-15: “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,”
Blessings,
Buddy
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BE  FILLED

9/22/2017

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September 22, 2017                                    BE  FILLED
Ephesians 5:18 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Acts 13:52 “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 11:24 “for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.”
(FYI—dissipation is defined as “a descent into drunkenness and sexual dissipation,” “squandering of money, energy, or resources.”)
Perhaps we have so often heard the admonition “to be filled with the Spirit,” that we find ourselves neglecting or failing to actually be filled with the Spirit. Obviously, we cannot live or experience the power of God apart from being filled with His Spirit. Even though being filled with the Spirit is essential if we are to live according to the gospel, there is little teaching on how to be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is not a matter of following ‘ten easy steps’; being filled with the Spirit is an issue of the heart.  Simply put, as believes, we are filled with the Spirit by dying to ourselves and yielding ourselves to God and putting on the new man that we are in Christ. Dying to ourselves has to be more than words or just a mental exercise, but has to be a de-throning of self, or a putting to death the deeds of the body as Romans 8:13 instructs us to do—“for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  Being filled with the Spirit is something we do, yet it requires more than just a rational decision on our part. A common thread in being filled with the Sprit is that of having a supreme desire and hunger to know God and to be filled with His presence. Now, the question comes as to how does being filled with His presence become our supreme desire. This question brings us to the heart of the issue in being filled with the Spirit, and that is the love of God. We may know the scriptures, we may have been in church all of our life, and we may be in ministry, but still not have experienced the love God has for us in a personal way. Again, the big question is-how do we experience the love of God? Again, no ten easy steps, but there are some things we can do to make ourselves good candidates to experience His love. For a beginning, we can focus on getting to know God for who He is, and ask God to reveal truth to us as we read the scriptures and spend time meditating on what we read. Very importantly, we must choose to obey and put into action what we read in scriptures-this demonstrates that we want to know God and that we are submitting ourself to Him. It’s good to speak out loud, to verbalize the word of God and our desire to know Him, to worship Him through music and worship him with our life style, and to become engaged with a body of believers who also want to experience God. As we pursue God, He will take note and He will respond to our heart’s desire to know Him. The amazing thing is that even the desire we have to know Him, is an evidence of His love and of His drawing us to Himself. It is the love of God that re-deems us, that makes us new, and that gives us a hope and a future. God has established a principle-those who seek Him, find Him. So, yes-if we are a believer, we can be filled with the Spirit just as the early believers were. And we can be filled with the Spirit because God has already demonstrated His love for us, and He is presently drawing us to Himself. 
Ephesians 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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BEING  A  SERVER

9/20/2017

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September 20, 2017                            BEING  A  SERVANT
Mark 10:42-45 “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
This section of scripture is another clear example of how the lives of followers of Jesus as depicted in the gospel are in sharp contrast to the ways of the culture in which we live. The tragedy however is that many professing believers have at least to some degree have bought into the world system. It is the way of the world for one to fight his way to the top, or to a place of having authority over others, and to admire and recognize those who have gained a place of power and authority. For a believer to have a place of authority in their employment, or in the church is not in itself a bad thing and is not in conflict with the gospel. The critical issue is how one comes to a place where he has authority. If in a believers heart there is a desire to have authority over others, there is a problem. The SOP (standard operating procedure) for the believer is to be that of serving--no matter of the position held. The CEO of the largest organization or the pastor of the largest church should have as their motivation and their heart desire to serve those in the organization or in the church. And, this ‘serving mindset’ should be the real deal-not just in word only. The test for those in authority is whether or not they have the best interest of others in heart over their own best interest. Jesus, our example to follow, had all authority, but He emptied Himself and became a servant (Philippians 2:7). Even though Jesus came to serve and give His life for others, He was exalted by His Father and by those who believed in Him, and He was given authority and was seated next to the Father in heaven. In contrast to the world, to serve does not denote weakness, but on the contrary, denotes strength and character-providing the serving is done in the right spirit. If we see the needs of others more important than our own needs, then serving becomes our natural response. Let us today take on the role of a servant and find ways to serve our spouse, our neighbor, our friends, the clerk at the store, and those at our place of employment. As we serve, we can trust God to meet our needs-and He will. The body of Christ (the church) will stand in contrast to the world when those who make up the church prefer others over themselves, who because of their love for each other, serve one another—what a contrast to the ways of the world!
Matthew 23:11 “The greatest among you will be your servant.”
1 Peter 4:10 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in various forms.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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ENSLAVED  OR  FREE ?

9/17/2017

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September 17, 2017                              ENSLAVED  OR  FREE ?
Romans 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
It’s a paradox-we are free, and yet we are enslaved! Our freedom is that we have been freed from bondage to sin and bondage to living according to our old self-who we use to be before being made new. In the past we were bound to harmful thought patterns, harmful and wrong actions, wrong responses, wrong motives, wrong priorities, focused on self, and etc. As we come to understand or true identity in Christ, we discover the freedom that only He can give. We were not set free to do whatever pleases us or gratifies our flesh, but we were set free to be who God intended us to be. As we grow in the faith and as we realize that we get the most satisfaction when we do the things that please Him, we find that the desire to please our self wanes, or becomes less and less appealing. The major issue in all of life is that of whether we are enslaved to self (sin) or enslaved to God. The shocking truth is that we can be involved in bible study, can pray daily, can be involved in church, or may even be in ‘full time’ ministry, and yet be living according to self, or the flesh. Human nature is to focus on self-to do the things that please us. Dying to self may be the last thing we want to do, but the heart of the issue is that God desires that we die to our self and be alive unto Him. God has no desire to make us miserable or rob us of enjoyment, but He knows that only when we die to self, can we experience life as He intended and life to the fullest. We must recognize the lie that tells us that we have to make ourselves happy-or fulfilled. Dying to self seems like such a major issue and something difficult to do, and we may find ourselves struggling daily with trying to die to self. However, dying to self is not difficult once we taste the life that comes from knowing God and knowing who we are in Him, and once we know our inheritance that we have in Him. Dying to self becomes a no-brainer-it’s like deciding whether we had rather have an old worn out bicycle as a means of transportation, or a brand new automobile-- but, if we know nothing about automobiles, we will find the bicycle as our mode of transportation! Even as believers, we must understand that our salvation is more than a ticket to heaven-our salvation is about being transformed from the inside out where we discover that our life is in Him and from Him. In Him, the old things die and all things become new. Becoming enslaved to God brings about the most satisfying life possible. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the power to die to our old self and the power to live as unto the Lord. It sounds rather simple, but because we are in Christ, as believers, we have the choice of dying to ourselves. Let us reject the lie that says that by satisfying self, we will be fulfilled. Instead, let us learn of Him, let us discover who we are in Him and who He is in us-when we do, we will find that being enslaved to Him is the greatest thing ever.
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Romans 8:13 “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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THE  LORD  GAVE  ATTENTION

9/14/2017

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September 14, 2017                               THE  LORD  GAVE  ATTENTION
Malachi 3:16, 4:2  “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.”
“But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”
Malachi, is an Old Testament book, and the theme is about God’s love for His people. The Old Covenant records God’s dealing with His people in the natural, or physical, and it is a picture, or type of what is to come in the New Covenant. The physical blessings that came to those in the Old Covenant are pictures of the spiritual blessings that would come to those living under the New Covenant that Jesus inaugurated. (This does not mean that those under the New Covenant will not experience physical blessings.) By reading the Old Covenant, we get a good view and understanding of the heart of God for His people-and that has never changed. In the verses for today, we find that God ‘pays attention’ to those who fear Him. This fear is not what we think when we hear the word ‘fear,’ but refers to honoring, respecting, and acknowledging God with the idea of obeying Him because He is God. Note that some of the people “spoke to one another” about the Lord-“and the Lord gave attention and heard it.”  The obvious question for us is whether or not we find ourselves talking about the Lord with others; this is a crucial question because it is true that we talk about what is important to us. Do we ‘esteem’ (respect and admire) the name of the Lord? Great blessing come to those who fear the Lord and esteem His name. When we begin to see and experience God in a personal way, we find that we are changed from the inside out; old desires and old thought patterns are replaced with new desires and our thinking process is redeemed, or made new. Knowing and experiencing God brings about in us a sense of wellness and being whole, or complete, and a realization that He is more than sufficient for life. Apart from God, we are imprisoned to ourselves, in bondage to sin and darkness, and without genuine hope, but it is God’s desire for us to be free. The freedom that comes with knowing God has no bounds and is available to all believers. Galatians 5:1 tells us “It was for freedom that Christ set us free.” The picture of calves skipping about when let out of the stall is a beautiful picture of the freedom that God brings about in us. I have actually seen calves being let out of a stall, and they do indeed ‘skip about’ once they are out of the stall! Living in the stall is not what God has in mind for His children. God sent His Son to pay the price of our sin in order that we might be saved and set free from all that binds us and keeps us imprisoned. The one thing in life in life that makes us whole and sets us free is knowing and experiencing God in a personal way-it’s just that simple! As we live our life from day to day, may we indeed “skip about like calves from the stall.”   
Psalm 145:19 “He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Blessings,
Buddy    
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WHO'S  LEADING

9/12/2017

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September 12, 2017                                          WHO’S  LEADING ?
Romans 8:2, 12-14 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”
As believers, we must live with the realization that we are more than flesh and blood-we are spiritual beings who temporarily have a fleshly body, and we must also realize that at any given moment, we are living either according to the Spirit, or according to the flesh. Before we came to know Christ as Savior, our only choice was to live according to the flesh, unredeemed, and in bondage to sin and death. Christ came and suffered, and gave His life in order to free us from sin and life according to the flesh. Only in Christ do we find true freedom and only in Him can we experience life to the fullest. When we live according to our own dictates, when our focus is on self-fulfillment, and when we live according to our own understanding, we are living according to the flesh-or self. When we are sensitive to the leading of the Spirit within us, when we are desiring to do the things that please the Lord, when we acknowledge that we are not our own but that we belong to Him-then we are walking according to the Spirit. We cannot walk according to the Spirit by our own strength and will power, but only by the power of the Spirit of God that indwells us. What a blessing that we have been adopted into God’s family, have been made new creations with new hearts and minds, have been given a new nature, and have been joined to God for all eternity!  No longer are we in bondage to sin; now we have power over sin (Romans 6:6). The key is that we have the power to recognize, and to put to death the deeds of the flesh-the old person we use to be. (The ‘flesh’ as used in scripture is referring not to our physical flesh, but to rule of self in place of the rule of God.) It’s all about who is leading, or who we are following-self, or the Spirit. The truth we must grasp is that living according to the flesh always leads to death- emotional, mental, spiritual, even sometime physical death, and a void of life as God intended, whereas living according to the Spirit always leads to life-life free from sin and spiritual death, and free to live as unto the Lord, enjoying life to the fullest. Notice that it is when we are “putting to death the deeds of the body,” that we live. The point is that we must continually be dying to self and continually be walking or living by the Spirit. In fact, the hallmark of being the sons and daughters of God is that of being led by the Spirit of God. Let us make certain that we are putting to death the deeds of the body (the old self) and that we are being led by the Spirit—if we do, we will experience life just as God intended.
Romans 6:6-8 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
 
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IF  ANYONE

9/8/2017

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September 8, 2017                                  IF  ANYONE
John 14:23-24 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Fathers who sent Me.’”
Did you hear that? Jesus and the Father will come and make their abode with us!! And to refresh our memory, ‘abode’ is defined as “a place of residence; a house or home.” How awesome it is to think of the Father and the Son coming to where we are and making their abode with us! Does Jesus and the Father make their abode with everyone? Obviously not. If you read the gospels, you might ask why is it that Jesus talked so much about keeping His word. What Jesus talked about and what Jesus did originated in heaven-out of His relationship with the Father. It was the Father’s heart that man be saved from his sin and be joined to Himself, but in order for that to happen, there had to be a sacrifice for sin.  Jesus loved the Father and demonstrated His love to the Father by coming to earth and being the sacrifice for the sins of man. In the kingdom of God, love and keeping commands go hand-in hand. The simple but profound truth is that if one loves God, and His Son Jesus, he will keep the commandments of God-the words of Jesus- and conversely, if one does not keep the commands of God, he does not love God. (If we sin, we keep His word by confessing our sin and tuning from it.) It has nothing to do with a legalistic mindset about trying to keep His commandments in order gain His approval, but because we love Him and He loves us, it becomes our desire to keep His word. God does not desire that we keep His word because He needs our obedience, but because only by walking in His ways do we experience life to the fullest. God wants our trust and our heart to be fully His. When one is born into the family of God, a wonderful transformation takes place, and the transformation process continues throughout our pilgrimage on planet earth. This transformation changes us at the core of our being; self is no longer the ruler in our life, but now it is the love of God that rules all that we are and all that we do-that is the great purpose and the great desire of our Father God-and it’s the miracle of miracles. So, if we are keeping the words of Jesus, then we know that we love Him and we know that He loves us and we know that Jesus and the Father are abiding with us!
1 John 2:5 “but whoever keeps His word, in Him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.”
Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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NOT  A  BURDEN

9/5/2017

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September 5, 2017                                   NOT  A  BURDEN
1 John 5:3-5 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. And who is the one that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The idea of keeping ‘commandments’ has a negative connotation to many in culture in which we live. The nature of man is to be in control and man resist being told what to do or what not to do. However, those who have been born again have been given new natures and their new nature is to follow the leading of the Lord instead of being led by self-the old nature. Since Adam and Eve, the epic battle of mankind centers around who is in control, or, which of the two natures is operative. The battle is won by and through faith-faith that Jesus is the Son of God. By believing and accepting all that Jesus accomplished by His death, burial and resurrection, one is made new and given a new nature, a new heart, and a new mind. As sons and daughters of God, we learn that every command that God gives is good and leads to life, and we learn that keeping His commandments is not burdensome. (However, there is one fact that each believer must be aware of, and that is that even as a believer, it is possible to revert back to living under the control of our old nature-there are many scriptures that admonish believers to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.) We overcome the world only by living by faith in Christ, by acknowledging that He is in us and we are in Him, and by living according to the new nature that He has given us. Again, the battle is all about who is in control. The one who does not know Christ as Savior, has only one choice, and that is to live according to his nature that opposes the rule God in his heart. In the world, we see lives being lived out of an unredeemed nature where selfishness reigns. In contrast, there are those who overcome the world because of their faith; who have been born again to ‘a living hope’, who have been made new, who know God as Savior, who walk in the commandments of God, and who live their lives in a way that pleases God.  For example, we overcome when we respond in love in place of anger; when we focus on giving instead of getting; when we prefer others rather than demanding what we want; and etc. The scriptures are full of commands and instructions from God, and every one of them is for our good and every one of them leads to life. As believers, let us welcome and let us be anxious to hear and obey the commandments of God-even if we do not fully understand and even if our old nature resist His command. A recent personal example-we recently moved, and in the process of the move, I came across something I had borrowed years ago but never returned. Even though I did not like the thought of calling the one that lent me the item, I knew that the Lord was saying to do just that. I did call and apologize, and the owner was very gracious, and we had a good visit when I met him to return the item. Immediately after returning the item, I felt the peace and joy that comes when we keep His commandments.
John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and disclose Myself to him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
 
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HAVING  AN  ABUNDANCE

9/1/2017

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​September 1, 2017                                         HAVING  AN  ABUNDANCE  
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is also able to make all grace abound having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
This is another scripture that defies logic and reason. The “logical” man would say that the more you give, the less you will have; or the more you get and keep, the more you will have. However, when we read scriptures that do not sound logical, we must remember what is said in Isaiah 55:8: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.” Those who belong to God are no longer limited by mere human nature, but have been given a new nature and new minds by which they can know the ways of God and can be blessed by living in His truth. Because we live in truth that comes from God, others may not understand why we do what we do. The truth is that if we give a little, we will receive a little; and if we give a lot, we will receive a lot; however, our motive in giving should not be simply that we will get more. The heart of these verses is that God Himself is a giver and the new nature that He has given us is also a giving nature. When one breaks what I will call the “the giving bearer”, he is set free from the “get all you can” mindset of the world (and sad but true, sometime the mindset of believers.) When we understand, or when we apply the truth of the above scriptures, the motive for what we do changes and we see life as an opportunity to give and we find fulfilment as we give. Giving is not limited to giving money, but it can include the giving of time, information, material goods, prayer and thanksgiving. Giving is an attitude and at the heart of giving is a desire to bless others. We are to give, not because we are “suppose” to give, but because giving expresses our new nature-who we are- and let it be noted that God loves a cheerful giver.  We give out of unlimited resources when we give as the Lord directs because God “underwrites”, or supplies what we are to give as we see in 2 Corinthians 9:10: “Now 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 everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.” In the verses above, God makes an awesome promise to us when He says that we “will have an abundance for every good deed” and that we will have “all sufficiency in everything.  In Philippians 4:19 we read: “And My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God Himself defies logic; God is super-natural; God works miracles; God creates; God gives; God rules the universe, God loves AND He loves a cheerful giver. Yes! God has made His unending supply of resources available to us, and He has invited us to work with Him in dispersing His blessings! Let us not spend our days, not being focused on getting, but rather on sowing the seeds that God has given to us. God has given particular seeds to each of us, so let us be about sowing the seeds that we have been given and reap a bountiful harvest. It is right for us to see ourselves as being good and faithful stewards over everything that God has given us. We may think that we have acquired this or that, but the fact is that we have nothing that has not been given to us. Some may say “by the sweat of my brow, I have what I have,” but is not the ability to work and achieve a gift from God? Is not our mind and intellect a gift? Is not the air we breathe we breathe a gift? In 1 Corinthians 4:7 we read: “…And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”  As our understanding of the Lord increases, as we grow in Him, we will find that being a good steward and being a giver is natural because that is what our new nature is like.
John 3:27: “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.”
Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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    Buddy Fitzgerald

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