Daily Devotion (Oct. 28-Oct. 30)
Friday, October 28, 2011
Robust Ministries
The Word:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
— Matthew 6:33, NIV
Reflection:
Spring Branch Presbyterian Church was chartered in 1952, land was purchased, and then buildings were constructed. In1969 someone realized that educational wing was empty and unused during the week. Believing that wasted space could be put to use as a community outreach and help families with two working parents, the Learning Center Young Children was developed. Today, over 40 years later as Spring Branch Presbyterian Academy that mission is going and growing strong. My family alone has benefited from this mission for three generations. The fruit of someone else’s generosity has played a key role in the education and care of the children in the community as well as my family. When I opened Robert Schnase’s book, Practicing Extravagant Generosity this morning and read the Scripture for today, the hymn “Seek Ye First” by Karen Lafferty began playing in my head. I opened my Bible and read Matthew 6:28-34. It was a familiar passage. In it, Jesus tells us that not only has God provided for all his creatures, but that our futures are also secure. We do not need to focus what we may need tomorrow, we can afford to be generous today, secure in the knowledge that God has everything planned perfectly. How do we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness? We pay attention to what God is bringing to our attention today, what is it that needs doing right now. Worrying about what may or may not happen tomorrow is pointless. Confident faith is the most important skill for practicing extravagant generosity.
Have you benefited from someone’s extravagantly generous gift, someone you do not know? What need do you see for someone that you do not know?
Pray:
Eternal God, You have promised to provide all that I will ever need, and you have been generous to me. You have provided ways for me to give to others to your honor and glory. Help me to see all the ways that your Son might be glorified by my extravagant generosity. Amen.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
All the Good You Can
The Word:
“You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.”
— 2 Corinthians 8:9, The Message
Reflection:
Have you ever had someone do something for you or give you something that you just can not imagine ever being able to repay? Was it something that impoverished them? Probably not. But that is the gift of Jesus that Paul is describing to the church at Corinth. The price of our salvation removed Jesus Christ from his “oneness” with God. This is not only a gift beyond price, it is impossible for us to ever repay. Incredible. Amazing. Wow.
John Calvin, a founding theologian of the Reformed faith said, “All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors.” This forms a basic tenet of our reformed tradition: that we are to not only share the Gospel but to actively demonstrate our faith to others by sharing what we have with them. It is also foundational to Presbyterian stewardship. Another great Reformation leader, John Wesley, founder of Methodism, wrote “Earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can”. This statement establishes a firm link between what we have materially and how we use our possessions as Christian disciples. Both of these Reformation leaders believed that how we live our lives and how we use the resources we have not only deepens our relationship with God, but actually increases the positive impact we can make for God’s purposes in the world. There are no Bible stories of people who follow God while acting in a self-serving, self-centered or greedy manner. Knowing God leads to generosity.
How does your relationship with God affect how you earn your money? How you invest it? How you spend your resources, time and talents?
Pray: Almighty God whose generosity is beyond my understanding, I thank you. Your grace toward me is amazing and Your love is awe-inspiring. Guide me to make all my decisions on how I earn, invest and spend my money. Help me to put my time and talents to good use in your Name. Teach me how to reflect your love, grace and extravagant generosity to others. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer, Amen.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
First Things First
The Word:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
— Matthew 6:33, NIV
Reflection:
Be the first to own it! Become a successful, smart, funny, beautiful, youthful, sexy, charming desirable person in just 4 easy payments of $19.95 each! Sounds familiar doesn’t it? We are bombarded during most of our waking hours with false promises of happiness if we would only give our money to get it. Yet the truth of the matter is that most of us not only have all we need, we have more than we can use and most of us are still not happy. A popular singing group, The Beatles had a song with lyrics which proclaimed “Can’t buy me love, yeah, yeah, yeah….” Which is exactly right, you can not buy love. You can not buy God’s love, not a person’s love, in fact you can not even buy the love and loyalty of a pet. Every person I have known that was concerned about how much money they made or had or did not have was not just unhappy, they were miserable. All the people I have ever known that who worried about what they could or could not get were unhappy regardless of what they did have or achieve. Everyone I have known that spent their time worrying about what they did not have is disappointed in everything and everyone all the time. By contrast, the happiest people I know are those that work diligently to use their time and resources to help others. They are people who honestly believe that their happiness comes from living a life for Christ, and they do so passionately.
Each of them put God first in their lives — Alleluia!
Pray:
Dear God, Help me to place and keep you first in my life always, and all ways. Continually guide me so that I live my life for Christ. Every day help me to be a faithful, passionate disciple, one who practices extravagant generosity. Amen.
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