August 10 - Freely Give

Luke 6:30 - "Give to everyone who asks you...."

     These are words of Jesus, put into a context of other phrases which describe someone taking your possessions and not returning them.  This is basically someone taking advantage of you.  The phrase above, however, is very simple, and it is a command.  Let me share a story of something that happened to me recently.
     I was entering Wendy's fast food restaurant, when a man hollered at me from his car.  After he caught my attention, he approached me and asked if I could buy him something to eat.  After a hesitant affirmation, I noticed that another man exited this man's car and walked toward the restaurant.  I was then wondering if I was going to buy this man something to eat as well.  As we were all in the restaurant in line, the first man then said he had to go back to his car for something.  I then closely watched the 2nd man order some food for himself and pay for it with cash he pulled from his pocket.  I managed to see him re-pocket a bill that was not a $1 bill.  He got his food, just as the first man came back into the store.  Instead of asking the first man if he would like what I was going to order, I confronted the first man, asking why his buddy was not buying food for him, since he apparently had money.  I ended up not buying the man anything, and he did not put forth an argument at all.
     Later, I really felt guilty, not for uncovering a plot to take advantage of me, but for not simply obeying the instruction of Jesus.  I had reverted to looking out for myself, instead of letting God look out for me, even though this guy was trying to pull the wool over my eyes.
     On the surface, it seemed like a simple plot to take advantage of me.  But did I really know the whole story of these guys lives?  Did I miss an opportunity to reap a blessing from God?  To please him in obedience?  To maybe get a chance to dig into these guys lives and plant a seed of righteousness?  I certainly did miss an opportunity.
    It is better to simply obey and allow God to take care of us.  None of this scenario surprised God.  He knew it was going to happen, and he allowed it to happen as a test of my obedience.  God, warm up my love for you and others. 

August 9 -Thankfulness

Psalm 100:4 – "Enter [God's] gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."

      I have been to many group meetings, whose sole purpose was to have folks talk about that for which they were thankful. During those meetings, many good things in life were put forth, with the speaker stating that he or she was grateful or thankful for these things. I would put forth, however, that thankfulness cannot be a state of mind. If I was grateful that I had money to buy fuel to keep my house warm in the winter, it would actually mean that I was glad that I had a warm house. "Being" grateful is really only being glad. In order to really "be" thankful, one has to actually thank someone. One cannot thank inanimate objects or animals, because they cannot do things for humans out of a free will (dogs may be an exception, but you get the point). Thankfulness is not a state of being; it is the act of thanking someone for something that a person did for you.

      If I earn the ability to be comfortable and happy, then no thanks is necessary. I did it on my own. However, we all know that not everything we have in life was earned by the sweat of our brows. All of us enjoy blessings, wealth, health, happiness, etc. because it was given to us - through many avenues. The ultimate giver is God who gives every day without us blinking an eye. Consider: Acts 17:28 - "For in [God] we live and move and have our being." As mentioned in the opening Bible verse, we should thank God for all the good things in our lives, every day. James 1:17 states that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights..." Deuteronomy 8:17, 18 - "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Eternal One your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...." Therefore, we should thank God continually for these good things. I Thess. 5:18 also says to give thanks in all circumstances. Even Jesus specifically gave thanks to the Father. Check out John 11:41; Matthew 15:36; Mark 14:41; Luke 22:17f; and Luke 24:30. There are numerous other verses that command us to thank God for what he has done for us.

      Don't just be glad for your blessings. Thank God on purpose for them.