Dear Precious Friends,
On this Magnificent Monday, as we begin a new day, a new week, a new month, we count each day and moment as a blessing, joy and an incredible gift.
We live each day with eternity in mind, knowing if this were our last day on earth, we would have spent it well. We focus on what we do for Christ. Only one life ,will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.
We also know that we live in the United States and are more privileged than 90% of the world just by having a cell phone. The sad thing is that the more our culture seems to "get" the more miserable, we become. I can't think of one movie star or wealthy person like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Jeff Bazos, Mark Zuckerberg, etc... who have the joy of the Lord. It seems that money can turn into our God and we can easily forget who owns everything.
I remember when I took Crown Ministries many years ago when I was starting my born again walk with the Lord, It was shocking to know over the 12 week course, what God's word says about money. There are over 4300 verses in the Bible on money.. more than any other topic. (OUCH!) Each week we memorized a scripture and the first one we were ask to memorize comes from 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 - Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.
When I learned through this course which teaches God's truth ... absolutely every single thing we "own" is God's and we are just stewards of His resources, I have to admit I was in awe and knew this was truth. Even though I was brought up to believe I could do anything and when I earned money... I would tithe and the rest was mine... That I deserved it, in my heart I knew this was not right.
The greatest blessing about this is when you see the eternal significance in our time here on this earth, and look for every opportunity to share God's love in every way possible. When we are blessed with resources... we are held more accountable as Kings Kids to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with.
Our top priority is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves. We are ambassadors for Christ during this brief time on earth.
When we do this, we have a deep seated joy despite circumstances. I don’t mean someone who is always happy. That’s just not possible. I mean someone who has the joy of the Lord, whose hope is not shaken by life’s ups and downs. A joyful person sees God at work, even in their trials.
This is how you become a joyful person: Jesus said in Acts 20:35, “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” (GNT).
I’ve always loved this verse because it’s so honest. Jesus doesn't say there’s no happiness in receiving....
There is happiness in receiving. But Jesus says there’s more happiness(joy) in giving.
That’s the exact opposite of the way the world thinks. Most of the world thinks there’s more "happiness" in getting. The more you get, the happier you’ll be. But Jesus doesn’t think like the world. He knows we are most like him when we are giving—and that giving produces joy.
When we give and are directed by the Holy Spirit to give, we receive joy that passes all understanding. God wants us as individuals and churches to be more generous, because it makes us more like him! He uses our giving to bless others. And, in turn, he uses our generosity to bless us.
Generosity for the kingdom = joy.
Our joy will be a light to those around us who do not know Jesus. Our generosity will be a blessing. Let us remember we are stewards of all God has given us on this earth. When we came into this world we had nothing and when we leave this world, we will have nothing. When we face our Lord, we want to hear Him say "Well done Good and Faithful Servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!"
We never know when our last day on earth will be. We are to live with eternity as our top priority. With this in mind, let's all remember to be generous with what God has blessed us with as good stewards, tithing 10% to our church minimum and then being so grounded in God's word, walking in the Spirit that we constantly see the need right in front of us and we can use our blessings to be a blessing.
Now that my friends is our focus. Have a beautiful day being generous with the gifts God has given, knowing the joy that comes from giving and the reason we know this joy is because we can't wait for more opportunities to be generous and good stewards of God's blessings.
Amen!
