Daily Archives: February 8, 2012

New Living Translation (NLT)

 ⁶ Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. ⁷ You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”^{[a] 8} And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. ⁹ As the Scriptures say,

   “They share freely and give generously to the poor.
      Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”^[b]

 ¹⁰ For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity^[c] in you.

 ¹¹ Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. ¹² So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem^[d] will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.

 ¹³ As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. ¹⁴ And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. ¹⁵ Thank God for this gift^[e] too wonderful for words! 

For a very long time I’ve strived to give His love in everything I do.  I’ve failed more often than I have succeeded, but I get back up and try again.  As a Christian walking in the world today, I simply try to live to a higher standard in the way I treat others.  I have a formula I want to share;

1.  Ask God to let you see others through His eyes.  It’s surprising how much less we will judge others and instead, reach out to them, in love,  when we allow God let us see how He sees them!

2.  Seek to get to know something about everyone you meet.  Show a “genuine” interest in others.  In doing so you find countless people that need God’s love, and your acceptance.

3. Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.  Enough said!

4.  NEVER be too busy to say thank you and really appreciate the efforts other make on your behalf.  I was raised by a mother and father that taught me to say, please and thank you.  They were wise and I realize today that their mentoring was much more than being polite.  If we are so self centered that we do not appreciate others kindness, we need to focus our attention more outwardly.

5. Remember that Jesus Christ not only died for you, but for everyone you will ever meet!  

So what on earth does this have to do with giving????  God has given you many talents, and the ability to reach out to others, He doesn’t need your money, he owns it all anyway.  He wants us to live as lights in this world (His Light!), yes He wants you to be His light in the world, and that my brothers and sisters is called giving, giving of self, our greatest gift……  That’s what Jesus did for us, He gave Himself……

the pilgrim

Malachi 3:7-12

New Living Translation (NLT)

   “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’

   “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. ⁹ You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. ¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! ¹¹ Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.^[a] Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. ¹² “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 

Though the world is full of disorder, confusion, and uncertainty, believers in Christ have the wonderful assurance that God is in absolute control of every situation. When He created the heavens and the earth, He had a purpose and a plan, which He carried out with precision and order. Nothing was haphazard, late, or uncertain. The Lord also has a plan for each one of us, and every aspect of our lives is not only under His scrutiny, but also under His care.

One of those areas is our finances. If we’ll follow God’s plan, He promises to manage our money. Now, that’s quite a blessing. After all, who do you think would be better at knowing how to handle money—you or our omniscient, all-powerful God? He promises that if we will give Him the first part of all we receive, He’ll provide for our needs. He has an amazing way of making the remainder stretch farther than the original amount.

So, considering the blessings of this promise and the unfailing faithfulness of the Promise Giver, what is keeping you from obeying this command? The most likely reason is unbelief—fear to test Him on this even though He invites you to do so. But you may be asking yourself, What if He doesn’t come through? What if I give it away and don’t have enough?

The Lord is after your trust, and what better area to test and build it than your finances? Believing Him for our salvation seems easy, yet we often doubt He’ll keep His promise when it comes to money. Take a step of obedience today, and discover how faithful your God really is.

Back then, in our early marriage, Dr. Stanley preached a sermon on his TV broadcast that was essentially what this devotional shared today.  We decided that even though we didn’t think we could make it if we tithed that much, we committed to do it.  Over the next several months all kinds of things happened that stretched the remaining money.

I think God knew I was still concerned so He arranged for a spectacular example of His faithfulness for me.  One night in church a missionary came and share with us about their work in a far a way land.  Both Sherelene and I were touched and wanted to give something.  As we often did back then we shared what we thought would be the right amount, we didn’t have a lot.  We both came up with the same figure, an amount that was not really what we could spare, but we agreed to give it in faith.  It was fifty dollars.  We wrote the check in obedience and I think it is safe to say we were both concerned about how wise it was to do so, but we knew that was the figure we had each been encouraged to give by the Holy Spirit.

The next day I got a call from a coal mining client and they asked me to rent a plane and fly over their property and shoot a list of images they needed.  I contacted a pilot I knew and he flew me over the property to shoot he extensive list of shots.  When I went up to see the folks in the mining office to tell them the images were shot, and to ask what size prints did they want, so I could send of the film and arrange for the printing, they floored me with their request!  They wanted 5 presentation grade  16X20’s from the best shot of each thing on the list.  They asked me to figure up a bill and they would pay me up front.  My profit after expenses on the job came to exactly $5,000.  100 fold what we had given in church the night before!

Over the years God has continued to surprise us with countless blessing both financial and  in many other ways.  I met Charles many years later and shared this story with him, and he smiled knowing that his teaching had provide us with a life long blessing because of our obedience.

God is faithful, faithful to meet all our needs and even the desires of our hearts, as long as we put Him first and honor Him.

Blessings,

the pilgrim

Thursday I’m headed to Columbia S.C. for the annual CNPA, (Carolina Nature Photographers Association), Meeting.  I will post from there!  I have many wonderful brothers and sisters I’m looking forward to seeing while there.  I little while back I posted about Bob Krist, and he is the keynote speaker for the event, I look forward to seeing my old friend and my brother Tim Isaacson too!

I’m praying for great things to happen there, I will share  with you, the results of those prayers,  going into the weekend!