Over and over again

The one who plants few seeds will have a small harvest. But the one who plants a lot will have a big harvest. Each one of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You should not give if it makes you unhappy or if you feel forced to give. God loves those who are happy to give. And God can give you more blessings than you need, and you will always have plenty of everything. You will have enough to give to every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

How many 'seeds' have you been given? Does each seed only bear one other seed? Not hardly! Seeds have a way of multiplying when they are planted. God doesn't expect us to keep the seed of faith we have been given, but he asks us to 'plant it' deep within the hearts of those around us. Why? It will grow and be able to produce more seeds of faith that can be passed on to others!

There are many types of 'seeds' God gives us, faith being only one of those seeds. The seed faith that gives from a heart of generosity is also a good thing. We have been called to 'give', not just out of the abundance of what we have received, but sacrificially. That means we don't consider it a burden to give what God prompts us to give - time, talent, or treasure. 

Are you happy to give of yourself to others? Are you happy when you are able to give out of the abundance of your resources to help another in need? Are you happy when your talents are able to be used to bless those around you? If you cannot answer 'yes' to these questions, then maybe it is time to explore what is holding you back from sharing those 'seeds' God has placed in your possession.

There is no 'dictate' to give, but there is to be a desire to give of ourselves because so much has been given to each of us. Seeds aren't meant to be hoarded but planted. They aren't going to multiply otherwise! If you have any doubt about this, just try it! God even challenged the Israelites to bring their offerings to him for his use, 'testing' him in a way, then they saw his tremendous faithfulness to them over and over again. 

We may not think our time could be used as a blessing to another but offer it with sincerity and see how it does! We might not believe our talent can be put to use by anyone else or feel that we have a talent anybody could find a use for, but God gives each of us something unique we can offer. Offer what you have with a genuine heart and see if God doesn't just prove his faithfulness over and over again! Just sayin!

A laden soul

May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

John Maxwell reminds us, "People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude." What does your attitude say today? Does it reveal your tiredness or frustration? Does it shine forth with encouragement and hope? We actually 'choose' our attitude, but we would like to blame our attitude on others or circumstances. If it is bad, we blame it on the bad stuff happening in our lives. If it is jubilant, we attribute it to the good stuff going on around us. Spoken words reveal much, but our unspoken thoughts often come across in our attitude. Don't believe me? When was the last time you looked at your posture when you are in the depths of thought about something that is giving you a bit of trouble? How is your posture when you are well-rested versus weary from a lack of the proper rest? Your posture might just reveal a bit of that 'inner thought' attitude you have going on right now!

When both our spoken words and unspoken thoughts are influenced by the Spirit of God within us, we are more likely to reveal an attitude of grace, love, and forgiveness. Those three things go a long, long way toward elevating one's attitude! They can unburden even the most laden of souls. Holding onto a grudge - the feeling that you have been wronged - will just lead to a 'laden attitude'. Your inner thoughts will betray your outward facade. What you believe about the other person will eventually come through loud and clear even when you don't say a thing! Love generously, forgive freely, and give grace where it is least deserved - then see what that does to lighten your burden. 

In closing today, I'd like us to each answer the questions posed by clergyman Henri Nouwen: "Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come." What fruit will you bear today isn't just revealed in your spoken words - the real fruit may be hidden in the recesses of your unspoken thoughts. Let the Spirit of God lead you into those recesses today - bringing to light any area where you are holding onto things that only serve to burden your soul. Then let go. Just sayin!

Short-changed in life?

Have you ever had a bumper crop? One of those "I cannot find enough pots to store it all" kind of harvests? Probably about the last thing you want to hear at that moment is that there is more to come! You are having a hard enough time just finding ways to use all you have already been blessed to receive and now there is more to come? That's how it is with God's generosity, love, and grace - it just keeps on coming until it overflows from our lives into the lives of others!

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (Romans 5:3-4 MSG)

Troubles might slow us down a bit, but they aren't going to do us in. They might just challenge our fortitude and increase our faith. They might cause us to see our present capacity as an opportunity for our God to create 'space' within us for even more than contained there previously. Troubles aren't just bumps in the road to be endured - they are opportunities for us to develop greater trust, firmer convictions, and more attentive focus. 

What is God about to do next in your life? I know my 'next' may not even be close to your 'next', but together we can endure that space between now and next! The moment we partner together in this ever expanding walk, the more we can help each other stay alert for what comes next. You know, I don't always see things the way you do and vice versa. I don't always have the right perspective, even when I think I do! The same might be said about you - so we need each other as we face these challenges.

Short-changed in life? If so, maybe it isn't so much God's doing as it is ours. We might have just lost our focus a little and now we are facing troubles that seem insurmountable to us. Dare I say it - those troubles might be our 'undoing' designed specifically to get us 'doing' again what we were supposed to be doing in the first place! Every time I am feeling a little 'short-changed' in life, complaining about something in my present circumstances, I sit back for a moment and remember God is never going to be the one 'short-changing' me. If I am short-changed, it is likely my own mismanagement of what he has provided in my life. I just lost focus.

If you are feeling a little 'short-changed' right now, perhaps it is a good time to just stop and unplug a little. The moment we unplug from all the distractions that seem to only escalate those feelings that lead to those 'woe is me' moments, we begin to see that God is still in the business of bumper crops! He is still providing generously - we just need to empty out the container a little so we can have a place for what he has been providing all along. Just sayin!

Generous?

Give freely, and you will profit. Help others, and you will gain more for yourself. (Proverbs 11:25 ERV)

My pastor asked this question this weekend about giving and serving - do we give and serve without caring who gets the credit? It is quite telling to actually take inventory of each action behind our service to see if we are secretly desiring some credit or acknowledgement for what it is we have done. If we are honest, we might not always serve without the intent of getting the "credit we are due". 

As my pastor aptly said, the generosity of Jesus is what actually provides our ability to relate to God - for without that generosity, we'd still have sin between us and the throne of God. There is nothing accomplished within the church that doesn't stem from the first act of generosity. The simplest example of generosity is revealed in how we care for one another.

How do we care for each other? One of the ways we can reveal our sincerity in caring is through the generosity of our grace (even when the other guy or gal doesn't deserve ANY grace at all). We need to be radical in our generosity as it applies to grace, but it is probably the hardest thing for us to give without expecting anything in return. You can give without loving - but to really extend grace, we must give out of love.

Be generous long enough and it will become a natural part of who we are. Automatically we will respond with generosity - in grace, love, and compassion toward others. Just sayin!

Principle 8: Beware of the Stingy

Stingy:  Reluctant to give or spend; not truthfully generous; meanly or ungenerously small or scanty.  There are all kinds of "givers" in this world - some give with a genuine heart; others give with strings attached; still others put on the show of giving, but their heart is definitely not in it.  Scripture tells us God loves a cheerful giver - one who has learned to give without strings attached and from a genuine desire to meet the needs of another or to share the blessings of one's own life so another may be blessed.  As Solomon lays out these principles for living which are designed to give us a good foundation for our lives, he spends a little more time reminding us about the attitude of heart we are to exhibit.  He seems to focus a great deal on this idea of "genuineness" or "truthfulness".  Maybe this is because the degree of truthfulness we have in our daily dealings with others is comparable to how well we are being truthful in our relationship with Jesus!

Don’t accept a meal from a tightwad; don’t expect anything special.  He’ll be as stingy with you as he is with himself; he’ll say, “Eat! Drink!” but won’t mean a word of it. His miserly serving will turn your stomach when you realize the meal’s a sham.  (Proverbs 23:6-8 MSG)

The miserly are "inwardly calculating" individuals.  There is a calculation of the costs of all they do and "give".  Notice that I put "give" in quotes - this is because the miser doesn't really "give" - he extends something, but it is not with a genuine desire to either meet your need, nor to bless you from the abundance of his own blessed state.  Here is the crux of what Solomon wants us to realize - the genuineness of heart behind the actions we perform.  All the world wants to feel love - genuine compassion from another individual, a sense of being valued, and an assurance of acceptance.  The miserly individual is incapable of really extending this kind of genuine heart action toward another.

Generous individuals are liberal in their giving.  There is a freedom in their spirit which allows them to "part with" their time, talent, and treasures without hesitation.  This is in direct opposition to the spirit of the miserly or stingy.  The generous give that which is of value to another, while the miserly will consider the value of what he is giving and have a sense of regret in parting with it.  When God says he loves a cheerful giver, he is indicating this attitude of heart which enjoys giving something of value to another - whether it is time, talent, or treasure.  The generous give of their time - not counting the time as "theirs", but as a means by which they bless the life of another. Their willingness to give of their talents (those things which some might call their "abilities") is without measure - holding nothing back when another has a need.  This is the attitude of heart God expects of his children.

The difference between the two really comes down to how closely we hold onto the things, abilities, and time God gives to us.  The miserly see all they have as something they have achieved which they see as a means to benefit themselves.  The generous see all they have been given as something they can freely share with another.  The "liberality" of the giver is what is in view - their ability to truthfully be "openhanded" in their giving.  If you have ever seen one of those old fashioned paddle-balls with the red rubber ball attached to a length of elastic band, then you might just understand a little about the miser.  They have the ability to send the ball into the air, but they consistently expect it to come back to them (just like the red rubber ball does because it is attached to the paddle with the elastic band).  The generous have a paddle and a ball, but no elastic band.  When they send the ball, they do so without expecting it to come back to them.

The amazing thing about generous people is the way God always blesses them - even though they never gave to be blessed!  If we find ourselves giving in order to get, we are not truthfully genuine in our giving - we are doing it with strings attached.  The joy of God's heart is to give - it is the story of salvation - he gave what no one deserved because he loved us that much.  The "story" behind our giving is something which might just reveal either a generous or a miserly heart.  When we stop to examine how we "give", we might just be surprised by how frequently we expect something in return.  Learning to give with "openhanded" joy is truly something learned as we embrace the spirit of the giver of all good things - God himself.  Just sayin!

Making good!

God delivers generous love, he makes good on his word. 

(Psalm 57:3)

I latched onto something this morning as I was reading from the Psalms - David's absolutely trust in God's love and his faithfulness to turn to God when he was in a place of trial.  David is attributed the "compliment" in Scripture of being a man after God's own heart.  I daresay that there is no higher "compliment" or "attribute of acclaim" that carries such an importance as that.

David sums up his trust for God in this statement above - God delivers...he makes good.  These two key understandings on David's part are what hold him together in tough times.  He has come to experience the generosity of a God that gives out of a heart without "strings attached".  David is aware that God has a "readiness" to his giving and that he also has a "liberality" in that giving.

He is ready to give - even before the words are spoken acknowledging the need, God stands read to meet the need.  In the previous chapter, David has spent some time setting up the various aspects of God's care for him.  There have been "hurricane" experiences - enemies galore, manipulating relationships, untrustworthy alliances, and treacherous treks.  In each circumstance, he has experienced the generous "readiness" of God to rescue, promote, heal, and provide. 

He is liberal in his giving - there is no "half-way" with God.  He goes all the way in his love - even to the sacrifice of his own Son.  We don't "get" that kind of liberality in love - it is foreign to most of us.  We are "strings attached" kind of people - you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.  God is just the opposite - you sin, I'll redeem.  You turn your back, I'll still be there.  You fail, I'll rescue.

David stood in a place of trust - aware of the goodness of his Redeemer.  He stood in a place of awe - amazed at the consistency of the great I AM.  He relishes the place of safety - knowing that God's banner of love covered his life at every turn.  Two things about God stood out to David repeatedly in his writings - he generously loves, and and always makes good on his word.  Want a heart after God's - then we'd do well to learn these things, too.