Joyful Giver

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

"But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'

"You place defiled food on my altar.

"But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?'

"By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

Malachi 1:6-8

To truly offer ourselves to God, our Father and Master, anything less than our best is contemptible to the LORD. When we spend time with Him, we need to pray without fancy words that would impress people who hear it. When we do a good deed, we mustn't look over our shoulder to see who's watching. When we forgive, we need to do it because God forgave us, not because we have to. In this passage in Malachi, people offered sacrifices that wasn't from the heart. Minimal effort was given because they only did it out of obligation and not love. It's like going to a function but we're detached emotionally because we really don't want to be there. Everyone knows something isn't right. But if we really love the person who asked us to go, we would take joy in serving them by giving ourselves totally. There's a big difference in serving out of obligation and serving out of love.

I'm convicted of this and know that my stubborn and selfish ways will lead to sufferings. I know every time I give only a portion of myself to God, He can see it and I can see it. So what do I do then when I'm not giving it my all? How do I know when this is happening? Am I to be reckless and just do things on a whim? Should not my faith be joined with discernment? What God is telling me here is that it's about doing what I say I'm going to do. If I say I'm going to tithe my 10%, I will do that but with the right heart. I know God will bless it many times over. Getting to this place where I can joyfully tithe took some time but now that I'm here I need to keep my heart checked and in tune with the Holy Spirit. God loves a joyful giver!

Heavenly Father, Master and Friend; thank You for Your daily lessons! I pray for Your mercies and grace as I learn to be a joyful servant. I pray that I can be obedient without having any hidden agendas. I pray that I can serve You without being distracted. I love You Father God, keep stirring that hunger within my heart to love You more and more each day. In the name of Your Son Jesus, who paid the price for all our sin, Amen!

You NEED Jesus

When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

Acts 3:3-6

Most of the time we don't know what's best for ourselves. We go into a situation thinking this will be best and all our thoughts and efforts become tunneled, unable to see or listen to anyone else. In this scripture, the crippled man asked for money (for the profit of someone else) but Peter did something that Jesus had done before, he gave the crippled man something much better, healing.

Through this healing God's glory shone brilliantly. In our lives, we need to pray, meditate & pray some more... all this to enter a state of union with Christ Jesus through the Spirit of God. This will peel away the scales on our own eyes to see where God's working and join in. We will be able to see where our brothers and sisters are really hurting. We will know what to pray for and when carry out God's next step.

In my studies, there's a definite re-emphasis on prayer. God's work really needs to happen through us as we invite Him in. I think about this crippled man and how he was forced to ask people for money. I think about how many years that this man begged for things that wasn't what he really wanted. I imagine the prayers every day as tears flooded his soul... only to never be heard other than God Almighty. Then Peter comes along and sees exactly what his soul needs... Jesus. All he needed was Jesus! Through Jesus, miracles will happen but we must focus on the relationship first and foremost. His will be done in our lives.

Heavenly Father, You are so wonderful and compassionate! Thank You for choosing me to take in another breath, another day; no matter what the circumstances. I'm here because there's a harvest that I'm a part of and You desire my service. I say Yes, LORD; Your servant is listening! I pray for a releasing of my strongholds... free my mind to observe and praise Your creation. Help me to be lead by the Spirit and not by my eyes. I love You, precious Jesus... Amen!

Relationships Before Tasks

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:46-47

This scripture reminds me of John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." What was happening after Pentecost was that the people were loving each other the way God commanded. It didn't say that they were out preaching & digging deep into theology or anything like that. They fellowshipped together by breaking bread and praising God! I'm sure this is more intimate than our common fellowship we enjoy today but what was happening was that their love of Christ & each other was being observed by others and they were being saved too. We can put too much emphasis on task-related ministry but what really needs to happen over all else is to build relationships that are brilliant as Jesus intended.

Driving in the Rear-View Mirror

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve."

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

Nehemiah 8:9-12

This scripture took place during a time when the Israelites were beaten down already. They had come out of the Babylonian exile and returned to a desolate land that was once fruitful. The land was being rebuilt and Ezra began to read from the Book of the Law of Moses, the LORD's commands for Israel. The people broke down, grieving. I'm sure a lot of it was sadness for how they were so disobedient and also for many others who fell because of their transgressions. God put the Israelites through so much... rightly deserved for their lack of faith and disciplines. But in these verses God is encouraging the people, basically saying that today is new & holy; time to rejoice and move forward. He's saying to be encouraged and obedient to His ways because He's not going to dwell on the past, He has a future for the Israelites. We need to remember this when we've fallen. We need to draw upon God's strength to move forward and not grieve over our past.

I need to listen to this. I tend to kick myself down and focus on all the negative parts of my past. I sometimes live in regret, thinking what if I did this or that? What if I made this choice instead? It can drive me nuts... if fact in some ways I'm doing it today. Where did my disobedience or lack of faith play into the situation I'm in right now? I'm very analytical and I can split atoms over and over when it comes to my life. But God is saying this, fix my eyes on Him no matter what happened because He's a Father who cares about my future. I understand that I need to draw upon the lessons that I've learned in the past to serve as spiritual post-its as I look toward the future. God wants the best for His children, I need to want the same.

Heavenly Father, thank You for looking out for me when I don't want to do it for myself. I get stuck looking in my rear-view mirror instead of the pavement before me. So many warning signs and markers are missed because I don't live my life following rules, only regretting my choices. I pray LORD that I take my faults and strongholds and place them at the Holy feet of Jesus. I also pray this for all my brothers and sisters, that they will be able to observe today as sacred & holy, worthy of our best. In the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray, amen.

God is Sooooooo Good!

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the LORD his God,

the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them—

the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free,

the LORD gives sight to the blind,

the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,

the LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the alien

and sustains the fatherless and the widow,

but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The LORD reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the LORD.

Psalm 146:5-10

We hear a lot of things we can or can't do but is that really the point of following God? What we can miss through the theology, studies & countless sermons is the heart and relationship with God. Reading this psalm it re-introduced me to something I already know... God is good! God is GREAT! He does so much for each and every one of us! He does so much for all creation! We must never lose sight of our ever-loving Father in heaven that doesn't get nearly the amount of credit He deserves for everything He's done... We need to really incorporate this lesson in daily unending prayers.