Good Morning Selfless, Giving, Servants of God! Man that is our gathered and sent people of God! Thanks all for sacrificially giving and serving. We are becoming more and more like Jesus and growing at being His hands and feet! God is Jireh! he's our supply and all we need. He knows our needs before we ask. He uses us to bless and help many. We are that church that loves and gives like Jesus and people are being drawn and blessed. That continues with Bread Ministry and Dinner huddle. Pray for us and come join one or both . We are His selfless, giving servants! What an honor to serve beside you! God is with us, providing and using us! Amen! We are His dynamic movement of people with a burning passion for God and missionary zeal to reach and bless the lost. PTL! Thankj YOU for doing your part. You are building treasure in heaven and God is using you! Praise Him and ask how He wants to continue to use you. He has a perfect plan and provision! Seek first His Kingdom and choose to follow Jesus!
Check out Our Daily Bread and Upper Room devotionals below and the Connection Blogs. God is speaking to us through them. PTL! Be still and know! What's He saying to you? What might you do about that? Who does He have for you to partner with? Ask and receive. He is Jireh--enough! And all we need! Amen! Keep building your treasure in heaven as you love and serve like Jesus!
UR: More than Enough
Are you envious because I am generous? - Matthew 20:15 (NRSVUE)
One of my kids has an innate sense of fairness. He can be counted on to divvy up snacks so that everyone gets their fair share. When it comes to chores, he insists that if he cleaned the table then it is only fair that his sister should do the dishes.
I tend to gravitate toward a strict sense of fairness too. However, when I reflect on it, I realize that the “fair” approach is often based on certain limiting factors: the kids take turns because there is only one jump rope; we portion out the strawberries because there are only a handful left. But what if there were an abundance of strawberries? What if there were unlimited scooters, jump ropes, and trampolines for all the kids? Who would worry about the number of berries each child ate or how many minutes each child played with a toy? We wouldn’t — because there would be more than enough.
It’s easy for me to resonate with what feels like the unfair treatment of the first, early-morning workers in Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard. They received the same pay as those who had worked only a few hours, and it doesn’t seem fair. But the answer Jesus gives doesn’t focus on fairness. Instead, he points out the generosity of our Father God. God’s grace is inexhaustible and abundant. God always gives us more than enough.
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's Prayer
Dear God, thank you for the gift of your grace, which you lavishly pour out on us. Help us to show grace to the people we encounter and every day. Amen.
ODB:
Treasure Stored in Heaven
We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 1 Timothy 6:7
It’s common for those who are traveling overseas for the first time to pack a lot of stuff. The fear is being so far from home and needing something. But a recent article speaks of the problems of overpacking. It advises leaving behind shampoo and hair dryers (which most hotels have) and not bringing extra shoes and books, which are bulky and heavy. The writer notes that when you wind up lugging heavy luggage over Europe’s cobblestone streets, you’ll wish you didn’t bring so much with you.
In a way, it’s an apt metaphor for the travel advice the apostle Paul provides: “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7). He ties this to the problem of possessing too much: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation,” and he warns that extra baggage is “a trap” leading to “ruin and destruction” (v. 9). People of faith have a different travel destination where all that’s needed is provided by God—“everything for our enjoyment” (v. 17).
It might be good for us to remember that what we accumulate in life is meaningless. We can’t take it with us. By being “generous and willing to share” (v. 18), Paul says we “lay up treasure . . . for the coming age.” This is the best travel tip of all, the secret to “life that is truly life” (v. 19).
By Kenneth Petersen
REFLECT & PRAY
How might you “pack less” for eternity? What treasure might you store up for heaven?
Dear God, please help me to change anything unhealthy in my relationship with things and possessions. Help me to be generous with others.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he instructs him in how to deal with false teachers (1:3-4) and to teach believers in Jesus the right doctrines so they can live lives that honor Him (4:6-7). The apostle urges believers to pursue contentment to overcome greed and materialism (6:6-10). He also warns the rich not to be proud or to trust in their wealth, but to trust only in God, who richly gives us all we need “for our enjoyment” (v. 17). Echoing Christ’s instructions to store our treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20), Paul says to use our wealth “to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).
K.T. Sim
Connection Blogs:
- What Is Your Greatest Worry?
The most often repeated command in the Bible surprises most people. It is the command “Don’t worry” or its functional equivalents “Don’t fret” or “Don’t be anxious.” That command shows up 365 times in the Bible—one for every day of the year! It is found at least once in every book of the Bible. If you could be completely candid with yourself (and God, of course!), what is your greatest worry? Reflect for a few moments and ask God to show you this.
Now ask how that worry could be given away to Jesus’ Father. How could you “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” with this issue? Is there some issue of legitimate need—“daily bread”—that you are tempted to make the center of your life? Choose to replace that need focus by deliberately choosing to turn it over to God. What are you to do with the need that presses in on who you are? Ask if it serves God’s kingdom. If it does, then it is right to keep asking for the need to be met. If you are not sure, keep praying until your praying changes, for this might be God’s way of meeting your legitimate need.
Anytime you are tempted to worry about anything, decide now that you will deliberately ask if this need moves God’s rule forward or takes you away from the Lord. If it moves God’s purposes forward, keep praying for His will to be done. If it distracts, ask the Lord to show you how to drop the issue or change your praying. Let each moment of worry turn into a moment of prayer around the very thing over which you are concerned.
Father, You are a God of peace and not despair, and yet I spend so much of my time being anxious about things You can easily take care of, or which are not worth being concerned about. Show me my greatest worry, and allow me to bring it to You in prayer, laying it at Your feet as an offering of my brokenness. Teach me how to recognize Your purposes in the midst of my worries, or how to release them into Your capable hands. If I need to change the focus of my prayers, help me to be alert to the moving of Your Spirit in my heart.
--Taken from Power Praying by David Chotka.
Prayer Points
Give glory to God as the Lord of peace.
Thank Jesus that he himself is our peace, breaking down the barriers and the dividing walls of hostility (Eph. 2:14).
Confess any areas where you are not at peace with another believer or group of Christians.
Commit yourself to making every effort to live in peace with all people (Heb. 12:14).
Ask God to help you bear with others and forgive whatever grievance you have against them, forgiving them as the Lord forgave you (Col. 3:13).
Pray that the church may “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3), realizing that as members of one body we are called to peace.
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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