Matthew 7:7-11 Revised Standard Version
Ask, Search, Knock
7 “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The Word God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Truth be Told, being around considerate people is nice and very refreshing.
They seem to know what you’re going through, and they gently offer help and comfort to make your path easier.
They see how tired you are, and they offer to cook or buy a meal and some rest, even putting a blanket over you so you won’t get chilly as you lie down to rest.
Is it that they’re not just thinking about themselves all the time? Not exactly. They know what would make them rest comfortably, so they do it to you! As Jesus commanded, they do to others what they would like done to themselves.
Apostle Paul elsewhere describes another example:
“Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church” (Ephesians 5:28-29).
But let’s slow down, not get Jesus and Paul wrong.
They’re not telling us to be considerate just because it benefits us.
We are called to love others without conditions, with no strings attached.
If we stop being considerate to someone because they aren’t considerate in return, our motives probably are selfish.
In a world of what I would call malignant selfishness, being truly considerate is a great big breath of fresh air. It up warms the heart and ties us together in love.
When someone is born again, they begin a new life and are adopted into the family of God. This new child of God, in whom the Holy Spirit now dwells, begins increasingly to display characteristics of God the Father. In other words, over time God’s children should grow to resemble their heavenly Father.
One prominent feature of who God is—an aspect of His character displayed throughout Scripture—is His constant indescribably radical generosity.
James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17).
Paul makes a similar point with a rhetorical question:
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
Our Father is generous, and it is the assumption of Scripture that God’s people will be too. This applies to all of our lives—including, of course, our finances.
God-honoring generosity is displayed in response to God’s grace.
This is important, because so much talk of and thinking about finances goes awry at this very point.
Any attempt to encourage ourselves to give to gospel work that doesn’t begin with the grace of God is flawed from the start.
It almost always results in the kind of giving in which God has no interest: the joyless type. If we give because we’ve been coaxed into it, we will be giving not with gladness but with a grudge.
Begrudging giving says, “I have to.” Dutiful giving says, “I need to.” But thankful giving says, “I want to.” That is the approach we should aim to take.
Growing in this kind of generosity requires growing in gratitude for God’s grace. If you want to be more Christlike in your giving, you need to understand that you have absolutely nothing that you did not receive, from your physical existence to your faith in God and everything in between (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Matthew 13:44-50 Revised Standard Version
Three Parables
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
It is all of grace.
Knowing it, how could you and I respond with anything but joyful generosity?
This means that if we are stingy with our investment in gospel ministry, it may reflect a glaringly shallow effectual grasp of God’s character and goodness.
The what, where, when, why, and how of our giving says something about our relationship with God and our commitment to Jesus Christ.
Our “banking habits” records can speak volumes.
Ask yourself, then: What do my “financial, stewardship” habits say about my “treasured above all else” commitment to Christ and my grasp of God’s grace?
What will change if my giving is an overflow of my gratitude to God for all He has given me?
God is a giver of every good and perfect Gift.
He gives His children the calling and the joy of being like Him.
Like Father like Children?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 100 Revised Standard Version
All Lands Summoned to Praise God
A Psalm for the thank offering.
100 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands![a]
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord is God!
It is he that made us, and we are his;[b]
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 