It’s not often that we consider giving a gift as something that we also receive.  It’s quite the opposite in most cases. Beyond the warm fuzzy feeling we get when we give or think of giving — whether it’s to God or to some other organization — when we’ve counted all of our money up, we typically look at what we have left, not at what we’ve received.  It seems that in our minds, we’ve placed the gift of receiving on the bottom of the list of benefits when we give.  But our giving is really less of an exercise in kindness and benevolence and more of an exercise in trusting God.  And that’s where our fear comes in.  We become afraid that we’ll run out of “our” money, when in reality it was never ours to keep.  One Scripture reminds us about what we receive from God that “Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” (1 Chronicles 29:14-NIV)  And even though that’s true, we still have difficulty believing that God will continue to supply our needs.  In every case, our extravagant generosity in giving opens the door for God to pour greater blessings into our laps.  Giving, then is really the gift of receiving.  We can neither give nor receive when our fists are clenched.  Only by opening our hands to give can we also be open to receive.  But it’s certain that God can put more in our hands than others can take out.  Neither we nor they can beat God’s giving.

• What do you think it’s like to believe that there’s never going to be enough for you?
• How does realizing that we can’t beat God’s giving remove the stress of ‘running out’ that allows us to be generous to others?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, remove my fear of not having enough. Help me to trust and live the eternal truth that I can’t beat Your generosity. Let Your generosity to me be transformed into a trust that allows me to give extravagantly to others.

         There seems to be a heavy price to pay for being unfaithful, unreliable, untrustworthy, and unprepared.  Perhaps that seems harsh.  And yet, there is a responsibility that comes with accepting the role of a servant.  Willful disobedience is worse than committing a sin and being unaware of it.  One speaks of arrogance.  The other speaks of ignorance.  I would imagine that to know the truth and yet deny the truth is the equivalent of calling God a lie.  And it’s much more difficult to avoid accountable living when we know what’s required and simply choose not to do it.

         We live knowing the dangers of a life lived in sin.  We try to avoid the traps and snares that cause us to be punished.  And if we’re honest, sometimes the punishment comes in the commission of the sin itself.  We go through the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual beating that comes from knowing we went against God.  And dependent upon the violation of God’s grace, there may be a civil and social price to pay for our indiscretion.  It may feel as though we’re struck with many blows or few blows, but the punishment will be there.

         What God has entrusted us with is life — our life and the life of the Spirit within us.  If we fail to live up to the potential of God within us, then perhaps there is no way to faithfully live accountably as a servant of God.  And perhaps the more that is demanded of us is evidence of our faithfulness.  We will all be held accountable though — those that know better and those that don’t.

• What emotions enter your mind and spirit when you understand that punishment awaits those unfaithful servants?
• What fears or anxieties do you have about being held accountable?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and eternal God, lead me in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Enable me to be counted as a faithful servant whose life and living are deemed accountable.

         Accountable living is easy on paper.  Ideas and thoughts, plans and schemes all see to work well as long as they’re written down.  But it not the writing down of our thoughts, ideas, plans, schemes, nor even our dreams.  It’s living them into reality that makes being a faithful servant difficult.  Nevertheless, it’s easier to know what being a faithful servant is if the recipe is known.  It additionally makes it easier to live up to our potential once we’ve been given the green light to go for it.  Loving one another, outdoing one another in showing honor, avoiding laziness in our passion for doing our work — all of these edicts enable and empower us to seek the faithfulness that accountable living calls for.

         In addition, life lessons learned from rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer enable us to keep in touch with the one who has entrusted us with the desire to be faithful servants.  Is there a guarantee of success?  Well, there are no guarantees in life.  But there is a much stronger possibility that we will be able to engage in accountable living — living that will be pleasing to our God.  After all, we’re all differently abled.  God only wants us to be as faithful as we can be so that our lives will count for something when the accounting is done.

• What plans do you follow to ensure your faithfulness as a servant that hold you accountable?
• What are your greatest challenges in living so that you will be found accountable?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, help me to live as a faithful servant to You. Empower me to live responsibly to Your will so that my living will allow me to be found accountable.