29

Jump Start # 2006

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2006

1 Timothy 4:15 “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.”

NOTE: With Monday being a holiday, there will not be a Jump Start on that day.

 

The last Jump Start of the year. So many things to consider. Reflections. Resolutions. Backward. Forward. Inward. Upward. What has been accomplished. What needs to be done. Goals met. Goals to make. Plenty of ideas and plenty of passages to draw from. I chose this one from Timothy. It speaks well to the devotion and seriousness of what we are about.

 

Consider four truths from this verse.

 

First, take pains with these things. The “these things,” are what is found immediately before this.

  • Prescribe these things (11)
  • Be an example to believers (12)
  • Give attention to public reading of Scripture (13)
  • Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you (14)

 

Now, the “take pains” part also has an earlier connection. Paul said we labor and strive in these things. Take pains—we may say “sweat it.” Put effort and energy into what you are doing. Work hard. Initially, these words are fitting the preacher. Paul is instructing a young preacher. But don’t just keep it there. This is something that we all ought to endeavor to do. The lazy preacher and the lazy member become the lazy church. Laidback is often a nice way of saying, “doing nothing.” No hurry. No diligence. And with that spirit, things tend to fall apart. We see that physically. A little drip in the ceiling, is answered by, ‘we’ll get to that one of these days.’ After a while, that little drip has become a huge stain on the ceiling. One day, part of the ceiling falls in. Now a little problem has become a major problem. Had some effort and energy been applied long before this, all of this could have been prevented.

 

Take pains to know the Bible. Read it. Memorize it. Use it. Apply it. Take pains to set forth the godly example to all people, this even includes what one posts and likes on Facebook. Be an example. Use your talents. Little problems become big problems because nothing was done. Churches, as well as individuals need goals, spiritual goals.

 

The taking pains spirit is someone who is serious about their faith. They are seeing after things. They are trying hard. They are moving things around in their life to make themselves more pleasing to God.

 

Second, be absorbed in them. Saturated. Filled. Ephesians says ‘don’t get drunk…but be filled with the Spirit.’ Colossians says, ‘Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.’ If you drop a sponge into a bucket of water and then squeeze that sponge, lots of water will come out. It absorbed the water. What happens when you squeeze a Christian? Out comes the word of God. Out comes kindness. Out comes godliness. Out comes Christ. He is filled with those things. He is absorbed with those things. Just having a spiritual thought on Sunday morning isn’t really being absorbed. What about while at work? What about while at the store? What about while with the family at holidays? Kindness. Goodness. Christ. These are what fill our hearts.

 

Third, your progress. You are moving. You are progressing. You are getting better. You are getting stronger. These pains and this absorption has made your stronger, more faithful and more involved spiritually. There has been positive results because of this. Your time spent has paid off. You are stronger as a Christian. Your mind thinks spiritual first. Your schedule shows how serious you are about the Lord. Your daily habits reflect Christ. You are going places spiritually. You are better today than you were last year. Your attitude, your choice of words, your controlling your anger and your tongue, your thoughtfulness—all of this has gotten better. You are a better parent. You are a better spouse.

 

Fourth, this change and this progress in you is evident by all. Others see this. You are nice to be around. You are different. You are the best others have ever seen. These spiritual choices are paying off. You don’t engage in the smutting and offensive stories at work. You don’t flirt around with those you are not married to. You don’t live as if you are still part of the world. This change in you is evident. It will be one of the reasons people will ask you spiritual questions. It will be one of the reasons why people will take you more seriously now. Some may take you up on your invite to come to services. What is attractive to them is your progress. Molded by Christ, you are turning into something that others admire.

 

Take pains. Be absorbed. Make progress. Be evident to all. Great words to consider both backwards to this year and forward to the coming year. How are you doing with these things? There is something special about these words. They not only change us, but they change our family and they change our church. A better you, makes a better family and a better church. We often want things to change in a marriage or in the church. One of the best ways to change, is by changing ourselves. Get on the ball and get after it! Let’s turn it up a notch, by attending more, reaching out more, engaging more, connecting more, and helping more.

 

When folks don’t see any progress—you’ll look the same as you always have, then maybe we are not doing enough. It will show when you pour yourself into the Scriptures and your heart into Christ.

 

Imagine every member in the congregation following these four steps. WOW. Imagine every family member doing these things. AMAZING. Better yet, imagine you doing these things!

 

Roger

 

28

Jump Start # 2005

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2005

Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

I watched an interesting short nature video on YouTube recently. It’s entitled “How wolves change rivers.” It ought to be watched by preachers and elders alike. There are many lessons to be gathered from this. Here is a synopsis of the story. The deer population at Yellowstone was destroying the vegetation. The deers had no predators. So, wolves were introduced to the area. In time, the wolves increased and sent the deers out of the valleys to other places. Soon, the vegetation started growing back. Trees grew. Other animals returned, such as rabbits, mice, beaver and otters. Birds, including hawks and eagles returned. But something else happened. Because of the dense vegetation and trees, erosion stopped. Rivers changed their courses and became deep. All of this because of the introduction of wolves.

This has so many lessons for us spiritually.

First, sometimes things are not thought out carefully. Something is introduced or started and the long range impact hasn’t been considered. This is why God’s kingdom is overseen by experienced and godly men who must think beyond the present and the visible. They must take into consideration how things will impact all segments of the congregation. For instance, some places are replacing the two services on Sunday with one long extended service. No problem with that if that is what is necessary and helpful for the group there. What works in one place may not work in another. Thought must be given to young families and what that does for the children. What works well for empty nesters may not go so well for families with small children. Careful planning, discussion and talking to those in different age brackets is necessary and helpful. I preached a series of lessons once that worked out to being eight sermons in 48 hours. They called it, “8 in 48.” Some loved it, I didn’t. I thought it was too much at one time.

Second, allowing wolves to run freely can change the landscape of not only Yellowstone, but it can change the landscape of a congregation spiritually. This is why Jesus gave the serious warning, “Beware.” Beware of the wolves. They seem innocent. They appear like sheep. They are not sheep. They are wolves. Wolves eat sheep. They are actually false prophets. They have an agenda and it’s not following the word of God. They want change. Left alone, wolves can change rivers. Wolves can change a church. It doesn’t take long nor does it take very many to do their work. Present some ideas here and there. Float some possibilities. Get some to like what you are saying. Push buttons. Introduce new ideas. Press that envelope and stretch it as far as you can. Left unchecked, wolves can change the landscape of a church. A walk down the halls of church history shows this. A walk down the history of Israel, starting in the book of Joshua shows this. Golden calves. Different cities to worship in. Priests from different tribes. Slowly. Step by step, moving in new directions. Exciting. Innovative. And before long, the church no longer looks like what you read in the Bible. To justify that, new ways of looking at the Bible are introduced. Doctrine becomes something of culture and culture is always changing. New ways. New thinking. New practices. The river changes. The landscape changes. Wolves are not interested in the old paths as Jeremiah spoke about. Wolves are not interested in stakes in the ground. They want to move the boundaries. They want to try things that have always been out of bounds. They are not satisfied with what has been. They want new and they want different. No thought that what God has spoken has worked for centuries. No thought that what God says, goes. Drama rather than doctrine. Playing rather than piety. Having a good time rather than a holy time. It’s all about the worshipper and not about the God who is to be worshipped. Wolves can change the landscape of a church.

This is why shepherds must be alert and on the ball. What are the people reading, listening to and being persuaded by? Do you know? Could you recognize a wolf? Jesus’ point is that they don’t walk into the church building with a sign around their neck, “Hello. My name is Big Bad Wolf.” They look like sheep. They may have been one of the sheep in times past. What are they saying when they ask controversial questions? What are they after when they raise objections? What are they filling the ears and hearts of others with? Who is in their network? Who are they influencing?

Often, wolves are allowed to run freely because we’ve known them for so long. We are friends with them. We grant them a pass, never realizing that they could be up to something that is wrong. Keep your eyes open.

In Titus, the elders were to silence the mouths of those that were upsetting families, teaching things they should not teach. Silence them. They were to be reproved severely. Serious actions for a potential serious problem. Left alone, the wolves will change the landscape of the church. Elders that are too busy, or elders that are asleep at the wheel, or elders who simply do not like to do this kind of work will find a new and different church. It will change right before their eyes. They will either be forced out or forced to go along with things that are not right nor Biblical. Beware! Wolves change the landscape. Who would have thought that a wolf could change a river. Who would have thought that a wolf could change the church.

Third, once rivers have changed, and wolves are running freely, it’s nearly impossible to return things to the way they once were. Environmentally, changing rivers and controlling the deer population at Yellowstone is a good thing. However, if it gets to a point that there remains no more deer, how will they control the wolves? In a church, it’s hard, once the landscape has changed to return to Biblical patterns that it should have. It can be done, but it’s rare and very hard. Most times, it’s easier to just live with the wolves. Kevin Costner had a movie called, “Dancing with wolves.” I think that sums up our times today. More would rather dance with the wolves than to be on guard against them. Many would naively say, “I don’t see anything wrong with what they are doing.” Could it be that our eyes are closed or worse, we don’t want to see. Once the door of change is opened, it never gets shut again. What one person introduces doesn’t seem so bad. Yet with that, the next person takes it a step further. In a generation or two, Israel was bowing down to idols.

Staying the course is hard. We must understand the difference between methods, traditions and doctrines. Those things can get fuzzy and we can confuse the whole group. We must keep up with a fast paced world yet we must remain true to what we believe in and where we stand. God’s word never changes. Cultures change. Governments change. Times change. God’s word stays the same.

We must wonder if we are creating wolves among us because we are unwilling to budge on traditions and methods. Young people do things differently than senior citizens. Every generation has fought the music of the next generation. Unwilling to listen, unwilling to consider, unwilling to give serious answers to questions may lead some to wolf factory. Discouraged. Defeated. Dying spiritually. Some feel the only hope is to change. What they want to change shouldn’t be changed. An atmosphere of “no” may have bred the spirit of a wolf. Younger folks need to know what can and what cannot be changed. They need to appreciate how God’s authority is established and works. They need to appreciate the stakes that God has placed in the ground. And, with that, some of us older ones can take a deep breath and see the value of technology, and different forms of teaching.

Wolves changed the rivers. Wolves change the church. Will we ever see this? Will we ever believe this?

Thanks, Jordan, for sharing that powerful video with me.

Roger

27

Jump Start # 2004

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2004

Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’”

 

I have a new picture that hangs in my office. There is a story behind it, of course. Last fall, we filmed a welcome video for the church. If you haven’t seen it, you ought to check it out on our website. The producers flew a drone over the church building to get some outside videos. I asked one of them if they could stop the drone right above our steeple and to get me a still picture looking down the very top point. That’s the picture that is now framed in my office. I told someone that’s Heaven’s view of us. Actually, that’s not correct. God doesn’t really care about a building, He sees us as people.

 

All of this brings us to our passage today. God’s view of things. There are three things God saw out of Sardis.

 

First, He saw what they were doing. He saw their deeds. God knows what a church is capable of doing with what they have. God knows how hard we are trying. God knows if we are all talk and nothing else. God knows. We can fool others. We can fool ourselves. But there is no fooling God. He knows.

 

Second, God saw that Sardis had a name. The name was their reputation. It’s how others knew them. The name said that they were alive. God was aware of that. God saw that. God knows what others think and say about a church. God knows what a church says about itself. Sometimes we can convince ourselves that things are pretty good, when they are not. Sardis had done that. Keep saying you’re alive and after a while you might just believe that yourself.

 

Third, God saw that Sardis was actually dead. What was dead? Their faith. Their motivation. Their passion. Their love for the Lord. Their desire to do the things of God. I had a tree fall in my yard on Christmas eve. It made a real mess. I spent a long time picking up all the branches and pulling, as best as I could, the large pieces to the edge of the woods. We had some wind that night, but it wasn’t anything too great. It doesn’t take much when something is dead. It doesn’t take much to knock one down when they have a dead faith. A little challenge here and little aggressive argument there and the dead faith falls to the ground. I have more work to do on my yard this spring. The falling tree put some deep holes in my yard. Often there is a lot of clean up that follows a dead faith. There may be marriages that fall apart. There may be others that are hurt and damaged by a dead faith. What’s worse is that Sardis was dead and they didn’t even know it. They were convinced that they were alive. They had fooled themselves. They didn’t see themselves as God saw them.

 

All of this brings us back around to how Heaven sees us. God has multiple lenses to see us.

 

First, He sees us as individuals. We walk by faith. Unless you believe, Jesus said, you will die in your sins. This is the most obvious way that we think of God seeing us. Our attitudes. Our choice of words. Our actions. We are responsible for what we do. We can be influenced, taught, guided and misguided, but at the end of the day, it’s our choices, our decisions. God sees that. We are faithful to Him, or we are not. We are serious or we are not. We are alive or we are not.

 

But that’s not the only way God sees us.

 

Second, God sees us in our families. He sees us in the roles that we play. We are husband or wife. We are parents or children. We have responsibilities and obligations. What we do is directly connected to the previous point. It’s hard to be on the ball spiritually with God and be a dead beat dad. It’s hard to be faithful and strong and be neglectful at home. These two blend together, but they are not the same. We can be sassy with our mouths. We can have a short temper with the people we live with. We can be kinder to strangers who serve us at a restaurant than we are to our own family. Don’t you think God sees that? We can be thoughtful, sweet to folks at church and mean as a snake at home. Don’t you think God sees that? God sees us in our families.

 

Third, God sees us in the church. Now, not just what we do in worship, but He certainly sees that, but how engaged we are and what we are doing with the church. Sardis was dead only because the members were dead. You can’t have strong members and a dead church. The church is what the members are. Laodicea was lukewarm, because the members were lukewarm. Ephesus had lost it’s first love, because the members had lost their first love. Together, we make the church what it is. There were a few at Sardis who were not dead. God saw that. He knew that. What part did those people have in making Sardis dead and what part were some, the few, still doing right with God? God saw and God knew. Which brings us to us. What am I doing to help my congregation be alive, active and true to God? Am I just along for the ride or am I doing what I can? I may not lead, preach or teach, but I still have my part to do. Do I sing enthusiastically? Do I actually pray with others? Do I try to encourage? Do I hold up my end of things? It’s easy to put some distance between self and the church. We tend to talk that way. “Those down at the church,” we say, as if we are not part of them. We are. We are connected. We belong. We are family. God sees what we are doing and if we are among the “dead” or among the “few” who are trying.

 

The lenses of God. He sees you in the different roles that you play. He sees you and He knows. He knows what you are up against. He knows about your health. He knows what you are capable of doing. He knows when you are really trying. Losers limp is an expression used among those who run track. Those that are good, run well. Others try. Sometimes a person is beat as soon as the starting gun fires. He knows he will be lapped. He wants to save face. So, he falls. He grabs his leg as if he is injured. He hobbles off the track. No one can fault him for getting a cramp or pulling a muscle. He tried. The truth is, he faked it. He was too embarrassed. So he came up with “losers limp.” God knows when we have faked a losers limp spiritually. He knows.

 

So, all of this gets us back to Sardis. Go along with the majority or do what we know we ought to do. The few that pleased God weren’t in the same camp as the majority. The majority was dead, even though they thought they were alive. The few actually were alive. God knew. How about you? Are you just sailing along with the others or are you doing what God really wants you to do? Are you willing to be different, even among the few, if that’s what it takes to please God?

 

God sees us. Remarkable thought. Makes us only hope that we can see ourselves as God sees us.

 

Roger

 

26

Jump Start # 2003

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2003

James 1:17 “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above; coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.”

 

The day after Christmas. Two prevailing thoughts fill the air. First, “what did you get?” That’s asked by kids as well as adults. It’s an inventory of the presents we received. Second, there is an inner feeling that some have because they did not get what they wanted. That perfect gift wasn’t under the tree and now, a day later, they feel disappointed.

 

Buying presents for others can be hard. For young children, they want everything. Then for parents, they have everything. A person can feel unsure what to get. Here are some simple reminders as we put out bags of wrapping paper in the trash and put everything away.

 

First, the measure of our love isn’t based upon a gift. Why bankrupt the farm to buy something to prove that you love someone. Love isn’t expressed that way. It may have worked this year. Now, what will you do for next year? Our love is expressed by the way we talk to one another. It’s shown by time spent. I saw that with a couple of the grandkids this weekend. After the presents were opened, they seemed to have more fun chasing me with the empty tubes from wrapping paper. They giggled and ran and played and were determined to destroy the giant (that was me). Love is time. Love is care. Love is laughter. Love is concern. Anyone with enough money can buy a gift, only you can give your heart. That’s love.

 

Second, there can be a lot of pressure upon the young married man to find that perfect gift for his young wife. He wants to make her happy. He stresses over trying to find just the right gift. The radio blasts ads from competing jewelry stores about getting her a diamond. Those thoughts dance through his head. He visits one of those stores and leaves with a nauseating feeling in his stomach at the price that is required to purchase such a diamond. He feels that if he does not deliver he will fail her. So much pressure. The giving of a gift ought to be fun. It is more blessed to give, the Lord said.

 

Third, we have in our minds that the gifts that we give will be immortal. They will always remember them. Most of us can’t remember what we received a couple of years ago. Some are hard pressed to remember what they received last year. A gift is a moment. Some gifts, like a puppy, are still around and we are reminded of that, but the clothes, the electronics, the movies, the candy, they tend to be forgotten after a while. There will be other gifts—birthdays, anniversaries—gifts tend to blend together and they don’t stand out nor are remembered as we hoped that they would be.

With all that comes our verse today. Every good thing, every perfect gift, comes from above. They do not come wrapped up and placed underneath a Christmas tree. Many of those gifts are so common that we do not think about them. It’s easy to not even consider them gifts. It’s something that we tend to expect. We went to bed last night, fully intending to wake up today. Most went to bed intending to wake up feeling well today. And, we have. We just assume that, expect that, and don’t think much about that. Those are gifts.

 

The gift of a sound mind. We take that for granted. The gift of friendships and family. The gifts of hope, love and a future with God, those all come through Jesus Christ. The gift of the Bible, God’s wonderful will and word, so clear, so convincing, so needful and so helpful. The gift of fellowship with God’s people. To be loved, accepted and even wanted by others, what an enormous joy that is. The gift of our abilities and talents. The gift of encouragement. The gift of preaching. The gift of leading. The gift of serving. All of those touch the lives of others and makes powerful differences in their lives.

 

Jesus told the disciples that God knows what we need even before we ask Him. He knows that we need salvation. He knows that we need daily substance to live. He knows that we need fellowship. He knows that we need direction. He knows that we need forgiveness. He knows that we need Him. And, that is the greatest gift of all, the fellowship and presence of God.

 

He doesn’t hide and we have to try to find Him. He doesn’t declare, “figure things out on your own.” We couldn’t do that. He’s there. He’s the shepherd that goes looking for the one lost sheep. He’s the person who swept the house looking for the one lost coin. He’s the father who runs out to greet his returning prodigal. Seek, Jesus said, and you will find. Knock and it will be opened. The greatest gift is the presence of God in our lives. He loves you. He loves you even when you haven’t thought about Him in a while. He loves you even when you have hurt Him. He loves you when you are not very loveable. He loves you. And, He has sent the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ to redeem you and save you.

 

Good and perfect gifts—they come from God. They are just what we need. They come often. They come because God loves you. In this season of giving, let us not think, “I didn’t get what I wanted,” when we got exactly what we needed. And, let us not become ungrateful nor fail to express to God our thanks for all that He has done for us. Wrapped up in all these wonderful gifts from God is His patience. He waits for us. He is patient toward us. Some of us are slow at coming around to Him. Some of us do not seem to be in a hurry to get on board with God. He’s patient. Change takes time. We are being shaped, changed and becoming what He wants.

 

God is always thinking of you. God is giving to you. God’s gifts do not come just at a certain season of the year. They come all the time. We are truly blessed!

 

God has been and continues to be, good to us.

 

Roger

 

22

Jump Start # 2002

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2002

2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.”

NOTE: With the holiday on Monday, there will not be a Jump Start that day.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, is more than the words of a song, it’s the feeling in the air. Folks are busy shopping, cooking, getting ready for company or making plans to travel. Holidays are fun. It’s great seeing everyone. Presents, fudge, and great movies—just can’t beat that!

We know that there are some gifts that money cannot buy. You can’t buy time. You can’t buy love. We also know that the greatest gift we will ever receive was on the cross a long time ago. That gift, God’s grace, changed our eternity. There is no price that we can put upon that wonderful gift. Paul’s words, “Thanks be to God,” just do not seem enough for all that God has done for us.

I was thinking about an old hymn, “I gave My life for thee.” The first verse ends with the question, “what hast thou giv’n for Me?” Great question! We think about what God has given to us. We think about what it took for God to provide His gift. We may even consider where would we be without God’s gift. All important thoughts. But what have we given to God?

Immediately, we might say, “God doesn’t need anything.” God is God. He doesn’t even need us. While this is true, He did make us. He made us for a reason and for a purpose. And, there are things that we ought to give God. Here’s a short list:

We ought to give God our hearts. He wants us to want Him. We are to love Him with all that we are. God should never be on the back burner or in second place in our thoughts or decisions. This simply means every decision ought to be made based upon God. Paul said, “We make it our ambition to please the Lord.” The old saying, “I be there, Lord willing, and the creeks don’t rise…” Well, what if the creek does rise? Some have thought that this may refer to the Creek Indian tribe. Either way, if the creeks rise, get a boat or carry your rifle and get down to the church house. Give God all of your heart all of the time.

We ought to give back to God the talent that He has given us. We are all so talented. There are those who can sing wonderfully. There are those who can draw. There are those who can figure out electronics. There are those who can decorate so well. Some are writers. Some are gifted at talking. We’ve gone to school and with years of experience we’ve become pretty good at what we do. Are we using those talents for the Lord? Can we take what experience that we have and use that in the kingdom? Write new hymns. Decorate drab church buildings. Put some energy into the church’s website. Connect with new members. Make gifts for the shut-ins. Use your ability for the kingdom. Don’t bury your talent in secular work. Don’t use your ability only to make a living. Find ways to do what you do so well and use it for the glory of God.

3. We ought to give to God some of the time He has given us. It’s never our time. It’s always His time. Each day is a gift. We can spend the day making a living, watching TV, doing what we want to do, or we can spend some of that time strengthening others, praying, sharing the Gospel, growing faith. Days seem to fly by. We are just a week away from ending this year. Where has the year gone, some will say? It’s moved just as fast as all the other years. It’s us and our schedules that seem to make things so busy and packed. No time—no time for deep conversations. No time for deep Bible study. No time for powerful fellowship and connecting. No time to run by the hospital. No time to stop in at the funeral home. No time. Sure there’s always time, it’s just how we use it. Making time for God and for kingdom work is something that we can give to God.

4. We ought to give ourselves to the kingdom when we can. Where are the next preachers going to come from? From us. Where’s the next batch of shepherds coming from? From us. Deacons? From us. Bible class teachers? From us. All of those involve time, effort and devotion. I wonder if we ever talk to our sons about preaching. I wonder if we ever would want them to preach. Throughout the kingdom today are some of the best preachers, but who will replace them? If it’s money, if it’s the easy life, if it’s little effort that we seek, then kingdom work won’t appeal to us. But if we see the great value of helping people out spiritually and changing lives for eternity, then this is something that ought to be talked about around the dinner table. Put your sons around good preachers. Let them see great elders. Then, they ought to see in their parents, those who have put the kingdom first. They ought to see you serving where you can. They ought to see you teaching classes if you can. It won’t be long and we’ll be handing the keys over to the next generation. Are we leaving things better for them? Are we making it better than we found it? Have we made the church strong, faithful and growing? Or, are we handing a mess over to them? What hast thou giv’n me?

5. We ought to give God a continual “thank you,” for all that He has done for us. Our lives are richer, better and hopeful because of Him. We are forgiven. We will be raised one day. We will be in the presence of God someday. We express our “thank you” by saying it to the Lord. We express it by living righteously. We express it by being shaped by Him. A heart and a character that has been molded by the Savior is one of the best ways we show our gratitude to Him.

God gave the best. God gave all. It makes you wonder, in this season of giving, what have we given to God?

Let that stew for a while in your mind and heart.

Roger