SCRIP-BITS

Deuteronomy 16:17. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.

Morning Neighbour, morning! What’s cooking on this fine February day eh? A day filled with all sorts of new blessings, mercies and God’s LOVING-kindness!

It’s Wednesday, and we’re halfway through the work week. That means there’s no turning back now, we just have to keep pressing forward with all we’ve got; as the popular saying goes, give a hundred and ten percent! But’s that nothing new to us followers of Jesus Christ, because that’s how we’re expected to operate each and every day. And with God’s help that certainly is possible.

So please, let’s just keep pressing on, possibly faltering a little, but definitely NO GIVING UP! The words ‘giving up’ don’t exist in Jesus’ vocabulary, and neither should they exist in ours.

Now here’s an interesting quote of a few days ago from my friend Anselm, Inspiring you for a better tomorrow. ‘Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things; Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.’

Oh Friends, oh Friends, if there’s one thing we should NEVER compromise on, it’s our values, for once we do that, we leave ourselves open to all kinds of evil and ungodly  nonsense!

Now, because of the complexities and vagaries of life, there must be some compromises if we expect it to run fairly smooth, but as Anselm points out, they should only be on petty, basically unimportant things, NEVER on anything that has to do with the Word of God; its doctrine, it’s belief system and the way we should live obedient to God’s will.

For that will only bring it into disrepute, and there are enough people around the world already doubting the Word and spreading negative assumptions and assertions about it. No need for us to make things worse by compromising the godly values that it stands for.

As per adventures, I didn’t do anything much yesterday, just went to the beach, Pigeon Point, as the duchess desired. What a good, LOVING, and obedient husband I am eh! (smile) But I wasn’t happy with the beach, at least the one that she liked, because it was very shallow and with no sudden drop down as you entered the water.

But I disliked it with the stones on the beach and in the water, and I couldn’t even float properly, much less swim, since the water where the protective rope was placed, barely reached to my waist, and that’s a fair way from shore. The other side of the rock pile though was better. The rope was further out and the water reached my chest. Still not the greatest, by my standards, but good enough to enjoy.

Oh, at one stage where we were sitting at the top of the rock pile between the two beaches, a small guana (iguana) showed up, sunning himself on the rocks, completely ignoring the duchess, myself and an old British couple who were sitting nearby.

I tried taking some pictures of him, but since I didn’t have my glasses handy, and I’m not versed in the duchess’ I-pad – she was in the water then – I don’t know if any of them came out properly. I completely forgot about them, and must look at them later.

After the beach, we stopped at the grocery for a few things, then came home and rested for the rest of the day, simply enjoying the serenity and beauty of our surroundings. (smile)

And today my people, since we’ve spoken recently of compassion and forgiveness, we’ll talk about another most important aspect of a Christian’s life; giving. Our Bit put’s it admirably and very succinctly. ‘Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.’

Oh mih people, mih people, that was God’s command from way back when to the Israelites, when they celebrated their feasts! And since neither our God nor His Word ever changes, then that command applies even unto us in these present times.

And earlier on in the same chapter as our Bit, Moses spoke God’s command to the people thus: ‘And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. (Deut. 16:10)

Yes Friends, the basic idea is to give freely, from our hearts, according to the provisions with which the Lord has blessed us. What we give depends on what we have. Obviously if we don’t have a lot, we can’t give a lot, but of whatever we have, we ought to be generous with it.

For let us remember and practice these fateful words of Bruh Paul in his second missive to the Corinthians. ‘But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully (with blessings, generously) shall reap also bountifully.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity (compulsion): for God LOVETH a cheerful (joyful) giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.’ (2 Cor.9:6-8)

Yes Friends, God LOVES it when we give with a cheerful heart, not grudgingly. And remember, as we give, He will give to us, we will always have sufficient for ourselves and some left over to give to others. That’s the beauty of our God!

Now let’s close with some explanations from the scholars re those verses. ‘9:6. One’s return is determined by his investment (cf. Prov. 11:24, Luke 6:38; Gal.6:7). The expression ep’ eulogiais ordinarily translated “with blessings” here has the sense of “generously.” While it does not suggest indiscriminate giving, it does denote “unrestrained” giving.’

‘9:7. Cheerful giver: The giver is to have a willing heart and a sincere desire to participate in the offering. Paul is not so much interested in their money. Nor is God, for that matter, as the passage from Proverbs 22:9 indicates. (Please check it out). The Greek term hilaron, from which the English “hilarious” derives, is best rendered as the English text suggests, “cheerful.” Giving is not a joke. It is serious business, but it is a delightful experience all the same.’

Ah mih breddren, those last two sentences puts giving in the right perspective. For giving is indeed a blessing in itself. When one gives, one feels good. Not a slimy, smarmy (smile) hypocritical, negative good like the Pharisees did. But a cleansing, healing and healthy good, as the Lord desires.

So please, let’s ponder our giving today, and try, with God’s help of course, to bring it into line with His Word. That is the ultimate in wisdom. Much LOVE!

…as we give…God gives even more to us…so that we can increase our giving…

P.S. I checked out the pictures of the iguana, and one is attached. You might have to zoom in or out to see him properly. He wasn’t a big boy, but big enough. (smile) Unfortunately readers of the Blog, I can’t put a picture of the reptile here. Much LOVE!