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Monday, December 06, 2010
Today: A time to be thankful
Passage: Ps 103:1-3 NIV
1 Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
The other day, I saw in the news paper a photo of some South Korean elderly women, praying
They were in a shelter because of the recent attacks
These women had to leave their homes and everything, in a moment
Living so comfortably in our homes where children may have their own rooms and husband and wife driving separate cars,…..
Imagine a situation like that, when we are asked to leave our homes, cars and everything and go into a shelter, sharing everything with everybody
All our ego, pride and prejudice will have to be knocked off, if we have to survive in such a situation
If you don’t want to even think about such a situation, let me ask you this:
If we make it to heaven, will it not be a similar cluster of people there?
-People from all tribes and nations-we being one of them!
Are we thankful to God for what we have?
Are we willing to share things with others- or, are we living selfishly?
An accident, a sickness, a loss of job or any unexpected event can change everything in our life
So, let us be humble and real; be thankful
This is our time to thank and share-while we live here
Yesterday, a young man was sharing about the ten lepers that Jesus healed- only one of them came back to say “Thanks”
Most of the time, we are like the nine
We owe a lot to God
But we always treat God like: “Lord, you owe a lot to me”
We always hear preachers who preach about a God who blesses- a God who gives
But see what Paul had to say:
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” (2 Thess 3:7-10, NIV-emphasis added)
Paul had all the freedom to get his pay/salary from the Church
But he chose not to; he worked hard with his own hands
That is why he still keeps talking to us through the pages of scripture
Where there is sacrifice, there is always effectiveness, success
Church in America is generally practicing the exact opposite of this
“Make all you can, from your own people” is what many ministers practice
It is a good thing to teach people to give
But when it is all directed to “me”, there could be so much of misuse
I wish some of them got born-again and decide to accept Paul’s philosophy
Be thankful to God for what we have
Have an attitude of gratitude and sharing
God bless your week
BG
Prayer: Lord, Thank you for the gift of life and for every spiritual, physical and material blessing I enjoy. Help me to gain at least some of your attitude, as I live here. Amen