Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘giving’

Hitting the Jackpot

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on June 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24

Do you ever dream of winning the lottery? It may interest you to know that about a third of all lottery winners go bankrupt within five years and that another quarter of these instant millionaires wind up selling their remaining payments at a discounted rate to pay off debts. People who are reckless with ordinary paychecks are just as reckless with bigger ones.

Rather than fantasize about hitting the jackpot, we should strive to be better stewards of what we have. Handle credit cards—if you must use them at all—with great care, and do everything you can to stay out of debt, one of the foremost marriage destroyers. Make purchases with cash when possible. Establish a family budget and stick to it.

Remember to give at least 10 percent of your earnings to the Lord—after all, everything is His, anyway.

Above all, make sure you spend less than you earn each month. It takes discipline, but this simple formula will go a long way toward establishing a worry‐free atmosphere in your home.

Heavenly Father, You bless us with so much. Even when money is tight, we know You care for us. But we often fail to be responsible and to honor You with how we manage money. Help us to know and live by Your wisdom. Amen.

Michael & Alison Smitherman

The Singing NetSurfers

It has been this gardener’s experience that one can not give away more than one will receive in return from the giving. As it is below, so above, and then it is multiplied beyond understanding in the spiritual world, of which our earthly existence is but a reflection.

Yes, we must be responsible with all our resources and share them with God and others. This mutual giving nurtures and sustains, not only physical life, but even more so, our spiritual lives.

So, let us be responsible stewards of all we have here below and above. And let us give and share our time, thoughts, labor and funds appropriately. Then, the universe and the one who created it will always nurture and sustain us and will return the giving by orders of magnitude; both here below and even more so above.

Give to live,

Z gardener

Read Full Post »

FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

1 Corinthians 10:24      Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
 
Have you ever noticed what happens to you when you start to feel slightly depressed? Before you know it you’re curled up in a little ball. Everything is suddenly about you and what is or isn’t happening to you. For your own good, in such times, let go of thinking about yourself and rather think about others.
 
If you step out of your world and reach out to help someone else, you might discover that things look a lot better than they did before.
 
You need to learn to focus on the well-being of others and not on yourself. It’s a sure cure for what ails you. It may not take away the things that made you hide out and curl up in a blanket, but it will make a difference in how you see everything around you.
 
A Taste of Goodness
 
Lord, help me remember that I’m not the only one with problems. Help me do what I can for others regardless of my own situation. Amen.
 
 
Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
 
 
 
The surest way to overcome our own problems is to focus on helping others with theirs. Doing so takes our attention away from ourselves, lifts our spirits regardless of our situation and strengthens our resolve and outlook. There is little we can do for ourselves that will provide as much help as helping others.
 
Uncurling,
 
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

ROBBING GOD

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Mark 12:42-44       A poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins…. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others…. She, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.”
 
A young man came to me one night and said, “Billy, I pray, read the Bible, and go to church, but I have no victory in my life. What can I do?”
 
I thought for a moment and asked, “Do you tithe? Do you give to God’s work?”
 
He replied, “No, I don’t, but I don’t make very much money.”
 
I said, “That’s not the point. No one can rob God and expect to experience victory in life.”
 
We can pray all day long. We can go to church every week. We can read our Bible through a thousand times–but if we are robbing God, we will be miserable and spiritually dry.
 
Do you think you can rob God but have victory in your life? It cannot be done. There is no victory if we aren’t giving a portion of our income to the Lord.
 
The basis of our giving is the tithe–one-tenth of your income–is God’s (see Malachi 3:10). It’s God’s rule, and I believe it is still valid today.
 
 
Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
 
How much of our money are we giving back to God? Even in nature, if a farmer does not put resources back into the soil, it will become farmed out and worthless to him. So much more do we have to return a portion of our resources back to the source from whence it came. Not because God needs it, but because we do. We are in fact robbing ourselves when we do not give back to God.
 
The good news is that returning this portion to God, ensures our fiscal welfare and our physical welfare, but more importantly it assures our spiritual welfare.
 
Returning God’s  to God.
 
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

THE POISON OF GREED, giving

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 
Jeremiah 6:13        “From the latest to the greatest, all are greedy for gain.”
 
A close relative of covetousness, greed is quite possibly the parent of more evil than any other sin. Greed cheats, robs, murders, and slanders in order to achieve its desires–and each of us is born with greed in our nature.
 
The Bible teaches that greed is idolatry, because it places things at the center of our lives instead of God. We in America, for instance, are so bent on making money that we do not have time for God and the spiritual disciplines. It is not a sin to be rich, but if our riches have choked out our spiritual life, then being rich has become sin–and we are poverty-stricken in God’s sight. Furthermore, the love of money corrodes the human heart, spoiling our happiness and setting us in conflict with one another. The Bible says that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).
 
As long as the prodigal son sang the song of “Give me,” his lot was misery, want, loneliness, and famine. But when he changed his song to “Forgive me,” he found himself in a state of fellowship, comfort, and plenty. What song are you singing?
 
 
Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
 
 
Giving produces all abundance from what is given. 
 
Taking consumes everything good from what was desired.
 
Giving lifts and expands the giver. 
 
Taking lowers and shrinks the taker.
 
 
Seeking giveness,
 
Z gardener
 
 
 
Author’s note: this gardener will be on sabbatical through the end of April. The daily devotional will be on leave as well. If possible, will try to send some photos for you edification from time to time. Peace. Z.

Read Full Post »