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Giving Without Expecting Anything in Return
Luke 6:30-35
Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Christians are supposed to give to others not expecting to be paid back. This means we are to give money, not loan money, to others. We are supposed to give of our time and ourselves to help others and not expect others to give back by helping us.
Those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior do that. They lend money – then expect to be paid back, usually with usury (interest). As Christians, we are to give it – not lend it. A loan is expected to be repaid. It means that you gave expecting a person to repay you that loan by a certain date.
A gift is something that is given to someone. The gift is offered and the person receiving the gift accepts it. The person that gave the gift should not expect that gift back – and should not expect payment for that gift. If that is the case, it no longer becomes a gift. It becomes a purchase.
Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is a gift that was given to us. He purchased our lives because He gave His life expecting us to accept Him as payment for our sins. He is our gift. Our job is to reach out and take that gift. We do not have to pay for the Gift (Jesus). If we did, He would no longer be our Gift – He would be a purchase. He freely gave us the gift of His life. We cannot do anything to repay Him for that gift. He completed the transaction with His death on the cross. The only thing He expects us to do is accept the Gift!
That is the same way we are to be with others when we give something to them. We are to only expect them to accept the gift, no strings attached. We are not to expect anything else in return for what we give to them.
Until next time,
Linda Sedrick Pearson
Don’t Hoard Your Riches
Ecclesiastes 5:15
As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
You can spend your life chasing after riches, but when it comes your time to die you cannot take those riches with you. This verse tells us that as we came out of our mothers’ wombs so we will die (with nothing in our hands).
This tells me that we are spending our time on the wrong things. We should be working on helping others through encouragement, spreading the gospel, and other things that apply to salvation. Those are the treasures we build up in heaven. By helping lead others to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are promoting the kingdom of God.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we don’t have to work to support ourselves while we are here. It does mean that we are not to hoard our riches and expect to keep all those earthly things safe. The only safe thing is salvation in Jesus.
My Hope
Joel 3:16
“The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”
I thank God that He is my hope. With God there is no hope. I do not understand how people can survive without Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God in their lives. I could not make it through one hour without God in my life. I would be devastated and destroyed.
God is also my strength. Many times through any day there are times when I do not have the strength to go on. Sometimes I just cannot function because of things that come against me every day (depression, physical pain, mental anguish,…). It is during those times that God’s strength carry me through.
Without my hope and faith in Him, I would not be able to make it. Thank you, Lord, for giving Your life so that I can live everyday with hope and strength of God the Father.
Just Checking In
James 2:1-5 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Just Checking In
Author Unknown
A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle. The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn’t shaved in a while.
His shirt was kinda shabby and his coat was worn and frayed. The man knelt, he bowed his head. Then rose and walked away. In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap. Each time he knelt just for a moment, a lunch pail in his lap. Well, the minister’s suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear. He decided to stop the man and ask him, ‘What are you doing here?’
The old man said, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour..lunchtime was his prayer time for finding strength and power.
‘I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, this is kinda what I say:
‘I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I’VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON’T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY.’ Continue reading
