Tag Archives: Ephesians 4:28-29

Gratitude Spills Over??? A Word from THE WORD!!! #154

13 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by in A Father's Love, A Form of godliness?, Blessed by God, By His Grace, Confidence, Don't Wait, Faithful Follower, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, Giving and Sharing, Giving or Getting, Giving Or Taking?, God's love, God's measure isn't ours, Good Neighbor, Good Stewards, Gratitude, Gratitude Is Timeless, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Greater is HE that is IN US!, Jesus IN You!, Jesus' Sacrifice, Living Right, Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

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Gratitude Spills Over??? A Word from THE WORD!!! #154

For the rest of this month (unless I change my mind!!) I want us to focus on God’s goodness and our attitudes; for sometimes we just take God’s goodness for granted and forget to thank HIM or share HIS goodness with others, Paul says it better than I could.

“Let him that stole

steal no more:

 but rather let him labour,

working with his hands

the thing which is good,

that he may have to give

to him that needeth.

29 Let no corrupt communication    

proceed out of your mouth,

but that which is good

to the use of edifying,

that it may minister grace

unto the hearers.”  Ephesians 4:28-29

 Paul calls believers to live and behave like believers—those who “were” thieves were called to (in Blanche’s paraphrase) “get a job and work diligently to provide for one’s self and have to give to those in need”!  Our actions and our words have an effect on those around us—especially those ‘little people’ who follow us around and learn from our behavior and actions way more than they learn from just our words!  Are we teaching our children and grandchildren about gratitude—about sharing what we have—about looking to Jesus instead of the world—about giving more than receiving?  The truth is that we are teaching them every day, whether we are paying attention or not!  Paul’s admonition to live holy, faithfully, and generously is a call to each of us!  It compels us to hear and obey the call of Jesus to “do unto others” as we desire to be treated.  Small words but a giant obligation to reject the “ME” mentality of the world and share the “others first” love of Jesus!

“Jesus said unto him,

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart,

and with all thy soul,

and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it,

Thou shalt love thy neighbour

as thyself.”  Matthew 22:37-39

When the “love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost…” (See Romans 5:1-11) it ought to spill over on all around us!  An outflowing of the gratitude that we feel for the “gift of God” (Romans 6:23) which is eternal life in JESUS!  Are you shining for Jesus or hoarding everything to yourself?

Paul shares more in his letter to the Colossian believers; may we willingly and gladly heed God’s Word to our hearts?

“Put on therefore,

as the elect of God,

holy and beloved,

bowels of mercies,

kindness,

humbleness of mind,

meekness,

longsuffering;

13 Forbearing one another,

and forgiving one another,

if any man have a quarrel against any:

even as Christ forgave you,

so also do ye.

14 And above all these things

put on charity,

which is the bond of perfectness.

15 And let the peace of God

rule in your hearts,

to the which also ye are called in one body;

and be ye thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

in all wisdom;

teaching

and admonishing one another

in psalms

and hymns

and spiritual songs,

singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”   Colossians 3:12-17

May we truly be fountains of blessing to those around us, taking every opportunity to share not only Jesus, but the material resources that HE has blessed us with to those around us in need, as God leads?  We are to be wise and generous stewards of God’s blessings, not greedy, selfish Scrooges!  How will God assess our gratitude quotient?  Let’s be one of the ‘overly generous’ ones, not the selfish ones!  It’s your choice but choose wisely there is a test!

“But this I say,

He which soweth sparingly

shall reap also sparingly;

and he which soweth bountifully

shall reap also bountifully.

7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart,

so let him give;

not grudgingly,

or of necessity:

for God loveth a cheerful giver.

8 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:

9 (As it is written,

He hath dispersed abroad;

he hath given to the poor:

his righteousness remaineth for ever.”                              2 Corinthians 9:6-9

May we be known for our gracious, grateful, and generous spirit.

Amen and Amen!!!

Keep On Laughing??? A Word from THE WORD!!! #24

29 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Abiding In Jesus, Giving and Sharing, Giving or Getting, Giving Or Taking?, Laughter is good medicine, Sharing What God Has Given, Where your treasure is--Your heart is!

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Keep On Laughing???  A Word from THE WORD!!!  #24

Another brief post this morning, as I sit here smiling and thanking God for precious friends who make my heart smile, and thank God for love, laughter, and light-hearted ways.

“A merry heart

doeth good

like a medicine:

but a broken spirit

drieth the bones.”  Proverbs 17:22

And then there’s a direction that I’m sure will catch you off guard, but I truly believe a giving heart is a merry heart.  It’s such a delight to give with open heart and open hands—it almost always makes the giver smile; for being married to a true, godly ‘giver’ has helped me to understand that more than I ever did.  It makes me see why Paul wrote what he did—not to get people to “give”, just to “give”, but to bring people to understand that a heart filled with the “joy of The Lord” just spills over onto others in so many ways!  Being stingy, grasping, and greedy almost always leads to discontent, sadness and often sorrow over the cost the individual pays for their greed!  Thank you, Lord, for teaching me to be willing and delighted to share!

“But this I say,

He which soweth sparingly

shall reap also sparingly;

and he which soweth bountifully

shall reap also bountifully.

7 Every man

according as he purposeth in his heart,

so let him give;

not grudgingly,

or of necessity:

for God loveth a cheerful giver.

8 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 Corinthians 9:6-8

It is very sad that so often we neglect this passage and relegate it to the “giving” sermons; for Paul wasn’t simply speaking of financial giving, but a heart that is sharing whatever God blesses us with!  Just as the writer of the Proverb makes the contrast between the joyful, merry heart and the broken one (and the spirit is often broken because of a greedy, clutching heart and life) for a heart full of God’s goodness ought to spill over everywhere it goes!

Paul also encouraged Timothy with a challenge in this regard, and while this isn’t exactly where I intended to go, it seems to be the way God is leading; for it is a sad, greedy, and uncaring world that we seem to be cultivating.  God calls us to be different—for true trust and dependence upon God should breed grace, caring and a sharing, giving spirit. We are to labor not just to get, but to be able to share.  Not as I’ve often heard in the modern proverb, “Get all you can!  Can all you get!  And sit on the can!”, or the other popular one, “Me and my four and no more!”  May God open our hearts to the joy of laughter, and delight in sharing with others—sharing our hearts, our lives, our resource, our wisdom, and our caring!  I can’t tell you how much it means to be sitting here smiling as I’ve been sharing experience and love with some that God sent into our lives—those sent to bless us, and to give us opportunity to smile and laugh in the sharing of God’s love!  Go—smile—share—laugh heartily!!!  It’s a lot more fun to give than to hoard!!!

“Let him that stole

steal no more:

but rather let him labour,

working with his hands the thing which is good,

that he may have

to give to him that needeth.

29 Let no corrupt communication

proceed out of your mouth,

but that which is good

to the use of edifying,

that it may minister grace

unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:28-20

Go—gain—share—and laugh your heart out with others!!

“But godliness with contentment

is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into this world,

and it is certain

we can carry nothing out.”  1 Timothy 6:6-7

And Jesus own commission:

“Lay not up for yourselves

treasures upon earth,

where moth

and rust

doth corrupt,

and where thieves break through

and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves

treasures in heaven,

where neither moth

nor rust

doth corrupt,

and where thieves do not break through

nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21

 

Let’s go—share–not till it hurts–but till laughter abounds!

Amen!!!