Grateful, Faithful, Generous

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/Ls2O8hJj3U0?si=KtbDGGmxs-dv9C6d

“Grateful, Faithful, Generous”

Proverbs 28:6 NIV- Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.

Proverbs 28:11 NIV- The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

Proverbs 28:20 NIV- A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

 

This past Wednesday morning at our men’s Bible study, we were going through Proverbs 28 and picking out passages that spoke to us.  These few verses jumped out at me.  I explained to the group of guys that I have struggled for many years with comparing my life to other people who have more and wishing that I made more money so that I could have more.  As I read these verses, it occurs to me that having more wealth is NOT bad in itself.  It’s what we do with what we have that makes all the difference. 

 

As I explained to the group, I see two people.  One person that has a life of simplicity and doesn’t need much and then another person who has way more and is always longing for even more.  Again, being wealthy or having a lot doesn’t mean you are making any bad choices, but when you have more in your life, it’s then much easier to have an attitude of wanting more.  It can very well make you greedy and change your attitude on life. 

 

As I considered this, I realized that God is calling me to first be grateful for all that I currently have.  I am not to wish I had more or long for more, but to be grateful and content with where God has me now.  Next, with what resources I have, I am to be faithful.  Lastly, God is calling me to also be generous with what I have been given.  This hit me pretty hard Wednesday morning and I’m striving to live with this attitude toward what God has blessed me with in my life. 

 

It’s so often easy to see what others have and long for that as well in our lives.  It’s not wrong to see something someone else has and think, “Hey, that would be cool to have someday”.  It’s definitely ok to see things we might like to have one day.  Our issue is when we obsess over having it and want to have what others do all the time.  We become obsessed easily and we often try to deny that.  As I mentioned before, I have spent many years longing for things other people have and getting bitter and jealous when I have not been blessed as they are. 

 

My focus needs to be on being grateful, faithful and generous with what God has given to me.  And, He has blessed me with a lot!  My focus needs to be one of appreciation and gratitude instead of focusing on what God hasn’t given to me and longing for that instead.  A life of being grateful, faithful and generous will NEVER come from comparing our lives to others and always wishing we had more. 

 

We need to be grateful, faithful and generous with what we have been given.

None Of Us Are Exempt

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/Hc6zfaiJ61k?si=_hwejuDU930B0L9d

“None Of Us Are Exempt”

Romans 3:22-24 NIV

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

 

Our cats all have very different personalities.  One of our cats is notorious for getting into almost anything and everything she can.  So often we find her jumping up where she’s not supposed to be and, when something gets messed up, we usually blame her because she so often gets into what she’s not supposed to mess with.

 

I’ll often find her getting into something and say, “Why do you have to get into everything you’re not supposed to??”  We are often pulling her down from where she’s not supposed to be and trying to find ways to keep her from getting into things.  It’s not easy, but we do try.

 

As much as this annoys me and as often as I catch her getting into something, I’m often reminded of how this relates to our lives with God.  So often in life, we are getting into things we are not supposed to mess with.  God often tries to get our attention and tell us “NO”, but we do it anyway and we suffer the consequences.

 

Through my years of life, God has used many people in my life to warn me of possible trouble if I go a certain route.  Sometimes I’ve listened, while other times I have not.  As I continue through my years of life, I am learning from some past pain experiences.  I try hard to be wise and remember what decisions and routes have brought pain so that I don’t continue to make those same mistakes. 

 

The enemy is really good at distracting us from where we should be going and tempting us to follow routes and paths that will bring us to the exact same pain we’ve experienced in the past.  Just like Proverbs 26:11 that talks about a dog returning to its own vomit.  Yea, that’s a pretty gross visual, but it’s so true!

 

As often as I find myself yelling at our cat that continuously does things she’s not supposed to do, I am reminded often that it’s exactly what I do in my relationship with God and so many of us also do.  It’s easy to get onto others, but so often God reminds us through those experiences that none of us are exempt from doing things over and over again that we are not supposed to do. 

 

We are all sinners and we all desperately need God’s grace and forgiveness more than we know.  It’s my prayer that we would all learn from our past experiences and not choose the same routes over and over again that have brought so much pain from the past.